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Soil conditioners for stabilising trench backfill in an unstable loam soil of low permeability
Author(s) -
Goossens Frans,
Dierickx Willy,
Gabriels Donald,
de Boodt Marcel
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/jsfa.2740301205
Subject(s) - loam , water content , permeability (electromagnetism) , moisture , soil water , soil science , environmental science , trench , soil test , geotechnical engineering , soil conditioner , materials science , geology , chemistry , composite material , biochemistry , layer (electronics) , membrane
Laboratory experiments were carried out to evaluate different soil conditioners for stabilising a loam soil, the aim being to increase the structural stability and the permeability of the backfill of drain trenches. Soil samples previously treated with different concentrations of polymer solutions or emulsions were dried to different moisture contents and packed in cylinders to determine the changes in water permeability. Identical soil samples were subjected to wet‐sieving tests for different lengths of time. Loam soil samples treated with emulsions need to be air‐dried to make them stable and highly permeable. At higher moisture contents the emulsions become ineffective because of the lack of coagulation between the soil particles. Polymer solutions are effective with regard to soil stability and water permeability even in situations where the soil remains wet. There is a fair agreement between the results of the wet‐sieving test and those of the permeability test on loam soil samples. Those two tests were considered as reflecting the behaviour of the soil in a backfilled drain trench.