Table Of ContentJoint
Transportation
Research
I
Program
JTRP
FHWA/IN/JTRP-98/8
Final Report
FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF HIGHWAY
EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTED USING WASTE
FOUNDRY SAND
Barry K. Partridge
James E. Alleman
September 1998
Indiana
Department
of Transportation
Purdue
University
FINAL REPORT
FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF HIGHWAY EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTED
USING WASTE FOUNDRY SAND
FHWA/IN/JTRP - 98/8
by
Barry K. Partridge,PhD. Student
Dr. James E. Alleman,Professor
Joint Transportation Research Program
Project No: 36-36Z
File No: 6-14-26
Prepared as part ofan Investigation Conducted by the
Joint Transportation Research Program
Purdue University
funded by the
Indiana Department ofTransportation and
Federal Highway Administration
The contentsofthisreportreflecttheviews ofthe authorswho areresponsible forthe facts andaccuracy of
the datapresentedherein. The contents donotnecessarily reflectthe officialviews of, orpolicies ofany of
the sponsors. Furthermore, thisreportdoesnotconstitute astandard, specification, orregulation.
SchoolofCivilEngineering
PurdueUniversity
West Lafayette, IN 47907-1284
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation; Indiana Department of Transportation
http://www.archive.org/details/fielddemonstratiOOpart
TECHNICALREPORTSTANDARDTITLEPAGE
1. ReportNo. 2. GovernmentAccessionNo. 3.Recipient'sCatalogNo.
FHWA/IN/JTRP-98/8
4.TitleandSubtitle 5. ReportDate
FieldDemonstrationofHighwayEmbankmentConstructedUsingWasteFoundrySand September25, 1998
6. PerformingOrganizationCode
7.Author(s) 8. PerformingOrganization ReportNo.
BarryK.PartridgeandJ.E.Alleman
FHWA/iN/JTRP-98/8
9. PerformingOrganizationNameandAddress 10.WorkUnitNo.
JointTransportationResearchProgram
PurdueUniversity
WestLafayette, Indiana 47907-1284 11. ContractorGrantNo.
SPR-2136
12. SponsoringAgencyNameandAddress 13. TypeofReportandPeriodCovered
IndianaDepartmentofTransportation FinalReport
StateOfficeBuilding
100North SenateAvenue
14. SponsoringAgencyCode
Indianapolis,IN46204
15. SupplementaryNotes
Prepared incooperationwiththeIndianaDepartmentofHighwaysandFederalHighwayAdministration. Thisprojectwasfundedinpart
bytheFHWAPrioritiesTechnologyProgram.
16. Abstract
Over9millionMgofwastefoundrysands(WFS)areproducedannuallyintheUnitedStatesasaby-productofthemetalcastingindustry. Themajorityof
WFSaredepositedinrestrictedorsanitarywastelandfills. Considerablesavingsisavailabletothemetalcastingindustrythroughthedevelopmentofreuse
applicationsfortheirWFSandgeneratorsareoftenwillingtoprovideWFStoajobsiteatnocosttotheenduser.
LaboratoryinvestigationshaveindicatedthatWFSfromferrousfoundriescanprovidethenecessaryengineeringpropertiesforahighwayembankmentand
thattheMicrotox™bioassaytestcanbeusedtoscreenthe 'toxicity'ofWFStopreventanegativeenvironmental impact In 1996,theIndianaDepartment
ofTransportation(INDOT)andPurdueUniversityconstructedademonstrationembankmentusingWFS. WFSandcontrolembankmentswere
instrumentedtomonitorgeotechnicalandenvironmentalperformance. Stockpileandjobsite 'grab'WFSsampleswerealsotested.
DetailedgeotechnicalresultsarepresentedinacompanionreportbyFoxandMast(1998). Ingeneral,resultsindicatethatWFScanperformwellasa
structuralfillwithstrengthanddeformationcharacteristicscomparabletonaturalsand,butcannotbeconsideredasfreelydraining. Environmentaltesting
consistedofMicrotox™andNitrotoxbioassays,ionchromatography,andinductivelycoupledplasmatestingformetals. BioassayresultsindicatetheWFS
havenotresultedininhibitions(toxicity)higherthanthoseexpectedfromnaturalsands. IonmigrationfromtheWFSintothefoundrysandlysimeterwas
found,supportingbioassaydata,butatconcentrationsbelowreuseregulatorycriteria. MetalconcentrationsweregenerallybelowIndianaregulatoryreuse
TypeIDcriteriaandtypicallybelowDrinkingWaterStandards. Wheremetalconcentrationsinthewellsexceededregulatorycriteria,exceedences
appearedinbothup-anddown-gradientwellssuggestingbackgroundmetalconcentrationsasopposedtosignificantleachingfromtheWFS. TheWFSdid
notresultinanegativeenvironmentalimpactonthesite.
StateenvironmentalregulatoryagencieswerethemostfrequentlyidentifiedsourceofbarrierstothebeneficialreuseofWFSandreuseisfurther
compoundedbythelackofdecision-basedscientifictoolssuchaslife-cycleorrisk-basedanalysismethods. Theresultantliabilityexposurefromstateand
federalregulationswastheprevailingconcernexpressedbyDepartmentsofTransportation(DOTs)whenconsideringusingaregulatedwastesuchasWFS.
