Influence of Zinc on Engineering Properties of Soil

Abstract

Degradation and Exploitation of natural resources have resulted in uncertain environmental changes. From the past decades, it is clearly understood that economic development of developing countries like India depends on industrialization and globalization, which intern affects the environment of living system in the form of soil pollution which is expressed as contamination, in India. Contamination of soil is mainly caused by disposing industrial effluents, municipal solid waste directly into the soil, without prior treatment. Effluents coming out from tanneries, workshops and utilization of agricultural pesticides can result in increase in concentration of heavy metals which leads to contamination of urban and agricultural soils. Variation of concentration of Heavy metals not only affects the environment but also changes the engineering and geotechnical properties of the soil. The release of soluble contaminants into the subsurface has serious consequences on soil behaviour. The extent of changes in soil properties depends on the soil as well as the type and concentration of heavy metals. Effects of these contaminants on engineering properties of soil is a matter of concern for geotechnical engineers, as it would reveal the condition of soil and its suitability for geotechnical purpose. This paper studies mainly focusing on zinc contamination, its absorption mechanism and engineering behaviour by varying the concentration of zinc at 400, 800 and 1200 ppm, the addition of zinc alters the strength with linear reduction in liquid limit.