The port of Koper requires constant maintenance and deepening of the sea waterways. This produces large amounts of a clay-water mixture, which is deposited in purpose-built onshore basins where solid particles settle and the water flows back into the sea. The local name for the process is "reful" and the material in the process is "reful". The discussed method of handling reful occupies large areas on land, which is why Luka Koper is looking for alternative solutions for a better use of this material. One solution is to improve reful properties by filtrating and adding binders.
In the paper, we explored the possibility of improving the properties of reful with lime and the effects of salt on the properties of mixtures of lime and reful. To determine the effects of salt on the action of lime, the samples taken were prepared in three ways: (a) by washing all salt was removed from reful, (b) naturally salty reful was used and (c) reful was nourished in a saturated salt solution. From the samples thus prepared, lime mixtures were prepared and laboratory tests were carried out: Atterberg plasticity limits, uniaxial compressive strength, Enslin-Neff method of water absorption, shrinkage limit, suction, pH value, methylene blue, Proctor test and California load index (CBR), and swelling.
Research has shown that salt in pore water has a positive effect on the behaviour of reful when the moisture of the material is close to optimal moisture. Salt reduces the plasticity, water absorption capacity and cation exchange capacity of the soil and lowers optimum moisture and increases maximum dry density. The research did not detect any potential adverse effects of salt on the behaviour of the lime-improved soil.
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