TY - GEN
T1 - Sustainable Handling of Soft Soils During the Design of Major Infrastructure Projects
AU - Tanderup, Martin
AU - Lodahl, Michael Rosenlund
AU - Thomassen, Kristina
AU - Ibsen, Lars Bo
PY - 2024/2/29
Y1 - 2024/2/29
N2 - This paper investigates whether cement stabilization of weak soft soils is a sustainable foundation solution, compared to traditional Danish methods used when weak soft soils are deemed unfit. Traditionally, a mass exchange, piled foundation, or pre-consolidation of the soil would be used. The paper is focused on a fictitious highway construction near Aalborg in Denmark, with a 6-m soft soil deposit below it. The effects of cement stabilization are investigated by casting specimens consisting of in-situ soft soil mixed with different cement amounts. Specimens with Aalborg Portland’s Basis cement and CO2-reduced FutureCem cement were subjected to oedometer and triaxial tests to determine stiffness and strength. To determine the CO2 emission from each foundation solution, Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are performed. Based on the experiments performed, it is concluded that 37.5 kg/m3 FutureCem gained a sufficient stiffness increase, why this cement was used in the LCA. The LCAs showed that cement stabilization could lower the CO2 emission by 85% compared to a mass exchange, 77% for piled foundation, and 58% for pre-consolidation. Thus, cement stabilization can be a sustainable alternative to conventional soft soil remediations, and it is important to consider multiple solutions for a project to reduce CO2 emissions.
AB - This paper investigates whether cement stabilization of weak soft soils is a sustainable foundation solution, compared to traditional Danish methods used when weak soft soils are deemed unfit. Traditionally, a mass exchange, piled foundation, or pre-consolidation of the soil would be used. The paper is focused on a fictitious highway construction near Aalborg in Denmark, with a 6-m soft soil deposit below it. The effects of cement stabilization are investigated by casting specimens consisting of in-situ soft soil mixed with different cement amounts. Specimens with Aalborg Portland’s Basis cement and CO2-reduced FutureCem cement were subjected to oedometer and triaxial tests to determine stiffness and strength. To determine the CO2 emission from each foundation solution, Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are performed. Based on the experiments performed, it is concluded that 37.5 kg/m3 FutureCem gained a sufficient stiffness increase, why this cement was used in the LCA. The LCAs showed that cement stabilization could lower the CO2 emission by 85% compared to a mass exchange, 77% for piled foundation, and 58% for pre-consolidation. Thus, cement stabilization can be a sustainable alternative to conventional soft soil remediations, and it is important to consider multiple solutions for a project to reduce CO2 emissions.
KW - Cement stabilization
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Oedometer tests
KW - Soft soils
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85187674296&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-981-99-9215-7_8
DO - 10.1007/978-981-99-9215-7_8
M3 - Article in proceeding
SN - 978-981-99-9214-0
VL - 447
T3 - Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
SP - 81
EP - 91
BT - Climate Change Adaptation from Geotechnical Perspectives - Select Proceedings of CREST 2023
A2 - Hazarika, Hemanta
A2 - Haigh, Stuart Kenneth
A2 - Chaudhary, Babloo
A2 - Murai, Masanori
A2 - Manandhar, Suman
PB - Springer Publishing Company
CY - Springer, Singapore
ER -