Dredged Marine Sediments Geotechnical Characterisation for Their Reuse in Road Construction

Abstract

A large Research European Interreg IVA Program called "Sustainable Environmental Treatment And Reuse of Marine Sediment" is running in order to better understand the Channel sediment characteristics and to develop and promote sustainable management practices for marine sediments. A total of 13 sediments localized along the Manche channel were sampled and analyzed for SETARMS project. A comprehensive series of laboratory tests were performed to characterize different sediments and to class them from a geotechnical point of view according to the French standard GTR. This will be necessary to evaluate the potential use of treated sediments. Then to determine, with GTS French guide recommendations the appropriate formulation using hydraulic binders in order to improve sediments mechanical properties. This paper presents and discusses results of physical and geotechnical characterization of different sediments sampled from different French ports. Geotechnical characterization results show that sediments are classified as fine and plastic materials with low to high organic matter content. Knowing that the variability of the sediments characteristics is one of the limits to their reuse in geotechnical applications, the results will be presented and put in prospect towards this variability and the reuse of sediment as a subgrade layer.