• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.183-200
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• 2014

The expansivity of clayey soils is a complicated phenomenon which may affect the stability of geotechnical structures and geo-environmental projects. In all common factors for the monitoring of soil expansion, less attention is given to anion type of pore space solutions. Therefore, this paper is concerned with the impact of various concentrations of different inorganic salts including NaCl, $Na_2SO_4$, and $Na_2CO_3$ on the macro and microstructure behavior of the expandable smectite clay. Comparison of the responses of the smectite/NaCl and smectite/$Na_2SO_4$ mixtures indicates that the effect of anion valance on the soil engineering properties is not very pronounced, regardless of the electrolyte concentration. However, at presence of carbonate as potential determining ions (PDIs) the swelling power increases up to 1.5 times compared to sulfate or chloride ions. The samples with $Na_2CO_3$ are also more deformable and show lower osmotic compressibility than the other mixtures. This demonstrates that the barrier performance of smectite greatly decreases in case of anions with the non-specific adsorption (e.g., $Cl^-$ and $SO{_4}^{2-}$) as the salinity of solution increases. Based on the results of the X-ray diffraction and sedimentation tests, the high soil volumetric changes upon exposure to carbonate is attributed to an increase in the repulsive forces between smectite basic unit layers due to the PDI effect of $CO{_3}^{2-}$ and increasing the pH level which enhance the buffering capacity of smectite. The study concluded that the nature of anion through its influence on the re-arrangement of soil microstructure and osmotic phenomena governs the hydro-mechanical parameters of expansive clays. It seems not coinciding with the double layer theory of the Gouy-Chapman double layer model.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.54-64
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• 2006

Chromated copper arsenate (CCA), a wood preservative, has been widely used to protect wood products from attacks by bacteria, fungi and insects. However, the use of CCA is currently forbidden or limited to some applications in many countries because the toxic elements (Cr, Cu, and As) of CCA are released into the environments during outdoor uses, which may cause adverse health effects on humans and ecological systems. This study was conducted to investigate the distributions of chromium, copper and arsenic in soils adjacent to two CCA-treated wood structures. In a 7 month old pond entry structure, ten surface soil samples (0-2.5 cm) were collected at lateral distances of 0, 0.5, and 1 m from the stairway, and nine surface soil samples were collected beneath the deck. Nine top soil samples were taken from a 2 year old sound barrier structure at lateral distances of 0, 1, and 2 m. Background surface soil samples were also collected from each structure. Samples were analyzed for some physicochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter content, and soil texture. Following the extraction of the elements with a microwave digestion system, samples were analyzed for Cr, Cu, and As. The concentrations of the three elements in soils adjacent to the structures were significantly elevated compared to the background levels, indicating that the elements have been leached out of the structures. Released e1ements showed lateral concentration gradients within 1 m. The elevations of the three elements in soils underneath the deck did not seem different (background-corrected concentrations: Cr, 5.01 mg/kg; Cu, 5.50 mg/kg; As, 4.91 mg/kg), while the elements in soils near the sound barrier were elevated in the order of As>Cu>Cr with measured concentrations of 49.7, 44.7 and 52.5 mg/kg, respectively. Background As, Cu, and Cr concentrations near the sound barrier were 9.88, 30.8, and 46.5 mg/kg, respectively. These results showed that CCA constituents are released into the environment and it is suggested that risk assessment need to be conducted to investigate harmful effects of the released elements on humans and ecological systems.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.544-551
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to analyze VIRULO model, a probabilistic quantitative model, which had been developed by US Environmental Protection Agency. The model could assess the viral attenuation capacity of soil as hydrogeologic barrier using Monte Carlo simulation. The governing equations used in the model were composed of unsaturated flow equations and viral transport equations. Among the model parameters, those related to water flow for 11 soil types were from UNDODA data, and those related to 5 virus species were from the literatures. The model compared the attenuation factor with threshold of attenuation to determine the probability of failure and presented the exceedances and Monte Carlo runs as output. The analysis indicated that among 11 USDA soil types, the viral attenuation capacity of loamy sand and sand were far lower than those of clay and silt soils. Also, there were differences in the attenuation in soil among 5 viruses with poliovirus showing the highest attenuation. The viral attenuation capacity of soil decreased sharply with increasing soil water content and increased nonlinearly with increasing soil barrier length. This study indicates that VIRULO model could be considered as a useful screening tool for viral risk assessment in subsurface environment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.09a
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• pp.1264-1273
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• 2010

Soil-bentonite cutoff walls are widely recognized to be the effective barrier for containment of wastes and groundwater. Bentonite cake is usually found remaining on the trench surface due to the use of bentonite slurry during the excavation for the cutoff wall construction. Defects also inevitably take place due to the inappropriate construction procedures or improperly mixed soil-bentonite backfill. The defects include insufficient keys and windows in the soilbentonite cutoff wall. In this study, the performance of the soil-bentonite cutoff wall is evaluated based on the flow rates through the wall. Three-dimensional numerical models were applied to simulate the groundwater flow through the soil-bentonite cutoff walls of typical geometries with consideration of the defects and bentonite cake. Results of the simulations showed that the bentonite cake has no effect in the insufficient key cases. In the keyed wall cases, the bentonite cake with very low hydraulic conductivity significantly impedes the flow of groundwater through the wall. The presence of the bentonite cake not only compromises the window defect but also renders the wall construction more effective in blocking the groundwater flow. These findings show the significance of the bentonite cake in a soil-bentonite cutoff wall construction.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 1987