Furthermore,foundriesoftenlackanorganizationalcommitmenttothereuseofitsWFSasevidencedbythelackofbothproductqualitycontrolanda
marketingstrategy.
TofacilitatetheuseofWFSbyINDOT,anAcceptanceCriteriaprotocolbasedontheMicrotox™bioassaytestwasdevelopedaspartofthisproject.
Additionally,aproposed'RecurringSpecialProvision'fortheuseofWFSinembankmentconstructionandaWFSstockpilerandomsamplingprotocol
weredeveloped. ThenecessarydecisiontoolsforincorporatingWFSintotransportationconstruction,primarilyembankmentconstruction,appeartobe
availabletotheIndianaDOT(andotherDOTs)asproductsofmisresearch.
17. Keywords 18. DistributionStatement
Wastefoundrysand;highwayembankments;bioassay;Microtox™; Norestrictions. Thisdocumentisavailabletothepublicthroughthe
environmentalquality;regulatoryissues;liability;costsavings NationalTechnicalInformationService, Virginia, 22161
19. SecurityClassif.(ofthisreport) 20. SecurityClassif.(ofthispage) 21.No.of Pages 22. Price
Unclassified Unclassified 201
FormDOTF1700.7(8-69)
Ill
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES viii
IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTIONS
xii
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
1: 1
CHAPTER2: OBJECTIVES 7
2.1 Overview 7
2.2 Specific Research Objectives 7
CHAPTER TECHNICAL AND REGULATORY BACKGROUND
3: 9
3.1 Permanent Pattern/Expendable Mold Casting 9
3.2 Regulatory Issues 16
3.2.1 Introduction 16
3.2.2 Federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Criteria 17
3.2.3 Indiana Solid Waste Regulations 20
3.2.4 Comparison ofVarious Foundry States' Solid Waste Regulations and
Beneficial Reuse Criteria 22
DOT
3.2.5 Reuse Alternatives and State Reuse Activities 29
3.2.5.1 Pennsylvania 30
3.2.5.2 Michigan 32
3.2.5.3 Wisconsin 32
3.2.5.4 Ohio 34
3.2.5.5 Iowa 35
3.2.5.6 Illinois 36
CHAPTER4: WASTE FOUNDRY SAND LIABILITY ISSUES 37
4.1 Introduction 37
4.2 Potential INDOT Liability When Using Waste Foundry Sands 37
4.3 Liability Under CERCLA (Superfund) 46
4.4 CERCLA (Superfund) Liability Reform 47
IV
Page
CHAPTER ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WASTE
5:
FOUNDRY SAND
50
5.1 Prior Chemical Characterization ofFoundry Wastes 50
5.2 Bioassay Characterization ofWaste Foundry Sand 57
5.2.1 Introduction 57
5.2.2 Microtox™ Bioassay 61
5.2.3 Microtox™ Bioassay Testing ofFoundry Wastes 66
5.2.3.1 Sensitivity ofthe Microtox™Bioassay to Chemicals TypicallyFoundin
WFS'Leachates 70
CHAPTER 6: CR 206 FIELD DEMONSTRATION PROJECT 73
6.1 Introduction 73
6.2 Geotechnical Work Plan 76
6.3 Environmental Work Plan 79
6.3.1 Methods and Materials 83
6.3.1.1 Introduction 83
6.3.1.2 BioassayLeachate Generation 84
6.3.1.3 Microtox™ TestingProtocol 86
6.3.1.4 Nitrotox TestingProtocol 87
6.3.1.5 Ion Chromatography TestingProtocol 88
6.3.1.6 Inductively CoupledPlasmaSpectrophotometer TestingProtocol 88
CHAPTER 7: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 90
7.1 Geotechnical Results 90
7.2 Environmental Results 94
7.2.1 Introduction 94
7.2.2 Microtox™ Testing 94
7.2.3 Nitrotox Testing 100
7.2.4 Ion Chromatography Testing 103
7.2.5 Inductively Coupled Plasma SpectrophotometerTesting 110
7.3 Economic Considerations ofWaste Foundry Sand Reuse 136
7.4 INDOT Acceptance Criteria for Waste Foundry Sand Reuse Based onthe
Microtox™ Bioassay Test 138
7.5 Random sampling ofa Lot Within a Waste Foundry Sand Stockpile 140
CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
8: 143
LIST OF REFERENCES 147
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Microtox™ 90% Comparison Test Protocol 153
Appendix B: Ion Chromatography and Operation ofthe GP40 159
Page
Appendix C: Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrophotometer
Test Protocol 164
Appendix D: Random Sampling ofa Lot Within a Waste Foundry Sand
Stockpile, Indiana Department ofTransportation, April,
1998 170
Appendix E: Acceptance Criteria for Waste Foundry Sand Reuse Based
on the Microtox™ Bioassay Test, Indiana Department of
Transportation, April, 1998 174
Appendix F: Proposed Recurring Special Provision for Embankments
Constructed ofSpent Foundry Sand, August, 1998 196
