Mechanical behaviour study of soil polluted by crude oil: case of Sidi El Itayem oilfield, Sfax, Tunisia

The pollution of soils by xenobiotic organic substances such as crude oil constitutes major environmental risks, which are still badly evaluated. The environmental risks are caused by the direct contamination of the surrounding areas or by an effect on the living organisms in the soils, thus acting directly on man via the food chains. For these reasons, it is essential to study the effects of these pollutants in the soil. The general objective of the work was to better characterize the mechanical behaviour of sites polluted by crude oil in the short and medium terms (case of oilfield of Sidi El Itayem, Sfax, Tunisia under the supervision of the Franco-Tunisian Oil Company). The process consists of determining and comparing the physicochemical, mechanical and geotechnical characteristics of virgin soil and soil artificially polluted by crude oil according to various pollution rates reaching 15% of the weight of virgin soil. This process made it possible to generate scientific knowledge and data, which could allow the prediction of the effects of the latter in interaction with the soil.