Sustainable Use of Dredged Materials in Roadway Construction

Dredging is an essential process for the maintenance and development of ports, harbors and waterways for navigability. The dredging of these waterways worldwide produce large volumes of dredged material, containing various contaminants, making its disposal increasingly problematic. Major ports are in need of an environmentally sound and economically feasible solution for this potentially hazardous material. Dredged material is a valuable resource that can be used as filler, which is useful for the applications aside cement composites. Fillers are widely used in road construction and various other industries, due to its small average particle size and chemically active silt/clay fraction. After proper treatment, dredged material has the potential to become a major contribution toward sustainable development and can reduce the quantities of primary resources needed for activities such as construction. By improving scientific knowledge and understanding of the impact dredge material may have on the economy, it may be possible to gain sufficient confidence in the material to allow larger scale and more widespread use. The objective of this paper is to exemplify the beneficial use of dredge material in road construction.