Geotechnical characterization of carbonate marls for the construction of impermeable dam cores

Fine-grained, more or less cohesive carbonate materials are extremely widespread in terms of surface area and are, therefore, commonly used as materials to construct impermeable cores for dams. However, it has not been adequately documented whether the carbonate content in fine-grained soils significantly affects their engineering behaviour. The present study shows that the carbonate content substantially influences the engineering behaviour of clayey material. For this, we subjected 32 samples to different laboratory tests, such as the normal Proctor, the Atterberg limits, granulometric analysis, oedometric and undrained triaxial tests. The resulting parameters were correlated with the carbonate content of the samples. The materials studied in this work had been used in the construction of the impermeable core of the San Clemente Dam, belonging to the hydrographic basin of the Guadalquivir River (southern Spain). These marls present, as their prime characteristic, a carbonate content of the fine fraction consistently exceeding 50%, giving them special importance in the study of this phenomenon. In this study, a direct relationship was found between the geotechnical properties of the soils studied and their degree of compaction, with the carbonate content and the type of minerals in the clay being the main factors determining the behaviour of these soils. Finally, we conclude that the percentage of carbonates should be used as a classification criterion for the soils used to construct the cores of earth-filled dams. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.