Abstract
Raising of the Mangla Dam in Pakistan submerged about 15,780 acres of land, resulting in the relocation of 8020 inhabitants to a newly developed town named New City. The new site, consisting of 1300 acres, is in the sub-tropical zone and comprises badland topography. The parent soils (Siwalik clay) pose infrastructure serviceability issues, causing immense loss to property. The study aims to improve the properties of Siwalik clay (base soil) using industrial wastes like marble and glass powders (5 to 20%) and polypropylene fibers (0.25 to 1.25%) as modifiers. Laboratory tests including grain size distribution, Atterberg limits, standard Proctor compaction, unconfined compression, indirect tensile strength, swell potential, and California bearing ratio were conducted on the control and modified clay samples. The results showed that unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and swelling strains (SS) were increased by 43% and 8% at 1.57 kPa pressure with 15% replacement of marble powder. However, the addition of the 20% glass powder and 0.5% polypropylene fibers not only improved UCS by 110% and 39%, but also reduced SS by 27% and 86%, respectively. The capital construction cost of 1 km long road with modified subgrade using 15% glass powder was reduced by 16% whereas it increased for marble powder and polypropylene fibers by 22% and 17%, respectively. All modifiers had very low hazard to adjoining aqueous environment. Conclusively, glass powder and polypropylene fibers can be used as environmentally-friendly soil improvement modifiers, leading towards sustainable solutions of the serviceability problems.
Highlights
Mangla Dam was constructed in the 1960s to make up the water deficiency after theIndus Water Treaty between Pakistan and India in 1960 [1]
The objective of this research is to access the sustainability of three different modifiers; namely, waste glass powder (GP), waste marble powder (MP), and polypropylene fibers (PPFs) to improve the engineering behavior of the Siwalik clay
The compaction curves with the increasing percentages of the MP as presented in Figure 7 depict that the initially dry unit weight of the modified soil increases, whereas the optimum moisture content slightly decreases up to 15% addition of MP
Summary
Mangla Dam was constructed in the 1960s to make up the water deficiency after theIndus Water Treaty between Pakistan and India in 1960 [1]. Initial gross storage capacity of the reservoir was 5.88-million-acre feet (MAF) and it submerged almost 69,206 acres of land in the districts of Mirpur, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan [2]. The authorities decided to explore the option of dam raising to reinstate the storage deficiency. The feasibility study carried out for raising of the dam showed that 30 feet dam raising was the most suitable option on economic grounds [4]. This would enhance the water storage capacity of the reservoir by 2.9 MAF and energy generation by 772 GWh/annum (14% of prevailing energy generation). According to the Water and Power Development Authority, this raising would result in submergence of about 15,783 acres of additional area and relocation of about 8023 households [3]
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