Mechanical behaviour of dredging waste in the port of Rio Grande by adding stabilizing agents

The Port of Rio Grande demands periodic maintenance dredging processes in the access channel of the port complex. These large volumes of dredging waste disposal in the ocean cause environmental and social problems in this region. One possible solution to reduce the impact is onshore disposal, but the sediment has a low support capacity and high compressibility. So, the present paper evaluates the mechanical behavior of dredging waste improved with chemical agents (chemical: pozzolanic Portland cement) and compounds (physical + chemical: fine sand + pozzolanic Portland cement). The results show that the stabilized material reaches compressibility resistance ranging from 400 to 1600 kPa depending on the dosage proposed. A good correlation was observed between the compression resistance results and cement agents' porosity-volume content. The stabilizing agents using a composite material (sand + Portland cement) achieved better results. The results show that adding stabilizing agents is a satisfactory option to improve the mechanical behavior of dredging waste.