Constant rate of strain consolidation of resedimented Class F fly ash

Abstract

Although the utilization of fly ash has increased over the last several decades, more than 60 percent of the fly ash produced each year in the United States continues to be disposed in ash ponds and landfills. Many disposal facilities are now or will soon be filled to their design capacity. As a result, there is an increasing interest in reclaiming existing fly ash pond areas. One possible use is as foundation for new disposal facilities, parking lots or even buildings. Before these facilities could be constructed on former fly ash ponds, the response of the fly ash to imposed loads must be determined. In the current study, constant rate of strain (CRS) consolidation tests as per ASTM D4186 were performed on medium-scale resedimented Class F fly ash samples. The compressibility behavior of the fly ash tested was found to be similar to published results for inorganic sandy silt and poorly graded sand. The value of secondary compression coefficient was found to be small.