Effects of crude oil contamination on geotechnical properties of clayey and sandy soils

The southern coastal plain of Iran at the Persian Gulf encounters oil pollution due to the historical oil exploitation, related tanker navigations and accidents, and petrochemical industrial expansions in the recent years. Therefore, it is important to investigate the geochemical properties of oil-contaminated coastal soils and sediments for engineering and environmental purposes. Here, an extensive laboratory testing program was carried out to determine the effects of crude oil contamination on some of the geotechnical properties of clayey and sandy soils such as CL, SM and SP sampled from the coastal soils from this area. The testing included basic properties, Atterberg limits, compaction, direct shear, uniaxial compression and permeability tests on clean and contaminated soil samples at the same densities. The contaminated samples were prepared by mixing the soils with crude oil in the amount of 2%, 4%, 8%, 12%, and 16% by dry weight. The results indicated a decrease in strength, permeability, maximum dry density, optimum water content and Atterberg limits. Knowledge of these effects of oil contamination is important in coastal engineering and environmental remediation activities of the studied coastal plain.