Field Investigation of Effect of Plants on Cracks of Compacted Clay Covers at a Contaminated Site

Yu-Zhang Bi, Xian-Lei Fu, Shi-Ji Zhou, Jin Ni and Yan-Jun Du
Additional contact information
Yu-Zhang Bi: Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Xian-Lei Fu: Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Shi-Ji Zhou: Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Jin Ni: Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Yan-Jun Du: Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering & Environmental Safety, Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-17

Abstract: Compacted clay covers (CCCs) are effective in restricting the upward migration of volatile organic compound (VOC) and semi-volatile organic compound (SVOC) vapors released mainly from unsaturated contaminated soils and hence mitigate the risks to human health. Desiccation cracking of CCCs would result in numerous preferential channels. VOC or SVOC vapors can prefereially migrate through the cracks and emit into the atmosphere, exposing threats to human health and surrounding environmental acceptors. This study presented results of comprehensive field investigation of desiccation crack distribution in CCCs, where four herbaceous plants were covered at the industrial contaminated site in. The plants included Trefoil , Bermuda grass , Conyza Canadensis , and Paspalum , and the corresponding planting areas were labeled as S1, S2, S3, and S4, respectively. The quantity and geometry parameters of the cracks including crack width, depth, and length, were investigated. The results showed that the cracks of the CCCs were mainly distributed in the areas of S3 ( Conyza Canadensis ) and S4 (Paspalum ), where more cracks were formed when the degree of compaction (DOC) of the CCCs was less than 87%. In addition, the results revealed that: (1) no cracks were found in the area S1 ( Trefoil ); (2) the quantity, average width, average depth, average length, and maximal length of the cracks in the investigated areas followed S4 ( Paspalum ) > S3 ( Conyza Canadensis ) > S2 ( Bermuda grass ); (3) the maximal crack length in the area S2 ( Bermuda grass ) was the shortest, which was approximately one-seventh and one-eighth of those in the areas S3 ( Conyza Canadensis ) and S4 ( Paspalum ), respectively; and (4) the maximal width and depth of the cracks followed S3 ( Conyza Canadensis ) > S4 ( Paspalum ) > S2 ( Bermuda grass ).

Keywords: contaminated site; compacted clay cover; field test; CCC crack; herbaceous plants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7248/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/12/7248/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:12:p:7248-:d:837931

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().