Geotechnical properties of stabilized peat

Unstabilized peat is very compressible; the relative compression may be up to 60%, defined at a stress increase of 80 kPa. It has a high permeability, normally within the interval 10−5– 10−7m/s, and low shear strength and bulk density (ρ≈ 1000 kg/mtsup3). On the other hand the laboratory stabilized peat (the stabilizer used for stabilization was 80% Merit 5000 and 20% cement and its quantity was 200 kg/m3) has a high elasticity modulus (E50= 149 - 230 MPa for fibrous peat and E50= 131 - 141 MPa for pseudo-fibrous peat), stiffness (ML= 9.3 MPa for fibrous peat and ML= 10 MPa for pseudo-fibrous peat) and shear strength (cu= 386 - 402 kPa for fibrous peat and cu= 305 - 393 kPa for pseudo-fibrous peat), and low permeability (k0= 10−10m/s for fibrous peat and k0= 10−9m/s for pseudo fibrous peat). To achieve this, the stabilized peat must cure for at least 7 days and be loaded with an 18 kPa load while curing.