In Seoul metropolitan area, rockily denuded fores lands are widely distributed. Out of the rock-exposed hillslopes, Kwanak-Samsung mountains and Bookhan-Dobong mountains areas are the most severely eroded land at present To develope the rehabilitation measures for the rock-exposed hillslopes, it is essentially required that mechanisms of rock debris production and movement from the rock-exposed hillslopes should be studied. And also, suitable experiments for planting techniques should be practised at the field level. In this context, some experiments for the on-site fixation of the unstable stone-debris including plantation establishments on the rock-exposed hillslopes, have been carried out for 4 years from 1983 to 1986 at Kwanak mountain hillslopes. The results may be summarized as follows : 1) The soil environment-tolerable tree species for plantation extablishment on rock-exposed hillslopes include Buxus microphylla var. koreana, Forsythia koreana, Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii, Alnus hirsuta and Pinus rigida. These trees have, however, been showed fairly good growth performence at the places having more than about 30cm of soul layer depth above rock-bed. 2) In raising of seedlings to plant on the rock-exposed hillslopes, containerized seedling practices knave been appeared as the most adoptable measures. 3) In fixation of the unstable stole debris-and-sands on the on-site of rock. exposed hillslopes, the stone-lined barrier measures are more effective at comparatively large-sized places of rock-exposed hillslopes while the stone-bowed barrier measures are more effective at small-sifted isolated sold-debris places. The stone-buttressed terraces measures are more effective at the soil-composed hillslopes rather than rock-exposed hillslopes.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.57-66
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• 2010

This study is described in heavy metal pollution by the stony mountain development using field case. The heavy metal pollution is investigated for nearby area (soil and stream) of the developed stony mountain, and then the countermeasure using contamination analysis is suggested. The investigation result indicated that contamination of Sammak stream caused by the stone dust and leachate at the stony mountain development. Therefore, the heavy metal pollution is evaluated by using Pollution Index(PI). The evaluation results confirmed that the contaminated groundwater was the leading cause of the contamination in Sammak stream and nearby soil. Therefore, the Permeable Reaction Barrier(PRB), which has a environmentally-friendly reactant, should be applied to control a heavy metal of groundwater, and it will be a reasonable countermeasure.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.239-248
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• 2009

In this investigation, we observed surface morphology and porosity of a macroporous adsorbent made of Na-bentonite and Ca-bentonite as structure formation materials and grounded waste paper as macropore forming material for the development of a permeable reactive barrier to remove heavy metals in groundwater. Therefore, we selected minerals having higher cation exchange capacity among 2:1 clay minerals and other industrial minerals because sintering can significantly influence cation exchange capacity, resulting in drastic decrease in removal of heavy metals. The results showed that the increasing sintering temperature drastically decreased CEC by less than 10 % of the indigenous CEC carried by the selected minerals. One axial compressibility test results showed that the highest value was obtained from 5% newspaper waste pulp for both structure formation materials of Na-bentonite and Ca-bentonite although there were not much difference in bulk density among treatments. The pore formation influenced by sintering temperature and period contributes removal of heavy metals passing through the sintered macroporous media having different water retention capacity.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.73-76
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• 2004

Rusted iron could retain activity to redox-sensitive pollutants in batch reactor. Flow-through columns packed with permeable reactive iron filings (Fe$^{0}$ ) between soil and sand layers were used to evaluate the applicability of bio-enhanced iron barriers to treat explosives-contaminated groundwater. One column was bioaugmented with municipal anaerobic sludge to evaluate the enhancement of biodegradation. Military contaminants (RDX, HMX, TNT, 2,4DNT, 2,6DNT), which coexist in soils at military sites, were completely removed in the bioaugmented Fe$^{0}$ layer after 8 months of operation. Overall, this research suggests that Fe$^{0}$ barriers can effectively clean up groundwater contaminated with military explosives, and that treatment efficiency can be enhanced by bioaugmentation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.66-69
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• 2001

A subsurface containment system which is constructed by pumping a gelling liquid (Colloidal Silica) into the unsaturated medium is investigated by developing a mathematical model and conducting numerical simulations. The proposed model is verified by comparing experimentally and numerically determined hydraulic conductivities of gel-treated soil columns at different Colloidal Silica (CS) injection volumes. The numerical experiments indicate that an impermeable gel layer is formed within the time period twice the gel-point. At the Same normalized time, the CS solutions with lower NaCl concentrations result ill further migration and poor Performance in plugging the pore space.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Soil and Groundwater Environment Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.391-394
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• 2003

The applicability of in situ microbial filter or biobarrier technology for the remediation of soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents was investigated. The efficiency and rates of reductive dechlorination of chlorinated solvents are known to be highly dependent on hydrogen concentration. In this study, the effect of electron donors on the reductive dechlorination of PCE was investigated using vermicompost (worm casting) and peat as permeable reactive barrier medium The effect of organic acids (lactate, butyrate and benzoate), yeast extract and vitamin $B_{l2}$ on the reductive dechlorination was investigated. Compared to the control (no electron donor added), addition of electron donors stimulated the dechlorinated rate. Among the electron donor treatments, lactate/benzoate amendment exhibited the highest dechlorination rate. Since vermicompost and peat are inexpensive and biodegradable and have high sorption capacity, they could be successfully used as biobarrier media, especially when electron donors (for example, lactate/benzoate) are added.d.