DECREASING PERMEABILITY OF GYPSEOUS SOILS BY BENTONITE

Abstract

Soils containing gypsum as a cementing agent are affected considerably when subjected to change in water content. Flow through gypseous soil causes serious damage to the foundation built on such soils. This behavior of this soil exhibited significant changes upon addition of water, especially when the process was accompanied by a continuous flow of water. The addition of relatively small amount of bentonite (3-20%) can improve the performance of granular gepseous soils providing allow permeability and an enhanced mechanical stability. A laboratory investigation of leaching-collapse test behavior of compacted mixtures of soil-bentonite had been undertaken. The study showed that the value of permeability and solubility for treated gypseous soil with bentonite improved by (9-30%) than untreated samples for two different densities