Inadequate compaction of a soil subgrade can lead to detrimental outcomes that are not only costly but dangerous to the general public. To avoid this, quality control (QC) devices such as the nuclear density gauge (NDG) are currently being used to monitor the compaction and moisture content of soil subgrades. However, regulatory concerns associated with the NDG have encouraged federal and state agencies, as well as the heavy civil construction industry to consider non-nuclear devices for QC testing of compacted soils. One such non-nuclear device is the Soil Density Gauge (SDG), which utilizes electromagnetic wave propagation to obtain soil properties such as wet unit weight and moisture content. This research shows that through using soil-specific trend lines, the SDG has the capability of obtaining an equivalent NDG wet unit weight. Alongside the SDG, two dielectric moisture probes were also evaluated and through a calibration process on compacted soils, a general moisture content trend line was developed. This general moisture content trend line related outputted volumetric moisture contents from the moisture probes to gravimetric moisture contents. Field data were then plotted along with the general moisture content trend line to show that these devices have the potential of predicting gravimetric moisture contents. By combining the results of the SDG and moisture probe analyses, graphs were then developed that relate SDG wet unit weights to NDG dry unit weights using soil and moisture-specific trend lines.

There is a steadily increasing demand for the use of jack-up units in deeper water and harsher environments. Confidence in their use in these environments requires jack-up analysis techniques to reflect accurately the physical processes occurring. This thesis is concerned with the models appropriate for the dynamic assessment of jack-ups, an important issue in long-term reliability considerations. The motivation is to achieve a balanced approach in considering the non-linearities in the structure, foundations and wave loading. A work hardening plasticity model is outlined for the combined vertical, moment and horizontal loading of spudcan footings on dense sand. Empirical expressions for the yield surface in combined load space and a flow rule for prediction of footing displacements during yield are given. Theoretical lower bound bearing capacity factors for conical footings in sand have been derived and are used in a strain-hardening law to define the variation in size of the yield surface with the plastic component of vertical penetration. The complete incremental numerical model has been implemented into a plane frame analysis program named JAKUP. The spectral content of wave loading is considered using NewWave theory, and the importance of random wave histories shown by constraining the deterministic NewWave into a completely random surface elevation. Using this technique, a method for determining short-term extreme response statistics for a sea-state is demonstrated. A numerical experiment on an example jack-up and central North Sea location is shown to emphasise the difference in long-term extreme response according to various footing assumptions. The role of sea-state severity in the variation of short-term extreme response statistics is also highlighted. Finally, probabilistic methods are used to develop further understanding of the response behaviour of jack-ups. A sensitivity study of influential variables (with probabilistic formulations as opposed to deterministic values) has been conducted using the response surface methodology.

Jack-up units have considerable economic significance because they are used to carry out a large proportion of the world's oil and gas exploration in water depths less than 90.0m. Due to the increase in use of jack-ups in harsher environments, analysis techniques assuming quasi-static and linear structural behaviour have had to be reassessed. This thesis is concerned with non-linear dynamic analysis methods appropriate for a jack-up assessment. Jack-up modelling requires realistic representation of the structure, the foundations and the environmental loading, together with the implementation of appropriate dynamic analysis algorithms. Techniques for each of these aspects of jack-up analysis are reviewed and the implementation of several of the methods in an advanced plane frame analysis program called JAKUP is described. Geometric non-linearity in the structure and work hardening plasticity at the foundations are accounted for in the program. Test cases are presented to verify the implementation of the methods and then some illustrative plane frame quasi-static and dynamic analyses are described. These simple models highlight the importance of accounting for dynamic motions in a jack-up analysis. For the quasi-static analyses, the assumption of pinned footing behaviour is seen to always result in the most conservative displacement and moment predictions. However, the analyses show that this is not always the case when dynamic amplification is accounted for.

