Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Dredged marine sediments, conventionally considered a waste material for disposal, are either in designated offshore locations or inland containment facilities. Either of these measures incur additional costs, time and labor, not to mention the obvious lack of sustainable values. In addition, there is always the risk of transferring undesirable contaminants in the dredged materials to the disposal sites or along the transportation routes. It is however, possible to reuse this otherwise waste, with suitable and adequate pre-treatment. The material is essentially soilbased, primarily consisting sand, silt and clay with some coarse marine debris. To minimize processing time and costs, it is therefore considered most apt to harness the material’s inherent properties as a ‘soil’ and reuse it as a geomaterial in various civil engineering applications. These include reusing the sediments as a backfill material, for creating new land bases or restoring eroded ones in near-shore areas. In summary, this paper puts the recycling and reuse of dredged marine sediments into practical engineering context, by highlighting the improved properties with solidification. Some key findings from on-going research work are included to substantiate the potential of the material reuse.