Soil-water characteristic curve and permeablity of recycled materials

• Main Author: Khor, Colin Jie Rui.
• Other Authors: Harianto Rahardjo
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45609
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The importance of using recycled materials is at its highest as the cost of new materials soars to a new high after recent globalisation and shortage of certain construction like copper and aggregates for cement. Thus, if we are able to reuse the waste materials from completed projects then we are not only able to save cost and also help in paving the route to a green environment. This study assessed the suitability of four recycled materials relative to virgin aggregates for use as base and sub-base materials. The four recycled materials were the recycled fine and coarse asphalt pavement (RAP), steel slag (SS) and copper slag (CS). Assessment of these materials was done in terms of their hydraulic conductivity and mechanical properties with focuses on the soil-water characteristic and saturated permeability of the specimens. The results indicate that pore size distribution has a profound effect on the unsaturated permeability function; the smaller the mean pore diameter of a soil specimen, the lower will be the permeability of the soil.