Soil Innovations for Enhanced Coastal Infrastructure Durability: Durable Soil Stabilization with Computational Insights

Problematic soils, such as soils that shrink and swell, weak clays, and silts, are commonly found in coastal areas of the United States. Constructing infrastructure including ports, roads, railways, and pipelines in places with challenging soil conditions can lead to significant damage and early failure during its operational lifespan. The rising sea level has worsened this scenario through more frequent intense storms and storm surges. Hence, ensuring the optimal functioning of coastal structures is crucial for the protection of coastlines and the communities residing in these areas. The frequent infiltration of saltwater into the stabilized soil material can rapidly degrade its qualities. Restricting the entry of salt-rich water into the stabilized soil material and forming durable products that enhance strength (such as low Calcium C-S-H) will boost the long-term performance. Therefore, there is a need to optimize the current approach for chemical stabilization for the coastal environments, e.g., salt-rich, dynamic pH, moisture fluctuations, and temperature changes. This study will focus on two main objectives: firstly, improving the chemical composition of the stabilizer to encourage the development of strong strength-enhancing compounds (such as low calcium C-S-H) in coastal environments, and secondly, enhancing the density of compacted stabilized soil to reduce the infiltration of moisture and dissolved salts by using the soil modification properties of the stabilizers.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $100000
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348330

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Coastal Research and Transportation Education (CREATE)

  Texas State University
  San Marcos, TX  United States  77666

  Oregon State University, Corvallis

  Department of Civil Engineering
  202 Apperson Hall
  Corvallis, OR  United States  97331-2302
• Managing Organizations:

  Coastal Research and Transportation Education (CREATE)

  Texas State University
  San Marcos, TX  United States  77666
• Project Managers:

  Bruner, Britain

  Kulesza, Stacey

• Performing Organizations:

  Oregon State University, Corvallis

  School of Civil and Construction Engineering
  101 Kearney Hall
  Corvallis, OR  United States  97331-2302
• Principal Investigators:

  Akula, Pavan

• Start Date: 20240915
• Expected Completion Date: 20250914
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Coastal engineering; Durability; Seawater; Soil stabilization; Soils
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01932896
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Coastal Research and Transportation Education (CREATE)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348330
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Oct 7 2024 4:30PM