Break-up of Heavy Clay Soil Layers by Explosives (Part 2)

Blasting of Soil Layers with Low Moisture

Abstract

This research reports a method where sewage sludge and explosives were used to improve the physical properties of heavy clay soils. The soil must be tilled to a depth of 1m to lower the water table and to accelerate oxidation. Explosives are placed by a machine which produces a deep ditch by injecting pressurized sewage sludge, and the soil layer was loosened by detonating the explosives.
The results showed that the blasting of a soil with high moisture content produced a cavity in the soil layer. At a low soil moisture the cavity was small and a suitable soil profile was obtained up to the soil surface. The quantity of explosive required to disrupt the heavy clay soil was empirically obtained as L_p=0.437W³[kg] (W=Explosive charge depth, m).