Settlement of embankment fills constructed of granite fines

This paper presents a study on the application of granite fines (GF) originating from the granite industry in the Northwest of Spain for the construction of embankment fills. A numerical solver was developed to simulate the unsaturated consolidation of a compacted earthfill (water content close to saturation), introducing the effect of secondary compression, and reproducing the construction process to be followed. The results obtained are quite encouraging, since settlements were found to be within an acceptable range. Nevertheless, the results also showed the need to improve the experimental characterization of the “in-situ” preconsolidation of the GF before using them in real applications.