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Many geotechnical problems involve pavements in Algerian arid regions; the main among them being related to the scarcity of standard materials. Recently, numerous studies were carried out on the va...

In Algeria, the construction of landfill has increased in recent years because of the growth of wastes of all kinds. To realize passive containment barriers during the construction of these centers, a study was conducted on the natural dredged sediments of the Bouhanifia dam (western Algeria), from the settling ponds during their storage. These sediments were treated at different percentages of bentonite (2, 4, 6, 8 and 10%). For each percentage, 2 samples were tested. A series of experimental laboratory tests were conducted to investigate the effect of bentonite content on the geotechnical and hydraulic characteristics of the sediments. The study was carried out on samples compacted under Modified Optimum Proctor (MOP) conditions, MOP ± 3% with water and landfill leachate. The results show that the compaction characteristics were affected by the addition of bentonite, the optimum water content increased and the maximum dry unit weight decreased in the presence of a large amount of bentonite. Atterberg limits increased, and permeability, measured by Falling-Head and Oedometer tests, decreased with treatment, suggesting that bentonite-treated sediments can be used as passive clay barriers for a landfill of hazardous waste.

The main objective of this study is to enhance the performances of local materials in order to be used in road construction sector. To enhance the performances of this local materials, the strategy adopted is to combine the beneficial effects of mixing different materials and treatment using binders. The materials used in this study are tuffs and dune sands. Hence the present work is also a contribution to the co-valorisation of local materials in arid region of the south of Algeria. According to the results obtained, it is shown that the tuffs of the Saharan regions are suitable for the use of Saharan pavements, particularly in base layers and foundations. The incorporation of dune sand up to 20% improves the mechanical performance. The binders treatment (cement, lime and cement/lime) have induced a further improvement in bearing capacity and compressive strength as well as tensile strength. With these improvement, the materials could be used in roads with heavy and important traffic. © 2019, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.