Η πτυχιακή εργασία αποτελείται από δύο μέρη. Το πρώτο είναι μια τεχνικογεωλογική περιγραφή της σήραγγας του Αιγίου, η οποία αποτελεί μέρος της καινούργιας σιδηροδρομικής γραμμής που ξεκινάει δυτικά του σιδηροδρομικού σταθμού του Διακοπτού και τελειώνει δυτικά της πόλης του Αιγίου, στη Δυτική Ελλάδα. Η σύραγγα έχει συνολικό μήκος 3518 μέτρα, από Χ.Θ. 85+538,67 έως Χ.Θ. 89+246,40, κατασκευάστηκε σε Νεογενείς-Τεταρτογενείς σχηματισμούς, όπως κροκαλοπαγή, ψαμμίτες και μάργες. Το δεύτερο μέρος αφορά τη σχεδίαση της τεχνικογεωλογικής μηκοτομής και οριζοντιογραφίας από τη σύνθεση των γεωλογικών αποτυπώσεων των μετώπων εκσκαφής. / This thesis has two parts, the first part is the geotechnical description of the construction of the tunnel, which is part of the new railway line that starts at the west of the old railway station of the city of Diakopto and ends at the west of the city of Aigio, in western Greece. The tunnel has a total length of 3518m; from kilometric position 85+538,57 to kilometric position 89+246,40, it was built in Neocene’s – Quaternary formations, such as conglomerate, sandstone and marl. The second part is a geotechnical general plan on the horizontal plane and an alignment of the tunnel from kilometric position 85+953,95 to kilometric position 86+936,70, from the composition of the geological mappings of the fronts of the excavations.

Past nuclear weapon production activities have left a significant legacy of uranium (U) contamination in the vadose zone (VZ) of the Department of Energy (DOE) Hanford Site. This U is a source of groundwater (GW) contamination. There is a concern that elevated U concentration would slowly infiltrate through the VZ, reach the GW water table, and then end up in nearby rivers and lakes. Remediation of U-contaminated low moisture content soil is a challenging task considering the VZ depth, where contamination is found between 70 and 100 m below the ground surface, and the formation of highly soluble and stable CaUO2CO3 complexes is influenced by Hanford’s soil rich in carbonate. Injection of reactive gasses (e.g., NH3) is a promising technology to decrease U migration in through the VZ. The NH3 injection creates alkaline conditions that would alter the pore water chemistry (e.g., dissolving some aluminosilicates). Over time as the pH neutralizes, U(VI) could precipitate as uranyl mineral (e.g., Na-boltwoodite). Also, the dissolved U(VI) could be incorporated into the structure of some mineral phases or be coated by non-U minerals. These chemical reactions could control the U(VI) mobility to the GW. However, there is a lack of knowledge on how the VZ pore water constituents (e.g., Si, Al3+, HCO3-, and Ca2+) would affect U(VI) removal/precipitation in alkaline conditions. This study quantified the role of the major pore water constituents on the U(VI) removal and evaluated the uranyl minerals that could precipitate from a variety of SPW solutions. Results showed that the percentage of U(VI) removal was controlled by Si/Al ratios and Ca2+ concentration regardless of HCO3- concentration tested. XRD revealed the presence of uranyl minerals by analyzing precipitates formed from SPW solutions, but none of them were identified as uranyl silicates as expected from speciation modeling. The SEM images displayed dense amorphous regions high in silica content, where EDS elemental analysis unveiled higher U atomic percentage in some samples. U(VI) silicate and carbonate minerals were predicted by the speciation modeling.

