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Landslides in Sensitive Clays pp 45–55Cite as

Improving the Post-failure Properties in Quick Clays by Treatment with Potassium Chloride

Part of the Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research book series (NTHR,volume 46)

Abstract

Installation of salt wells filled with potassium chloride may be used as a ground improvement method in quick-clay hazard areas. The migration of potassium chloride is self-driven by molecular diffusion. The effectiveness of improving the geotechnical properties and the time to do so, depend on hydrogeological conditions at the site, original pore water composition and concentration, adsorbed ions, mineral type, and cation exchange capacity. Increased salt content in the pore water decreases the repulsive forces acting between the mineral surfaces. By decreasing the repulsive forces, the liquid limit and remolded shear strength increase, indicating the improvement of the post-failure properties. The clay particles no longer repel one another, ultimately preventing development of retrogressive landslides.

Keywords

  • Quick clay
  • Pore-water chemistry
  • Post-failure properties
  • Ground improvement
  • Salt wells

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Emeritus J.K. Torrance for his discussions and comments, improving the manuscript, as well as all the people that have contributed in discussions during this project; especially Arnfinn Emdal, Mike Long, Tor Løken, Øyvind A. Høydal, Elisabeth Gundersen and Anders Samstad Gylland. A number of people have contributed in ground investigations and laboratory work, all of which made it possible to carry out this extensive work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Tonje Eide Helle & Steinar Nordal

  2. Norwegian Public Roads Administration (NPRA), Trondheim, Norway

    Tonje Eide Helle

  3. University in Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Per Aagaard

Authors
  1. Tonje Eide Helle
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  2. Per Aagaard
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  3. Steinar Nordal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tonje Eide Helle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Vikas Thakur

  2. Trondheim Division, Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), Trondheim, Norway

    Jean-Sébastien L'Heureux

  3. Département de génie civil et de génie des eaux, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada

    Ariane Locat

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Helle, T.E., Aagaard, P., Nordal, S. (2017). Improving the Post-failure Properties in Quick Clays by Treatment with Potassium Chloride. In: Thakur, V., L'Heureux, JS., Locat, A. (eds) Landslides in Sensitive Clays. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 46. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56487-6_4

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