Bentonite-water slurry rheology and cutoff wall trench stability
- Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (United States)
- Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, Elmwood Park, NJ (United States)
- Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Denver, CO (United States)
The rheological behavior of bentonite-water slurry is responsible for its ability to stabilize trenches that are made for construction of subsurface barriers to ground water flow. This paper reviews the rheology of bentonite-water slurries and presents property values for a range of bentonite concentrations. Test results indicate that, if the D{sub 15} size of the native ground is less than 0.4 mm, it is likely that a bentonite filter cake will form on the face of an excavation supported by bentonite-water slurry. For soils that are too coarse for a filter cake to form, it was found that the penetration distance of slurry into the soil increases as the D{sub 5} size and void ratio of the soil increase. An expression for the factor of safety against local sloughing failure of the trench wall is presented. Local sloughing failures that occurred during construction of the cutoff wall at Island Copper Mine, Vancouver Island, BC, are discussed, and calculated factors of safety are in good agreement with the observed performance.
- OSTI ID:
- 567790
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-971032-; CNN: Grant CMS-9502448; TRN: 98:000358-0011
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: In situ remediation of the geoenvironment conference, Minneapolis, MN (United States), 5-7 Oct 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of In situ remediation of the geoenvironment; Evans, J.C. [ed.]; PB: 622 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Soil-bentonite design mix for slurry cutoff walls used as containment barriers
Fly ash utilization in soil-bentonite slurry trench cutoff walls