Abstract
Waste materials in Singapore, such as Incineration Fly Ash (IFA) and dredged materials, are available in large volumes and usually take a heavy toll on existing disposal facilities, which are very limited in volume and expensive to build in Singapore. Dredged materials are usually characterized by high moisture contents, high compressibility and low shear strengths. IFA is composed of fine particles with low shear strength. Both waste materials contain toxic contaminants and traces of metallic elements. The electrodes used in this treatment were (a) a new generation of Electrically conductive Vertical Drains (EVDs), which was made up from polymers of improved conductivity, and (b) a conductive geosynthetic fibre fabric. This paper presents the results obtained from series of laboratory model studies on the treatment of IFA and dredged materials. Results showed that Electro-kinetic Remediation (EKR) of IFA and dredged materials led to an improvement in geotechnical properties of the treated waste materials and also reduced the concentration of metallic elements in the soils between the electrodes. The importance of effective drainage at the cathode in EKR treatment is also highlighted.