An investigation of the material properties of four soil samples from Izmir area and their suitability assessment for waste storage barrier use

Izmir, the third largest province of Turkey turned into a metropolitan city due to its population growth by continuous migration, and consequently rapidly increasing production-consumption. With the increasing consumption, the waste production has increased and in order to prevent ground water contamination, smell pollution and visual pollution caused by this formed solid waste, constructing regular solid waste landfills has been noted. However, according to the background and regional conditions of the city, its solid waste storage areas are very limited. Appropriate areas in terms of ground is close to the town center. The density of seasonal streams and rivers within the city makes more difficult to choose the area. Therefore, the open spaces with the appropriate distance from the city center by using ground improvement methods are required to create storage areas.In this study samples located in Izmir area were investigated to use as a barrier ground at the waste storage areas with an improper ground permeability. In this context, in Izmir and its near surroundings samples were taken from four different regions (Torbalı, Turgutlu, Buca Bornova). After determining the index properties, compaction, unconfined compression strength, methylen blue, pinhole and dispersibility tests were performed. They were supported by chemical analysis, SEM and XRD.