Water retention characteristics and drained shear strength of soil treated with newly developed soil conditioners

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The impact of climate change has become increasingly severe also in forests, where droughts and strong winds on one, and extreme rainfall events on the other hand can damage forest ecosystems. To mitigate the effects of drought and to increase the soil water retention capacity, various soil conditioners (SCs) are being developed. The laboratory investigation focused on the influence of Xanthan-gum (XG) based SCs with different cellulose fillers on forest soil properties. The primary emphasis was placed on assessing the impact of SCs on water retention ability and hydraulic conductivity. Additionally, a part of the research was directed towards evaluating the drained shear strength of SCs treated forest soil, which is crucial for assessing slope stability, particularly when SCs are used in thick layers on larger, steeper slopes.

This paper deals with the results of laboratory investigations carried out on untreated and treated forest soil, sampled on the ONEforest project case study site in the Alpine part of Slovenia, Ljubelj. The results show significant increase in water absorption of treated soil and favourable impact of SCs on the soil water retention curve (SWRC) in the suction range of plant available water. The increase depends on the amount and type of the SC. A less favourable impact of SCs on drained shear strength was found. The drained shear strength of treated and saturated forest soil was lower than drained shear strength of untreated soil. The decrease in drained shear strength also depends on the amount and type of used SC.

28th European Young Geotechnical Engineers Conference (EYGEC2024)

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