Utilization of ash from power plants for high embankments on soft soil

Abstract

The ash landfills are a major environmental issue. The use of ash for the highway and railway substructure achieves a double benefit: it significantly reduces the deposited quantities of ash as well as the consumption of natural materials such as crushed stone, gravel and sand. The investigation of engineering properties of fly ash from the power plant in Serbia was conducted at the Laboratory of Soil Mechanics at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade. Relevant physical and mechanical properties of ash and mixtures with binders (cement/lime) were investigated. The ash was also tested from the aspect of the potential environmental impact, which primarily depends on the leaching behaviour of the present trace elements. The results of the study showed that fly ash meets technical and environmental requirements and that has the potential for use in highway substructure, such as construction of embankments and stabilization of soft soils. Benefits of utilization of ash and slag was shown in the case of the construction of a high embankment on soft soil on the highway section Obrenovac-Ub in Serbia.