Influence of sea water and wetting-drying cycles on the erosion of a lime treated soil : perspectives to marine dike improvement
Résumé
One of the major risks for dike integrity is erosion and lime treatment of soils is a proposal to improve dike resistance to erosion. However the performance of such treatment has to be demonstrated. To evaluate in lab the durability of lime treated soils exposed to sea water, a methodology was developed. This paper presents the erosion behavior of lime treated silt after various numbers of wetting-drying cycles with sea water, by using the Hole Erosion Test and the Mobile Jet Erosion Test. Moreover, geophysical properties (electrical resistivity) are followed during the cycles. Consequences of sea water on material resistance to erosion are strongly reliant on the lime concentration and compaction. The hydric cycles cause a loss in resistance to erosion, but the resistance remains stronger than the soil without lime treatment. Lab tests results show thus that lime treatment could be a relevant technic to improve durability of marine dikes.