Mechanical and Physical Effects of Electroosmotic Dewatering of Clayey Soils

Electrokinetic (EK) treatment is studied for fine grained dredged soils as an innovative and cost-effective method to accelerate the dewatering and improve their mechanical behaviour. Owing to their high-water content, the dredged sediments take a very long time for the consolidation process, much more than those considered in the typical problems of geotechnical engineering. Some electroosmotic tests in oedometer conditions on a clayey soil have been carried out at the University of Napoli Federico II in a special apparatus (special oedometer), adopting a pore fluid with different salt concentration. The results show that the addition of soluble salts in small quantities (until 8 g/l) can improve the electroosmotic consolidation of soft clay. On the contrary, excessive salinity reduces the efficiency of electroosmotic dewatering. The optimal salinity content has been then determined. At the end of the EK tests, some triaxial tests have been performed on the treated specimens in order to analyse the effectiveness of the EK treatment in the improvement of the soil mechanical propertie