Compactation control of a soil-rock mixtures at Odelouca dam by vibratory compaction tests and rammer compaction tests

Abstract

Recently, soil-rock mixtures are being used in the construction of embankment dam shoulders. This situation represents new challenges to compaction techniques and their control as well as to the determination of the characteristics of the fill that results from the compaction method, as those characteristics suffer important changes according to the relative percentage of the existing fractions. This paper presents results of vibratory compaction tests and rammer compaction tests carried through samples of soil-rock mixtures from the Odelouca dam borrow areas, presently being constructed at South of Portugal. Odelouca dam is a zoned earth fill dam, with 76 m height with clayey soil at the core and weathered schist with a significant fraction of oversized particles in the slopes.