Performance Evaluation of Highway Embankment Constructed Using Coal Ash : Final Report

90 Pages·1996·1.7 MB·English

by  Alleman, James E.

SCHOOL OF
ENGINEERING
CIVIL
INDIANA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
JOINT HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROJECT
FHWA/IN/JHRP-96/5
Final Report
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF
HIGHWAY EMBANKMENT CONSTRUCTED
USING COAL ASH
James E. Alleman
Patrick J. Fox
Daniel J. De Battista
UNIVERSITY

FINAL REPORT
FHWA/IN/JHRP-96/5
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF HIGHWAY EMBANKMENT
CONSTRUCTED USfNG COAL ASH
Dr. James E. Alleman, P.I.
Environmental Engineering
Dr. Patrick J. Fox, P.I.
Daniel J. De Battista, Grad. Res. Asst.
Geotechnical Engineering
Joint Highway Research Project
Project No. SPR-2122
File No. 6-14-25
Prepared as Part ofan Investigation Conducted by the
Joint Highway Research Project
Purdue University
in Cooperation with the
Indiana Department ofTransportation
and the
U.S. Department ofTransportation
Federal Highway Administration
The contents ofthis report reflect the views ofthe authors, who are responsible for the
facts and the accuracy ofthe data presented herein The contents do not necessarily reflect
the official views or policies ofthe Indiana Department ofTransportation or the Federal
Highway Administration at the time ofpublication. This report does not constitute a
standard, specification, or regulation.
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-1284
December, 1996
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011 with funding from
LYRASIS members and Sloan Foundation; Indiana Department of Transportation
http://www.archive.org/details/performanceevaluOOalle
IX
TECHNICALREPORTSTANDARDTITLEPAGE
1. ReportNo. 2. GovernmentAccessionNo. 3.Recipient'sCatalogNo.
FHWA/LN/JHRP-96/5
4.TitleandSubtitle 5. ReportDate
December, 1996
PerformanceEvaluationofHighwayEmbankmentConstructedUsingCoalAsh
6. PerformingOrganizationCode
7.Authors) 8. PerformingOrganization ReportNo.
JamesE.Alleman,PatrickJ.Fox,andDanielJ.DeBattista FHWATN/JHRP-96/5
9. PerformingOrganizationNameandAddress 10.WorkUnitNo.
JointHighwayResearchProject
1284CivilEngineeringBuilding
PurdueUniversity 11. ContractorGrantNo.
SPR-2122
WestLafavette.Indiana 47907-1284
12. SponsoringAgencyNameandAddress 13. TypeofReportandPeriodCovered
IndianaDepartmentofTransportation FinalReport
StateOfficeBuilding
100NorthSenateAvenue
Indianapolis,IN46204 14. SponsoringAgencyCode
15. SupplementaryNotes
PreparedincooperationwiththeIndianaDepartmentofTransportationandFederalHighwayAdministration.
16. Abstract
Theobjectiveofthisprojectwastoassesstheenvironmentalandgeotechnicalperformanceoftwo highwayembankmentsconstructedusing
coalcombustionflyash Theenvironmentalworkfocusedoncharacterizingmonitoringwellwatersamplesfromthesitebefore,during,and
afterconstruction. Inaddition,anumberofin-situ lysimeterwatersampleswerealsotestedduringandafterconstruction. Ineachcase,water
sampleswereevaluatedintermsoftheirconstitutiveorganicandmetalconcentrations,aswellastheirrelativebioassayresponseusinga
Microtox™protocol. Thegeotechnicalworkincludedmonitoringofashwatercontentandunitweightduringplacement,settlementanalysis,
andin-situtestingofthecompletedash fillsusingtheStandardPenetrationTest. Analysisofthegroundwaterandlysimeterwatersamples
indicatedthatthecoalashhadnotadverselyaffectedtheenvironmental qualityofthe56thStreetoverpasssite. Theembankmentsalso
performedwellfromageotechnicalperspectivebothduringandafterconstruction. Theonlydifficultywasthemeasurementofcoalashwater
contentandunitweightusingthenucleardensitygauge. Thebenefitsofreusingcoalcombustion flyashforhighwayconstructionare: 1)low-
costsourcematerialforINDOT,ii)reduceddisposalcostsforIndianautilities,andiii)savingsofIndianalandfillcapacity.
17. Keywords 18. DistributionStatement
coalash,embankment,environmental impact,geotechnical Norestrictions. Thisdocumentisavailabletothepublicthroughthe
performance. National TechnicalInformationService, Springfield,VA22161
19. SecurityClassif.(ofthisreport) 20. SecurityClassif.(ofthispage) 21.No.ofPages 22. Price
Unclassified Unclassified 72
FormDOTF1700.7(8-69)

Ill
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The following listing duly acknowledges those individuals and/or organizations whose
contributions and assistance facilitated the success ofthis project:
• J. Pullen, R. Rahn, A. Khan, and N. Zia of INDOT - assisted with the geotechnical
performance evaluation ofthe embankments.
• Keramida Environmental, Inc. (Indianapolis, Indiana) - designed and installed the
lysimeter system.
• Alt & Witzig Inc., (Indianapolis, Indiana) - installed the groundwater sampling wells.
• D. Ward, B. Partridge, A. Khan, T. Nantung, T. Vanderpool (INDOT), and V.
Straumins (FHWA) - Study Advisory Committee members.

. 1 71211
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iv
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF FIGURES vii
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
1: 1
CHAPTER PROBLEM STATEMENT
2: 1
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
3: 1
CHAPTER WORK PLAN
4: 1
4.1 Environmental Plan 12
4.1.1 Site Water Sampling 12
4.1.2 Environmental Analysis and Methods 12
4.1.2. Chemical Oxygen Demand 12
4.1.2.2 Metals 12
4.1.2.3 Microtox™ Bioassay 13
4.2 Geotechnical Plan 13
4.2.1 Compaction 13
4.2.2 Unit Weight 14
4.2.3 Water Content 15
4.2.4 Settlement 15
4.2.5 In-Situ Testing 16
CHAPTER 5: ANALYSIS OF DATA 17
5.1 Environmental Analysis 17
5.1.1 Chemical Oxygen Demand 1
5.1.2 Metals 17
5.1.3 Microtox™ Bioassay 30
5.2 Geotechnical Analysis 42
5.2.1 Compaction 42
5.2.2 Settlement 45
5.2.3 In-Situ Testing 48
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSIONS 51
6.1 Environmental Testing 5
6.1 1 Chemical Oxygen Demand 5
6.1.2 Metals 51
6.1.3 Microtox™ Bioassay 53
6.2 Geotechnical Testing 53
6.2.1 Compaction 53
6.2.2 Settlement 54
6.2.3 In-Situ Investigation 54
CHAPTER 7: RECOMMENDATIONS 55
CHAPTER 8: IMPLEMENTATION SUGGESTIONS 56
REFERENCES 57
APPENDICES 58
Appendix A: Environmental Metals Contaminant Levels 58
Appendix B: Environmental Microtox Response Levels 61
Appendix C: Geotechnical Boring Logs 62