HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY IN LOESSIC STABILIZED SOIL

Abstract

Loessic soils are the main geological storage available as a building material in Cordoba,
Argentina. They are a typically kind of clayed silty soil with a metastable structure. Their structure makes them
sensitive to collapse and sliding upon wetting. This has an important influence on mechanical and hydraulic
behavior. Thus, usually their hydraulic properties are modified by compaction methods or by bentonite addition.
Infiltration tests were done using remolded samples and a flexible wall permeameter. Compression tests were
executed in a universal compression machine. Were performed in addition, capillary rise assays. Water content,
dry unit weight, and percentages of ionic stabilizer and bentonite have been studied. Experiment results were
compared between mixtures with different percentages of additives. The results show that the infiltration volume
decreases with increasing content of bentonite in all remoulded samples tested respect to those natural soil
remoulded samples, and it has been identified that the addition of bentonite increases the compressive strength
by 400%.