A relevant characterization of Usumacinta river sediments for a reuse in earthen construction and agriculture

In a context of global climate change and rational use of bio- and natural resources, including Usumacinta River
sediments, valorisation of river sediments could become a socio-economic issue in the coming years and
contribute to the sustainable development of the region (Project VAL-USES-, 2017).
This paper focuses on a simple and suitable characterisation including rheology, microstructure, mineralogy
and geotechnical parameters of sediments for a reuse in earthen construction materials and structures and
agriculture.
The implemented methodology is based on usual geotechnical and physicochemical testing plus rheology
(viscosity and shear strength) and microstructure (pore size distribution, specific surface area) measurements.
The results confirm the existence of significant correlations between rheology, methylene blue value and
geotechnical parameters, pore size distribution and mineralogy. This kind of correlations established allow to
reduce the number of tests to be performed and make it possible to propose a more efficient characterisation with
simple testing and measurement procedures.
The use of such correlations, may be possible to recommend beneficial uses of sediments in earthen construction,
material and structures, and agriculture.