No abstract

Cement-slag-bentonite slurry walls are self-hardening structures, and they are mainly used to retard contamination transport into the groundwater stream. Whilst permeability of a mixture is an initial criterion in slurry wall design and material selection, long-term performance is mainly influenced by curing ages and stress-state caused by adjacent soil. In this study, the steady-state of effective stresses at 7 days and 28 days of curing age is predicted. The effect of the modulus of horizontal subgrade reaction, interface friction, and transition of the earth pressure from at-rest to the active condition was applied to develop the model. Unlike the quantities that the geostatic model presented, this method gives a slight decrease of stresses after a certain depth, and the trend is in good agreement with trends provided by previous studies. Furthermore, the predicted stresses are then applied to estimate the permeability of the wall at each depth and compare it with those obtained in the laboratory. Finally, predicted effective stresses stay lower than geostatic stress, and the slurry wall consolidation along with the sidewalls’ lateral squeezing leads to keeping the stress state under control.