Offshore on-bottom pipelines are subjected to cycles of thermal and pressure-induced axial expansion, which can cause them to buckle laterally. For an elegant and cost-effective solution, lateral buckling is allowed in a controlled manner. Of the various design parameters, the soil resistance has the greatest associated uncertainty. Previous studies of lateral pipe-soil interaction have used laboratory model tests and continuum-based numerical methods. However, they are economically and computationally expensive, and have mostly been restricted to pipes on undrained clay. To overcome this limitation, this thesis introduces the distinct element method (DEM) as a novel numerical tool for the study of lateral pipe-soil interaction for partially embedded offshore pipelines on sandy seabeds. The DEM directly models the particulate nature of sandy soils, allowing large displacements of discrete bodies and providing insights into the mechanics of the soil at a particle level. Pipe{soil interaction is studied by DEM analyses through four separate research stages: (i) mechanical characterisation of the soil, (ii) specimen preparation and pipeline implementation, (iii) small displacement pipe loading tests and (iv) large displacement pipe loading tests. The soil is modelled as an assembly of spherical particles exchanging contact forces, energy and momentum when they interact. At the microscopic scale, a novel moment-relative rotation contact law is introduced to account for the irregular shape of real sand grains. At a macroscopic scale, the mechanical behaviour of the sand is calibrated using experimental triaxial test data. Additional work includes the numerical preparation of a soil assembly and the implementation of a pipeline object in the open-source DEM code Yade. A novel specimen preparation technique is developed to assemble a homogeneous sample at a desired relative density. The pipeline is implemented as a cylindrical body with a continuously curved surface and a specific mass. Small displacement loading tests are performed, with a segment of the pipeline interacting with a 3D prismatic soil domain, replicating plane strain conditions. The influence of particle size, domain thickness, loading velocity and damping are investigated. The findings provide valuable recommendations for performing DEM simulations of this problem, balancing numerical accuracy and computational effort. Large displacement loading tests are performed to validate the DEM approach and to obtain detailed insights into the nature of the pipe-soil interaction. Monotonic vertical and lateral loading simulations are quantitatively compared with laboratory results. To replicate realistic loading conditions of the pipeline on the seabed, cyclic large displacement tests are also performed. Both the monotonic and the cyclic tests show a good level of agreement with experimental results obtained in previous research. Moreover, the numerical analyses provide insights into the evolution of particle motion and the failure mechanism within the soil.

El objetivo de la tesis es poner en conocimiento la efectividad que tiene la ingeniería Geotécnica para la aprobación de los niveles de servicios en contratos de conservación vial y así poder conllevar un pavimento básico trabajando de forma satisfactoria. En esta investigación se empleo datos proporcionados por la empresa encargada de la carretera “CORREDOR HUANCAVELICA – LIRCAY –EMP-3S (HUALLAPAMPA) Y EMP. PE 3S (LAMEJORADA)-ACOBAMBA –EMP PE-3S (PUENTE ALCOMACHAY)” y de los resultados de los ensayos realizados en la misma carretera. La tesis tiene un Diseño de Investigación Experimental, Longitudinal y Retrospectivo; así mismo, en el Tipo de Investigación es Cuantitativo, Explicativo y Descriptivo. Para comprobar tal situación se analizan los resultados de la evaluación por niveles de servicio del mantenimiento de la carretera y se comparan con los ensayos geotécnicos de la calidad de los materiales usados, proporcionados por la empresa encargada del mantenimiento del corredor vial, para así llegar a la conclusión que mantener una eficiente ingeniería geotécnica conlleva a tener un pavimento básico trabajando adecuadamente. The aim of the thesis is to inform the effectiveness Geotechnical Engineering has to approve the Service Level in Road Maintenance Contracts and so to lead UN Working basic pavement so yes satisfactoria.En esta Employment Research Data provided by Responsible company's "RB Huancavelica. - Lircay -EMP-3S (Huallapampa) and EMP PE 3S (LAMEJORADA) -ACOBAMBA -EMP PE-3S (BRIDGE ALCOMACHAY)" road and the results of tests carried out on the same road. The thesis has a design of Experimental, longitudinal and retrospective research; Even so, in the kind of research it is quantitative explanatory and descriptive. V To check this situation the evaluation results are analyzed by levels of service and road maintenance compared with geotechnical quality testing of used materials provided by the Company that the maintenance of the corridor, Asi para Arrive concluded that maintaining efficient Geotechnical Engineering involves a pavement Having a basic working properly.

