Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
(OP)
We have been purchasing a material from a limestone quarry in lower-central Alabama, that the owner describes as a Dark Orange Brown sandy fat clay. This material has worked well for us on several different projects. When compacted, it provides a good hard surface and it holds up well with very little change even when wet. There is another quarry 25 miles from this quarry with the same type of material and the owner swears it is the same material and it does look exactly the same but this material turns to mush when it gets wet. These are both limestone quarries with very similar clay, but they react very differently to water. We took samples of the material and had it analyzed with the good clay the plasticity index is 34, on the new material the index is 16





RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry
Sure a mudpie is hard when it dries. It becomes wet and the capillary suction is released (i.e., the effective stresses are reduced). I'm not fooled by dry strength or cohesion. I'd be careful using peak strength on a sandy fat clay. At best, I'd require fully-softened strength, which means no effective cohesion. I'd run tests on a normally consolidated, reconstituted sample prepared at the liquid limit and then consolidated in the DDS (drained direct shear) device.
I wouldn't listen to either quarry.
f-d
ípapß gordo ainÆt no madre flaca!
RE: Sandy fat clay from a limestone quarry