Peat and organic soils commonly occur as extremely soft, wet, unconsolidated surficial deposits that are an integral part of wetland systems. These types of soils can give rise to geotechnical problems in the area of sampling, settlement, stability, in situ testing, stabilisation and construction. There is therefore a tendency to either avoid build

Sapric peat is extremely soft, unconsolidated and has high organic content. It is most decomposed peat with less fiber content among all peats. This paper investigates the effectiveness of using different ratios of cement–sodium silicate system grout compounds with kaolinite in mechanical property (shear strength) and micro–structural properties (SEM and EDX) of sapric peat samples after 3 and 30 days of curing. The study showed that the kaolinite was effective in increasing the shear strength and reducing the moisture content of the treated peat. Calcium chloride seemed to have different effects on the grouts strength. It caused to increased shear strength of samples until the net charge of the sample changed to zero and then it decreased with further increase in calcium chloride. By increasing sodium silicate (within 3%), cement and soaking time on treated peat, it was observed that they are able to increase the shear strength and density with a corresponding decrease in moisture content, porous microstructure, and the multitude of voids of confection. Santrauka Durpės, susidarančios pūvant, yra ypač minkštos, nevienalytės struktūros, turi daug organikos. Durpių struktūra yra chaotiška, jose mažai fibrų. Šiame darbe nagrinėjamos skirtingų skiedinių (cemento ir natrio silikato su pūvant susidarančiomis durpėmis ir kaolinitu) mechaninės (šlyties stipris) ir mikrostruktūrinės savybės (SEM ir EDX) po 3, 30 ir 90 dienų. Nustatytas tokių durpių ir kitų priedų naudojimo veiksmingumas skiediniuose. Tyrimai parodė, kad kaolinito priedas padidina šlyties stiprį ir sumažina durpių vandens poreikį. Taip pat nustatyta, kad kalcio chloridas gali skirtingai veikti skiedinių stiprį. Įvertinta, kad bandinių šlyties stipris didėja, kai kalcio chlorido kiekis mišinyje artimas nuliui, didinant kalcio chlorido kiekį, stipris mažeja. Atlikus tyrimus pastebėta, kad didinant natrio silikato, cemento kiekį ir ilginant apdorotų durpių įmirkymo laiką, bandinių šlyties stipris ir tankis didėja, mažėja vandens poreikis ir tuštumų skaičius, kinta mikrostruktūros parametrai.

The surface electrical charge was measured for laboratory grade organic soil colloidal particles by varying pH between 2 and 11 and at 0.001, 0.01, 0.1, and 1.0 mol/L of cationic saline solution (CaCl₂, Na₂Sio₃, Al₂(SO₄)₃, MgCl₂, and Na₂CO₃) concentrations. The zeta (ζ) potential values showed low sensitivity to pH in salt solutions. The ζ potential of pure organic soils varied from +7.5 mV at pH 2.8 to −28.5 mV at pH 11.3. The ζ potential calculation of humus particles in distilled water showed an increase in ζ potential value beyond pH > 3.3, which could be due to charge development at the humic substances by direct transfer of H⁺ from organic soil to water. The surface electrical charge was almost zero at pH 3.25. Colloidal charge reversal was observed at several stages according to the electrolyte concentrations and chemical reagents. It was also found that using high molarities of multivalent saline solution (e.g., CaCl₂, Na₂Sio₃, Na₂CO₃, and MgCl₂) as electrolytes led to very high ζ potential values and consequently high electro-osmotic conductivity (K_e). On the basis of the results of this research, it is recommended that the ζ potential of the soils be determined before any application of electrokinetic (EK) treatment.