Purpose: One of the major soil problems that the construction industry may face is the presence of a certain type of highly sensitive marine clay, known as quick clay. The quick clay possesses properties that allow the clay to move from being relatively stable to on mechanical impact losing virtually all shear strength and act as a viscous mass. The majority of the Swedish, Norwegian and Canadian landslides, caused by quick clay, have caused significant consequences due to lack of bearing capacity of quick clay. In order to prevent these landslides knowledge about where there is quick clay is required. A large-scale mapping work has therefore been ongoing for a long time. The government has for some time been researching how to streamline mapping work and the result has shown a connection between quick clay attendance and increased resistivity. The purpose of this study is to develop a theoretical framework for areas with higher risk for presence of quick clay based on linking the resistivity to geotechnical properties. Method: The study has mainly applied quantitative data collection methods in the form of data analyzes combined with literature studies. Measurement data used in the study comprise of data collected through geotechnical and geophysical surveys. Literature studies have mainly been supported by reports from previous research in the field. Result: The result of the study points to a variety of geological factors that can give rise to increased risk of quick clay existence such as good permeability, artesian groundwater and uneven mountain subsidence etc. The study also shows a possible link between resistivity and sensitivity. Consequences: The study demonstrates the possibility of linking resistivity to the geotechnical property sensitivity to facilitate and streamline the mapping of quick clay through airborne resistivity measuring. Limitations: The study is limited to studying two research areas in south western Sweden, Strömstad and Lödöse. The study intends to examine the evidence from previous surveys and no further supplementary studies are conducted. The work is also delimited to study the geotechnical and geophysical properties of quick clay (in terms of resistivity). Chemical aspects are not taken into account. / Syfte: Ett av de större markproblem bygg- och anläggningsbranschen kan tvingas stå inför är förekomsten av en viss typ av högsensitiv havsavsatt lera, kallad kvicklera. Kvickleran besitter egenskaper som innebär att leran kan gå från relativt stabil till att vid mekanisk påverkan förlora praktiskt taget all sin skjuvhållfasthet och uppträder som en trögflytande massa. Majoriteten av de svenska, norska och kanadensiska lerskred som medfört betydande konsekvenser har varit ett resultat av kvicklerans bristande bärighet. För att förebygga dessa kvickleraskred krävs vetskap om var kvicklera förekommer. Ett omfattande kartläggningsarbete har därför pågått under en lång tid. Staten har under en tid bedrivit forskning för att effektivisera kartläggningsarbetet och resultatet har visat på ett samband mellan kvickleraförekomst och förhöjd resistivitet. Syftet med detta examensarbete är att ta fram ett teoretiskt ramverk för områden med större risk för förekomst av kvicklera baserat på att koppla samband mellan resistivitet och geotekniska egenskaper i form av vattenkvot, sensitivitet och densitet. Metod: I studien har i huvudsak kvantitativa datainsamlingsmetoder i form av dataanalyser tillämpats i kombination med litteraturstudier. Mätdatat som studien omfattar är insamlad via geotekniska och geofysiska undersökningar, litteraturstudierna har främst tagit stöd i rapporter från tidigare forskning inom området. Resultat: Resultatet pekar på en rad olika geologiska faktorer som kan ge upphov till ökad risk för kvickleraförekomst, exempelvis god permeabilitet, artesiskt grundvatten samt ojämn bergunderyta etc. Studien visar även på en möjlig koppling mellan resistivitet och sensitivitet. Konsekvenser: Studien visar på möjligheten att koppla resistivitet till den geotekniska egenskapen sensitivitet för att underlätta och effektivisera kartläggningen av kvicklera genom flygburna resistivitetsmätningar. Begränsningar: Uppsatsen begränsas till att studera två undersökningsområden i sydvästra Sverige, Strömstad och Lödöse. Studien avser granska underlag från tidigare utförda undersökningar och inga ytterligare kompletterande undersökningar har utförts. Arbetet avgränsas till att studera kvicklerans geotekniska egenskaper samt dess resistivitetsegenskaper. Arbetet tar således inte hänsyn till kemiska aspekter.

