Investigate the effect of pre-consolidation pressure and organic content on the shear strength and compressibility parameter of reconstituted soil

This study illustrates the findings of experimental investigations into the effect of pre-consolidation pressure and organic content (OC) on the shear strength and compressibility parameters of reconstituted soil (RCS) prepared in the laboratory. To these attempts, the disturbed soil sample was collected from two selected locations at Khulna region whose OC of 8 and 65%. The RCS samples were prepared to mix at various proportions of inorganic and organic soil at the water content equal to 1.25 times of liquid limits thus resulting in RCS having OC of 30, 40 and 50%. The usual procedure of preparation of soil slurry, deposition in a mold and application of surcharge were used to reconstitute sample. The mold diameter was 152 mm and height 222 mm and applied ultimate surcharge was about 60, 80 and 100 kN/m2 until the end of primary consolidation. In the laboratory, ASTM (2004) standard test were performed on the reconstituted samples to evaluate the strength and compressibility properties. Here, it can be depicted that pre-consolidation pressure and OC significantly influence the shear strength and compressibility parameters of RCS.