Consolidation and Hydraulic Conductivity of Zeolite-Amended Soil-Bentonite Backfills

Abstract

The effect of zeolite amendment for enhanced sorption capacity on the consolidation behavior and hydraulic conductivity, k, of a representative soil-bentonite (SB) backfill for vertical cutoff walls was evaluated via laboratory testing. The consolidation behavior and k of test specimens containing fine sand, 5.8% (dry weight) sodium bentonite, and 0, 2, 5, or 10% (dry weight) of one of three types of zeolite (clinoptilolite, chabazite-lower bed, or chabazite-upper bed) were measured using fixed-ring oedometers, and k also was measured on separate specimens using a flexible-wall permeameter. The results indicated that addition of a zeolite had little impact on either the consolidation behavior or the k of the backfill, regardless of the amount or type of zeolite. For example, the compression index, Cc, for the unamended backfill specimen was 0.24, whereas values of Cc for the zeolite-amended specimens were in the range 0.19≤Cc≤0.23. Similarly, the k for the unamended specimen based on flexible-wall tests was 2.4×10-10 m/s, whereas values of k for zeolite-amended specimens were in the range 1.2×10-10≤k≤3.9×10-10 m/s. The results of the study suggest that enhancing the sorption capacity of typical SB backfills via zeolite amendment is not likely to have a significant effect on the consolidation behavior or k of the backfill, provided that the amount of zeolite added is small (≤10%).