Thermal power station in most countries is saddled with the problem of fly ash disposal and unless suitable avenues are found for its proper use, this would pose a gigantic problem to the power sector. Disposal of huge quantities of fly ashes without proper care causes considerable impact on the environment particularly the one leading to soil and groundwater contamination. On the other hand, fly ashes have many desirable properties which can find applications in civil engineering, especially in geotechnical engineering. The pozzolanic reactivity is one of the important properties of fly ashes that enhance its application. Thought the fly ashes with self – pozzolanic property are well utilized, fly ashes with insufficient free lime, such as class F fly ashes are being grossly underutilized and they form a considerable portion of fly ashes that are disposed. Yet another factor restricting the use of fly ash is the concern about the leachability of lime under field conditions particularly under saturated or partially saturated conditions. Hence an attempt is made in this thesis, to reduce the lime leachability of class F fly ashes with different additives. Thus, selection of right amounts of additives to reduce the lime leacability is an important aspect studied in this thesis. Effect of such as strength, compressibility, and CBR value is also investigated. Another simple way to reduce the problem of disposal of fly ash is to utilize it for the construction of waste disposal sites particularly for lining solid waste disposal facilities in place of the natural clay materials which are very often procured by excavating and transporting from far off places. Also, the capacities of fly ashes to sorb heavy metal that are likely to be present in the leachates generated from the industrial wastes have been studied. Of the other factors limiting the generous use of fly ashes is the leachability of several trace elements present in them. Hence the leachability of trace metals from fly ashes under different practical situations, before and after incorporating the selected additives for improving the engineering properties of fly ashes, has been studied. The thesis is presented in 10 chapters. The relevant background for the studies and scope of the work is given Chapter 1. Sources of the fly ashes collected for the investigating along with their physical and chemical properties are presented in chapter 2. Two low line fly ashes are collected directly from the electronic precipitators of the thermal power plants located at Neyvelli town of the Tamil nadu and Maddanur town of Andhra Pradesh, India, named NFA and MFA respectively. MFA has greater finer particle content than NFA. The particles of MFA Have rougher surface compared to those of NFA. Both of fly ashes have predominantly quartz and mullite phase in them. The silica, total lime and carbon contents which have major influence on the pozzolanic reactivity of fly ashes vary considerably in the both the fly ashes. Lime leachability is taken as the amount of lime that is converted into soluble form (by dissociation into calcium and hydroxyl ions) under a standardized condition. It can be used to asses the long term sustainability of the strength achieved in fly ashes with lime. Lime leachability studies have been conducted on the fly ashes stabilized with different additives in specially designed moulds. Results presented in Chapter 3 showed that leachability of lime in fly ashes increases with the increase in lime content though it is not in proportion to the increase in lime content. This is because the solubility of lime is less and is independent of the total lime present. The marginal reduction in leachability is mainly due to cemented matrix of fly ash inhibiting the leaching of time. The higher the strength of the matrix the lower is the leachability. Further it is made clear that at any lime content presence of gypsum reduces the time leachability which has been attributed to the transformation of pozzolanic compounds into less soluble form than the compounds formed with lime alone. With the increase in curing period, the amount of lime that leaches from the lime-stabilized fly ashes as well as those treated with gypsum to a considerable extent. The nature of alteration does not seem to change with time as revealed by a good correlation between lime leachability ratios obtained after 7 days and 14 days of curing periods. Chapter 4 presents the results of unconfined compressive strength tests carried out on fly ashes with varying lime and gypsum contents, before soaking and also soaking in several heavy metal solutions, along with the durability to the cycle of wetting and drying. The results revealed that the strength of low lime fly ashes increases with lime content significantly up to the optimum lime content of about 2.5 – 5% and gradually thereafter. Addition of gypsum of 1 – 2.5% increases the strength of fly ashes further at