QUARRY FINES-AMENDED

BALTIMORE DREDGED SEDIMENTS

AS POTENTIAL
HIGHWAY EMBANKMENT MATERIALS

Primary Investigator: Prof. Dr. Ahmet H. Aydilek

Research Assistant: Atul Kumar Singh
 Objectives
 Analyze a potential additive (quarry-by-products) to stabilize the dredged material
enabling the use of these materials as highway embankment materials or general fill.

 Can the blends of dredged material and quarry fines be used as highway embankment
material?
Geotechnical properties – acceptable or unacceptable?
Environmental suitability – potential to leach heavy metals?

Research Approach
 Performing Geotechnical tests on dredged materials and blends of dredged materials
and quarry-by-products.

 Batch and column tests to determine the concentration of metals leached from the pure
dredged material and stabilized dredged materials.
 Materials

Washed Quarry Fines Unwashed Quarry Fines

Cox Creek Dredged Material Containment Facility (DMCF)

Pond Fines
 Statistics
Dredged Material
• It was estimated that, between 2008 and
2014 more than 5 million of tons of dredged
sediments were produced (USACE, 2015)
• Only active site for the disposal of
Baltimore Harbor DM is Cox Creek
Dredged material containment
facility(DMCF).
• Cox Creek DMCF will reach its maximum
capacity by 2023.
• Dredged material used for this research has
been stored there for more than 8 years.
Quarry Fines
• Quarrying, and the associated processing
operations for the generation of aggregates,
inevitably leads to the production of quarry
fines.
• 175 million tons of quarry- by-products are
being generated each year in the United
States annually.(FHWA, 1999)
• Quarry-by-products may be dry screenings
collected from below the last screen decks in
dry or wet or pond screenings, usually
obtained from washing aggregates or
collected from settling ponds.
 Compaction Characteristics

Note:-
DM: Pure Dredged Material
D-UW: DM-Unwashed fines (50%-50% by weight)
D-W: DM-Washed fines (50%-50% by weight)
D-P: DM-Pond fines (50%-50% by weight)
 Index and Strength Properties

Liquid Plastic Plasticity Mmaximum

Specific Gravel Sand Fines USCS OMC
Material Limit Limit Index dry density c’ (psi) φ’
Gravity (%) (%) (%) Soil Classification (%)
(%) (%) (%) (kN/m3)

DM 2.68 0.8 15.4 83.8 54 37 17 MH (High plastic silt) 14.9 24.5 7.20 30

D-UW 2.64 0.3 65.2 34.5 35 21 14 SC (Clayey Sand) 17.7 16.1 3.80 45

D-W 2.68 2.2 62.8 35.0 48 29 19 SM (Silty Sand) 17.8 15.9 3.51 47

D-P 2.63 0.6 33.9 65.5 25 21 4 CL-ML (Low plastic clay) 17.7 17.5 4.61 38
 Methods (Batch Leach Tests)
pHstat Leaching Test
(U.S EPA method 1313)
• Assess leaching potential of DM and its blends with quarry-by-products over a wide range of pH.
• Liquid-to-solid ratio = 10:1
• Titration to determine volume for specified pH.
• Samples pH values vary from 2 to 13
 Methods (Batch Leach Tests)
Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP)
(U.S EPA method 1311)

• Used to determine the hazardous waste for toxicity

• Extraction fluid: Acetate buffer (pH=4.93)
• Liquid to solid ratio = 20:1
 pHstat leaching test results

Arsenic Iron

Amphoteric pattern for pure dredged material Amphoteric pattern for pure dredged material
Cationic pattern for blends Cationic pattern for blends
 pHstat leaching test results

Zinc Copper

Amphoteric pattern for pure dredged material Amphoteric pattern for pure dredged material
Cationic pattern for blends Amphoteric pattern for blends
pHstat leaching test results

Nickel

Amphoteric pattern for pure dredged material

Cationic pattern for blends
 TCLP Results
Sample TCLP pH As (mg/L) Cu (mg/L) Zn (mg/L) Fe (mg/L) Ni (mg/L)
D1 6.33 BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL

D1-UW 6.11 BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL

D1-W 5.88 BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL

D1-P 6.01 BDL BDL BDL BDL BDL

U.S EPA WQL

6.5-9 0.15 0.06 0.12 N/A 0.06
(mg/L)

MDL (mg/L) 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.05

TCLP Regulatory Limit
5 N/A N/A N/A N/A
(mg/L)
Note: -
MDL* :- Minimum Detection Limits
BDL*:- Below Detection Limits
Methods (Sequential Column Leach Test)

Figure: Sequential Column Leach Test setup

SCLT Results
 SCLT Results
Material D1 D1-E D1-UW D1-UW-E D1-W D1-W-E D1-P D1-P-E

SCLT Peak (mg/L) - Zn 0.62 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.45 0.21 0.5 0.39

SCLT Peak (mg/L) - Ni 0.42 0.26 0.31 0.1 0.26 0.18 0.3 0.19

First-flush elution curve of Zinc First-flush elution curve of Nickel

 SCLT Results
Material D1 D1-E D1-UW D1-UW-E D1-W D1-W-E D1-P D1-P-E

SCLT Peak (mg/L) – Fe 0.52 0.24 0.24 0.22 0.23 0.12 0.31 0.2

SCLT Peak (mg/L) – Cu 0.21 0.13 0.17 0.11 0.12 0.08 0.2 0.10

Lagged response elution curve of Iron First-flush elution curve of Copper

 Conclusions
Geotechnical Behaviour
• Quarry-by-products amended DM shows higher dry unit weights compared to pure DM.

Environmental Behaviour
• pHstat leaching test
 Concentrations of metals are below EPA WQL for the blends of DM and quarry-by-products in the
pH range of 6.5-9.
• SCLT test
 Concentration of Cu and Zn obtained by CLTs exceeded the EPA WQLs for first few pore volumes.
 Quarry-by-products amended DM shows reduced concentration of all the metals in CLT test.
• TCLP test
 Concentrations of heavy metals are barely detectable in DM and blends of DM and quarry-by-
products.
Thank You for Your Attention!
Questions?