Very little work appears to have been done on the engineering characteristics of

compacted shale pieces. On the other hand, if work has in fact been done, the
results have not been published in adequate detail in the technical literature
familiar to geotechnical engineers. This is a very unfortunate situation, not only
because shale is a material which must be used in large quantities when
encountered in road cuts, but also because its behavior is very complicated and
often unpredictable.

Shale is composed of discrete particles (clastic) which have been brought together
by pressure. A soil-like shale is one which lacks intergranular cementing, and a
rock-like shale, in contrast, is cemented or recrystalized (Underwood, 1967). A
soil-like shale derives its shearing resistance from the interatomic or molecular
bonds and from negative pore water pressures. The number of bonds per unit area
is proportional to the normal pressure, and the strength of the bonds is dependent
on the mineralogical composition of the grains (Mitchell, 1976). In a normally
consolidated soil-like shale the number of bonds is directly proportional to the
effective consolidation pressure.

Overconsolidation leads to more bonds than for a normally consolidated shale at

the same effective consolidation pressure. A rock-like shale derives its strength
from the strength of the cementing materials and from the intermolecular bonds.

The magnitude of the consolidation pressure induced in a shale deposit is

dependent on a number of factors. These include the depth of burial, the rate of
sedimentation, the permeability of the underlying and overlying sediments and the
duration of loading (Rieke and Chilingarian, 1974). During the initial stages of
sedimentation the fluid pressure is equal to the hydrostatic head. As compaction
proceeds, the escape of interstitial water is inhibited by the decrease in
permeability, and fluid pressures greater than the hydrostatic pressure may result.
When this happens, the increase in the effective consolidation pressure is less than
the increase in the total stress by the magnitude of the excess fluid pressure.

The inter-relationship among pressure, porosity reduction and fluid release in shale
formations is influenced by several factors. According to Mead (1968) they are,
(1) particle size, (2) type of clay minerals, (3) adsorbed cations, (4) interstitial
electrolyte solution, (5) acidity, and (6) temperature. In addition to the above, there
are many other secondary factors which modify the pressure - pore volume
relationship (Rieke and Chilingarian, 1974). They are, (1) deformation and
granulation of mineral particles, (2) cementation, (3) solution, (4) recrystallization,
(5) squeezing together of the grains, (6) mechanical rearrangement, (7) expulsion
of adsorbed water, (8) chemical change and cementation between grains, (9)
occurrence of carbonates and sands, (10) abnormally overpressured zones, (11)
crushing of grains, (12) mineralogical transformation, (13) dehydration, and (14)
NaCl filtration.