Geotechnical Suitability of Soil for Construction and Pavement Purposes, New Ismailia City, Egypt

Document Type : Original research articles

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Geology department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, 41522 Ismailia, Egypt

Abstract

The New Ismailia City is located at 30° 34' 31.51"N and 32° 20' 26.27"E, on the eastern side of the Suez Canal, covering an area of about 11km2. A comprehensive geotechnical field and laboratory testing program, chemical analysis of soil samples, as well as X-ray investigation has been carried out. The general subsurface soil sequence encompasses two layers; the upper and lower sand layer, in addition to the backfill. Several lenses of variable composition are encountered at different depths. The SPT values are increasing with depth, which could be attributed to the load resulted from the weight of the overburden soil layers. The New Ismailia City has acceptable bearing capacity range: 1.0 kg/cm2 to 1.5 kg/cm2. The ultimate bearing capacity values of foundation 3.3 kg/cm2 to 4.99 kg/cm2, are laying within the allowable range of the bearing capacity, and hence soils are suitable for both construction and pavement purposes. Based on X-ray investigation, the identified clay minerals are montmorillonite, kaolinite and illite. The montmorillonite clay is regarded as very hydrophilic due to their mobile structure, making them highly-expansive and hazardous. So, it's suitable to replace the soil to a depth of 4-7m. The backfilling should be carried out using a mixture of non-cohesive sand and gravel, with percent of fines not exceeds 10%, and soil type A-1-a or A-1-b. Finally, the soil must be compacted to achieve the required maximum dry density and optimum moisture content (maximum dry density: 2.1g/cm3 & optimum moisture content 6.6%).

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Advances in Environmental and Life Sciences
Volume 5, Issue 1
January 2024
Pages 18-34

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