any lime content. Increase in strength with gypsum, which is quite significant at lower lime contents initially, is observed for a considerable period (up to 180 days) at higher lime contents. The increase in strength is as high as 40-fold in some instances. This increase in strength which is also more durable has been attributed to the formation of calcium – sodium – aluminium - silicate hydrate along with calcium silicate hydrate. Further, it is observed that fly ash which responds better to lime stabilization shows accelerated gain in strength due to the addition of gypsum at early curing periods than the fly ash that responds solely to lime. Decrease in lime leachability ratio is a good indication of the increased strength along with the increased durability. California Bearing Radio (CBR) values are of great significance in the utilization of fly ashes in bulk quantities for the construction of road and railway embankments and pavements. Studies conducted to determine the CBR values of fly ashes with different lime and gypsum contents after curing for different time periods are described in chapter 5. The CBR values are observed to increase with lime alone significantly up to 2.5% and only marginally beyond. But the increase in CRB values is considerable with gypsum at any lime content. The increase in CBR value is particularly more with 2.5% gypsum for fly ashes with 2.5% lime. The CBR values of stabilized fly ashes are generally higher for 5 mm depth of penetration than those for 2.5 mm one due to the high stiffness of the matrix formed even at low strain levels. The loss in CBR values with soaking is relatively more at lower curing the periods due to the improper cementation of particles. Even after this significant loss in CBR values, fly ashes with 2.5% lime and 2.5% gypsum register the maximum values after curing under soaked condition. Unlike in the case of unconfined compressive strength, lime leachability values could not be well correlated with the CBR values of fly ashes with different lime and gypsum contents since many more factors influence the CBR values than those of unconfined compressive strength alone. Chapter 6.brings out the effects of addition of lime alone and lime along with gypsum on the compressibility behaviour of the fly ashes. Since the fly ashes when treated with additives develop strength and exhibit lower compression with the passage of time, consolidation testing with conventional duration of load increment may not be appropriate. Hence an attempt has been made to assess the minimum duration of load increment necessary to study the compressibility characteristics of such materials. Thus the compressibility behaviour of fly ashes with additives has been studied using conventional consolidation test with different durations of load increments varying from 30 minutes to 48 hours. The results indicated that 30 minutes of duration of load increment can be used to assess the compressibility behaviour of such materials. The effect of lime which reduces the compression is seen to be maximum from the results obtained with the load duration increment of 30 minutes but gradually reduce with higher duration of load increment. It has also been observed that the rate of decrease in the compressibility is maximum up to 2.5% lime and thereafter gradual. The compressibility of lime –treated fly ashes further reduces when gypsum is incorporated, the optimum gypsum percentage being 2.5. This reduction in the compressibility of fly ashes enhanced by incorporating lime and gypsum makes them versatile in the construction of embankments and for structural fills, particularly reducing the time required in between laying of each lift. It has been brought out that decrease in the lime leachability decreases the compressibility of fly ashes. Fly ash has potential application in the construction of base liners of waste containment facilities. While most of the fly ashes improve in the strength with curing, the ranges of hydraulic conductivities they attain may often not meet the basic requirement of a liner material. Attempts to reduce the hydraulic conductivity by adding lime as gypsum along with lime to both the fly ashes are presented in chapter 7. Hydraulic conductivities of the compacted specimens have been determined in the laboratory using the falling head methods. It has been observed that the addition of gypsum reduces the hydraulic conductivity of the lime treated fly ashes. The reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of the fly ashes containing gypsum is significantly more of sample with high amounts of lime contents (as high as 1000 times) than those with lower amounts of lime. However, there is relatively more increases in the strengths of the samples with the inclusion of gypsum to the fly ashes even at lower lime contents. This is due to the fact that excess lime added to fly ash is not effectively converted in to pozzolanic compounds. Even