280211

Geotechnical Evaluation of Soil for the Suitability of Urban Planning Purposes, Western Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal Region, Egypt

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Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Abstract

The Bitter Lakes area locates between latitude 30° 00′ N to 30° 30′ N and longitude 31° 45′ E to 32° 25′ E, and covers an area of about 1900km2. The current study aims at evaluating the geotechnical suitability of lands for urban planning within the study area. Hence, a complete laboratory and in-situ testing programming are carried out. Based on the geological and physiographic nature of the terrane, the study area, is subdivided into three zones; these are the northern plain, the coastal plain of the Bitter Lakes, and the southern plain encompassing Cairo-Suez desert road. The general subsurface soil sequence at the northern plain includes intercalation of poorly graded sand to silty sand and sandy fat clay. The sandy soil and silty sand (types A: 1a, A:1b and A:2) are considered excellent to good as subgrades. The friction angle (f:34.32° - 41.4°) and shear strength (6.93 - 7.6psi) which have higher values, comparable to dense sand. The fat clay (kaolinite) soils have very high swelling potential. For pavement and construction purposes, this clay layer has bad geotechnical behavior, so it must be removed or fixed using Boring piles to depth enough to penetrate this layer. The general subsurface soil sequence at the coastal plain of Bitter Lakes includes intercalation of poorly graded sand and sandy fat clay. The poorly graded sand soil (type A:3) which is excellent to good as subgrade. The clay layer (CH) (Montm-orillonite) (type A:7-6) has very high swelling potential; indicating a collapsible soil (f:is 17.35 and qu is 2.660psi). The general subsurface soil sequence at the southern plain includes intercalation of poorly graded silty sand, sandy silt, sandy fat clay, silty sand, and well graded sand. The sandy silt layer has a slight to medium plasticity, which is non-collapsible soil. High compressive shear strength (6.575psi -8.42psi). The clay layer has low to high plasticity  (kaolinite) and very high swelling potential. Based on the admitted California Bearing Ratio (CBR) values (sub-base: 30%, and base: 80%) at the three zones, the top sandy layer is neither suitable for base nor sub-base course. Also, according to soil texture analysis, interpretation of RapidEye satellite images, published soil maps of the study area, and field check, the most suitable and moderately suitable areas for urban purposes are localized at the northern plain. In addition to sporadic areas distributed along the coastal plain of the Bitter Lakes, as well as the central part of the study area.  

DOI

10.21608/cat.2022.114258.1115

Keywords

Bitter Lakes, Geotechnical evaluation, soil suitability, Urban Planning

Authors

First Name

Sarah

Last Name

Hany

MiddleName

M

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

sara_hany@science.suez.edu.eg

City

Ismailia

Orcid

0000-0001-5404-8681

First Name

El-Arabi

Last Name

Shendi

MiddleName

H.

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

-

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Hesham

Last Name

Monsef

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ebtehal

Last Name

Mohamed

MiddleName

F.

Affiliation

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Email

-

City

Ismailia

Orcid

-

First Name

Scot

Last Name

Smith

MiddleName

E.

Affiliation

Institute of Food & Agricultural Sciences, School of Forest, Fisheries, Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, USA

Email

-

City

Florida

Orcid

-

Volume

26

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

38230

Issue Date

2022-12-01

Receive Date

2022-01-02

Publish Date

2022-12-01

Page Start

57

Page End

65

Print ISSN

1687-5052

Online ISSN

2090-2786

Link

https://cat.journals.ekb.eg/article_280211.html

Detail API

https://cat.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=280211

Order

280,211

Type

Original Article

Type Code

644

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Catrina: The International Journal of Environmental Sciences

Publication Link

https://cat.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Geotechnical Evaluation of Soil for the Suitability of Urban Planning Purposes, Western Bitter Lakes, Suez Canal Region, Egypt

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023