The relationship between unconfined compressive strength and leachate concentration of stabilised contaminated sediment

Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) treatment was used in this study to immobilise copper (Cu) in contaminated river sediment. The sediment was artificially contaminated by spiking the solution of Copper sulphate (CuSO4.5H2O) to so as to get an average of 1000 ppm target concentration. Portland composite cement and Rice husk ash (RHA) were used as S/S agents. The amount of cement added to the mixture was l0% and while rice husk ash at the rate of 5%, l0%, 15% and 20% to the total dry weight of the mixture and then was cured for 7, 14 and 28 days. The unconfined compressive strength test (UCS) and toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the S/S treatments. From the results obtained it indicates that the partial replacement of cement with RHA in the binder system has increased the strength and the leachate concentration of copper was less in the treated sediment samples if compared with the untreated ones.