Marine Dredging Sediments Valorization in Self-Compacting Concretes

Abstract

Rock and eroded soil are transported by wind, tide, and human action (development works), and deposited as sediment in ports, estuaries, and rivers. The sediment accumulation at the bottom of ports disrupts maritime activities and disturbs the physicochemical balance of water bodies. As a result, dredging is necessary to reduce sediment deposits and restore the natural environment for proper port functioning. At the national level, the maintenance of the 6,500-kilometer French coastline would require the extraction of about fifty million cubic meters of marine sediment every year. These dredged sediments have been used in civil engineering applications for about ten years, in order to reduce their economic and environmental impact. The proposed study addresses the potential use of sediments to produce accropode blocks for maritime public works applications. It consists in developing concrete mixtures using dredged marine sediment treated to protect against erosion. A study of material characterization, optimization of the composition of the concrete formulation, as well as a determination of the mechanical, physical and durability properties of the concrete were necessary to validate the technical feasibility of this new solution. Around 700 small accropode blocks were then prepared to better analyze the structure stability against swell effects. The obtained results show that the sediments could not produce Self Compacting Concrete (SCC). However, sediment treatment with 6% by weight of cement has enabled the production of SCC. It is worth noting that the use of superplasticizer was essential to ensure concrete workability. Increasing the cement percentage has also improved the composite workability. Finally, a concrete compressive strength greater than 40 MPa has been achieved when using 300 kg/m3 of treated sediments.