# Repairing Damage Caused by Burrowing Animals in Embarnkments: A Sustainable Proposal
## 2 Materials and Methods
Once the best percentage of lime was determined, mechanical tests have been carried out in order to verify the treatment effectiveness on these soils. Seventeen oedometer tests were carried out using two conventional diameter fixed ring oedometers (Controls Group and VJ Tech Limited). Details of single tests are given in Table 2.  
The oedometer ring size was 70 mm and the applied maximum vertical effective stresses of about 200 kPa (225 kPa in six steps of load) were based on a mean bulk unit weight, \(\gamma\), of 20 kN/m\({}^{3}\) considering soils below the water table and 10m height embankments. A comparison of test data from the two cells did not reveal any consistent differences. Reconstituted raw and treated samples were created using soil passing the maximum used sieve. Raw and lime treated samples were prepared by a variety of means (i.e., water contents, compaction efforts) to achieve a range of initial void ratios in order to investigate the effect of treatment, compaction and initial void ratio (i.e., initial dry density) on one-dimensional compression features. Hence, dry compaction and wet compaction were used along with different amounts of compactive effort. For treated samples only, once obtained a homogenous mixture of dry soil and dry hydrated lime, different amounts of water were added and mixed vigorously in order to prevent any possible agglomerations \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Test No.** & **Site** & **e\({}_{0}\)** & **Method of Sample Preparation** \\ \hline O1 & [PERSON]. & 1.366 & Loose dry compaction \\ O2 & [PERSON]. & 0.999 & Loose wet compaction \\ O3 & [PERSON]. & 0.862 & Medium wet compaction \\ O4 & [PERSON]. & 0.727 & Dense wet compaction \\ OL12/7 & [PERSON]. & 0.818 & Medium wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ OL13/9 & [PERSON]. & 0.901 & Loose wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ \hline O5 & Remedello & 1.367 & Loose dry compaction \\ O6 & Remedello & 1.158 & Dense wet compaction \\ O7 & Remedello & 1.263 & Medium wet compaction \\ OL14/24 & Remedello & 1.326 & Loose wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ OL15/9 & Remedello & 1.218 & Medium wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ \hline O8 & [PERSON]. & 1.604 & Loose dry compaction \\ O9 & [PERSON]. & 1.626 & Loose wet compaction \\ O10 & [PERSON]. & 1.315 & Medium wet compaction \\ O11 & [PERSON]. & 1.529 & Loose wet compaction \\ OL16/24 & [PERSON]. & 1.300 & Medium wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ OL17/7 & [PERSON]. & 1.267 & Medium wet compaction with lime from slurry \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Oedometer test programme. Figure 4: Plasticity chart of embankment soils passing 425 \(\upmu\)m.  
of lime from forming a slurry. Afterwards, the mixtures were left in an airtight container for at least two days in order to reach moisture equilibrium. Then, the slurry of the treated mixture of soil was poured into the oedometer cell and loosely (no effort) or mediumly (gentle effort) compacted. Cellophane paper was used to seal in order to avoid moisture loss. They were then left to cure at ambient laboratory temperature (20 \(\pm\) 1 \({}^{\circ}\)C) for periods varying from 7 to 24 days. These different curing times were chosen in order to investigate the effectiveness of the time of preparation of samples (e.g., [24]). In detail, two curing time intervals were then considered: about one week (7-9 days) and about three weeks (24 days). Regarding sample preparation, proper methods should be considered for future research in order to quantify the improvement of soil features with treatment. In detail, row samples should reproduce the proctor compaction at the optimum water content while treated specimens should be prepared as a slurry mixture with a water content that must give a viscosity compatible with mixer machines in the building sites. Viscosity should also be a compromise since shrinkage effects must be minimized.