Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications

In the context of urban extension, the depletion of natural resources for construction constitutes a crucial issue. Specifically, in the field of earthworks, the amounts of materials can be massive and pose the crucial problem of resource shortage. Therefore, the reuse of excavated urban soils from...

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Main Author: Thomas Lenoir
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2019-11-01
Series:Proceedings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/34/1/3
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author Thomas Lenoir
author_facet Thomas Lenoir
author_sort Thomas Lenoir
collection DOAJ
description In the context of urban extension, the depletion of natural resources for construction constitutes a crucial issue. Specifically, in the field of earthworks, the amounts of materials can be massive and pose the crucial problem of resource shortage. Therefore, the reuse of excavated urban soils from foundation layers as new earthwork construction materials appears to be a sustainable and promising solution. Two questions are thus asked: (1) Are urban soils relevant from a geotechnical point of view? (2) Are they relevant from an environmental point of view? To answer those issues, two urban soils from the suburb of Paris (France) have been studied. Geotechnical approach and environmental approach exhibit that both soils have common features. Specifically, they are bearer of several pollutant phases like metals, organic carbon and sulphates. Interestingly, those materials, when treated with few percent of hydraulic binders reach required mechanical performances for a use in road structure despite the occurrence of pollutants that are known to have deleterious effects on soil stabilization with lime and cements. However, even if permeability of materials is reduced when they are treated with cement, leaching tests under neutral pH (7) and alkaline pH (12) show, that treatment could have inhibitor effects or activating effects on pollutants release.
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spelling doaj.art-5ae5c2e4716348b8aa3dff0d7482bd6b2022-12-22T02:51:13ZengMDPI AGProceedings2504-39002019-11-01341310.3390/proceedings2019034003proceedings2019034003Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental SpecificationsThomas Lenoir0Institut français des sciences et technologies des transports, de l’aménagement et des réseaux, Département Géotechnique, environnement, risques naturels et sciences de la terre, Laboratoire Géomatériaux et modèles géotechniques (IFSTTAR/GERS/GMG) F-44344 Bouguenais, FranceIn the context of urban extension, the depletion of natural resources for construction constitutes a crucial issue. Specifically, in the field of earthworks, the amounts of materials can be massive and pose the crucial problem of resource shortage. Therefore, the reuse of excavated urban soils from foundation layers as new earthwork construction materials appears to be a sustainable and promising solution. Two questions are thus asked: (1) Are urban soils relevant from a geotechnical point of view? (2) Are they relevant from an environmental point of view? To answer those issues, two urban soils from the suburb of Paris (France) have been studied. Geotechnical approach and environmental approach exhibit that both soils have common features. Specifically, they are bearer of several pollutant phases like metals, organic carbon and sulphates. Interestingly, those materials, when treated with few percent of hydraulic binders reach required mechanical performances for a use in road structure despite the occurrence of pollutants that are known to have deleterious effects on soil stabilization with lime and cements. However, even if permeability of materials is reduced when they are treated with cement, leaching tests under neutral pH (7) and alkaline pH (12) show, that treatment could have inhibitor effects or activating effects on pollutants release.https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/34/1/3urban soilsnatural resources
spellingShingle Thomas Lenoir
Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
Proceedings
urban soils
natural resources
title Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
title_full Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
title_fullStr Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
title_full_unstemmed Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
title_short Reuse of Urban Soils as Earthworks Material: Geotechnical and Environmental Specifications
title_sort reuse of urban soils as earthworks material geotechnical and environmental specifications
topic urban soils
natural resources
url https://www.mdpi.com/2504-3900/34/1/3
work_keys_str_mv AT thomaslenoir reuseofurbansoilsasearthworksmaterialgeotechnicalandenvironmentalspecifications