Mechanical Behavior of Boulder Crusher Dust (BCD)-Stabilized Dredged Soil

Dredged soil is a waste of sediments including organic matter, soils etc., excavated from a river and has low shear strength, low bearing capacity and high compressibility. Post-September 2014 floods in Srinagar–Kashmir, several lakhs of tones of dredged material was targeted for dredging out by 2017–18. However, dredged material posed serious disposal and environmental problem in and around the flood channels and Jhelum River in the capital city Srinagar. Therefore, in this study, boulder dust, a waste product of boulder crushing units which is left in huge quantities and poses enormous environmental, health as well as disposal problems was chosen as an additive for stabilization of dredged soils. Basic tests were performed on soil samples from three different sites on the flood channel running through HMT area in the outskirts of Srinagar–Kashmir. A comparison of the test results was run, and the weakest soil sample was selected for further research work of stabilization. The mechanical properties of the dredged soil were enhanced by using boulder dust in increments of 4%. Atterberg limits, compaction characteristics, CBR values and UC strength were studied. The experimental results revealed that the boulder dust is a promising additive for stabilization of the dredged soil keeping in view the environmental concerns and the economy of the material.