Characteristic Tests for Waste Mud and Drilling Sludge and Reuse of Solidification from Plateau Ecological Reserve

Abstract

The global community has recently increased its efforts for sustainability and environmental protection. “Green Building” and “Green Construction” are the two methods of incorporating these environmental concerns into the construction and maintenance of mega infrastructures and highways with the intention of reducing any environmental impact that the infrastructures may have on the local ecosystems and ecology. This paper delves into one such study based on the Qinghai–Jiaxi Highway, which is currently under construction in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau, China. A water treatment method for construction-related mud and sludge is presented as a solution to prevent environmental contamination in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Several tests are performed on samples collected from the Qinghai–Jiaxi Highway to check the feasibility of this method. Several tests, such as X-ray diffraction, a chemical composition analysis, pH tests, mud density, and quality assessments, are performed for this purpose. Following these tests, mud sample mixtures are strengthened with concrete, and their suitability as a filler for road bases is evaluated using compression tests, in accordance with the GB50107 standard. The test results show that the concrete blocks have a compression strength of 35 MPA, which is well within the required standards. The proposed method helps to reduce the harmful discharges from construction sites into the local ecosystems and can potentially reduce the effluent matter in the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and Ecological Reserve.