the presence of gypsum is observed not to activate these reactions with excess lime. On the other hand the higher amount of lime in the presence of gypsum is observed to produce more cementitious compounds which block the pores in the fly ash. Amount of lime leached in the found to be directly related to the hydraulic conductivity inspite of many –fold variations in the hydraulic conductivity achieved by curing fly ash with lime and gypsum. The consequent reduction on the hydraulic conductivity of fly ash would be beneficial in reducing the leachability of trace elements in the fly ash when used as base liner. Fly ash contains trace metals and other substances in the sufficient quantities which may leach out over a period of time. The study has been extended to examine the leachability of a few selected trace metals viz., Cd, Cu, Cr, Mn, Pb and Zn from fly ash before and after incorporating additives has been reported in chapter 9. The standard laboratory leaching test for the combustion residues developed by Van der Sloot et al. has been employed to study the leachabilities of trace elements as a function of liquid to solid (L/S) ratio and pH. The leachability test were conducted on the powdered fly ash samples obtained from unconfined compressive strength tests, conducted after a curing period of 28 and 180 days. It observed that, there is a marked reduction in the relative leachabilities of trace elements present, at the end of 28 days which reduced only marginally at the end of 180 days. Chapter 9 reports the retention capacities of fly ashes for copper, lead and zinc metals ions. Various parameters like contact time, initial concentration and pH have been varied and their effect on retention mechanism studied. The retention order of metals ions, Cu+ 2 > Pb+2>Zn+2, is observed to be the same for both the fly ashes at all pH values. The dominant mechanisms responsible for the retention are precipitation at higher pH’s as hydroxides and adsorption at lower pH’s Due to presence of silica and alumina oxide surface in fly ash. First order kinetic plots have revealed that the rate constant value increases with increase in initial concentration and pH. Langmuir adsorption isotherms have been plotted to study the maximum adsorption isotherms have been plotted to study the maximum adsorption capacities for metal ions under different conditions. The older indicates that the adsorption is predominantly by silica surface than that by alumina or iron oxide surfaces. This thesis demonstrates that incorporation of gypsum along with lime in the optimal proportions not only reduces the lime leachability but also greatly enhances the strength and CBR values, reduces the compressibility and minimizes the leaching of trace elements present in them enhancing the potential of fly ashes for many applications. Detailed conclusions are presented in chapter 10. The study greatly helps in promoting the use of fly ashes for many geotechnical and geo-environmental applications.

According to a 2012 American Coal Ash Association Coal production Survey Report, US coal fired power plants produced more than 109 million tons of waste that year. Approximately half of this waste is the valuable by-product fly ash. There are three classes of fly ash: cementitious class C and non-cementitious classes F and N. Over half of the fly ash produced is used in the geotechnical/construction industries. Most geotechnical soil stabilization studies using fly ash are focused on controlling shrink-swell potential of clays. This study utilized the less desirable class F fly ash to assess the improvement of shear strength parameters of granular soils. Two mix designs were developed and tested using consolidated undrained, unconfined compression, and triaxial testing. Mix designs consisted of 15% fly ash with 0.5 or 1% cement, and poorly graded Ottawa sand compacted using a standard effort at 10 percent moisture content. Consolidated undrained testing on Mix 1, which included flushing and saturating the specimens, produced higher shear strength parameters than for the sand alone. However, the results were inconsistent with respect to the increase in shear strength parameters with time. Unconfined compression testing was then conducted on both Mix 1 and Mix 2 to assess strength gain with time. Results showed both mixes gained appreciable strength with time but doubling the cement did not double the unconfined compressive strength. Triaxial testing was then conducted on Mix 1 using specimens that were not flushed or saturated. This testing was used to determine if flushing destroyed the specimen soil fabric. The shear strength parameters from the triaxial testing were very similar to those determined from consolidated undrained testing. This demonstrated that flushing did not affect the shear strength parameters. Inconsistent triaxial test results from fly ash-cement-sand mixes have been previously reported in the literature.