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Sustainability Issues in
Environmental Geotechnics,
Proceedings of the 2nd GeoMEast
International Congress and
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Sustainable Civil Infrastructures

Hesham Ameen
Tamer Sorour Editors

Sustainability Issues
in Environmental
Geotechnics
Proceedings of the 2nd GeoMEast
International Congress and Exhibition
on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures,
Egypt 2018 – The Official International
Congress of the Soil-Structure
Interaction Group in Egypt (SSIGE)
Sustainable Civil Infrastructures

Editor-in-chief
Hany Farouk Shehata, Cairo, Egypt

Advisory Board
Khalid M. ElZahaby, Giza, Egypt
Dar Hao Chen, Austin, USA
Sustainable Infrastructure impacts our well-being and day-to-day lives. The
infrastructures we are building today will shape our lives tomorrow. The complex
and diverse nature of the impacts due to weather extremes on transportation and
civil infrastructures can be seen in our roadways, bridges, and buildings. Extreme
summer temperatures, droughts, flash floods, and rising numbers of freeze-thaw
cycles pose challenges for civil infrastructure and can endanger public safety. We
constantly hear how civil infrastructures need constant attention, preservation, and
upgrading. Such improvements and developments would obviously benefit from
our desired book series that provide sustainable engineering materials and designs.
The economic impact is huge and much research has been conducted worldwide.
The future holds many opportunities, not only for researchers in a given country,
but also for the worldwide field engineers who apply and implement these
technologies. We believe that no approach can succeed if it does not unite the
efforts of various engineering disciplines from all over the world under one
umbrella to offer a beacon of modern solutions to the global infrastructure. Experts
from the various engineering disciplines around the globe will participate in this
series, including: Geotechnical, Geological, Geoscience, Petroleum, Structural,
Transportation, Bridge, Infrastructure, Energy, Architectural, Chemical and
Materials, and other related Engineering disciplines.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15140


Hesham Ameen Tamer Sorour

Editors

Sustainability Issues
in Environmental
Geotechnics
Proceedings of the 2nd GeoMEast
International Congress and Exhibition
on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures,
Egypt 2018 – The Official International Congress
of the Soil-Structure Interaction Group
in Egypt (SSIGE)

123
Editors
Hesham Ameen Tamer Sorour
Housing and Building National Research Ain-Sham University
Center Cairo, Egypt
Cairo, Egypt

ISSN 2366-3405 ISSN 2366-3413 (electronic)


Sustainable Civil Infrastructures
ISBN 978-3-030-01928-0 ISBN 978-3-030-01929-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01929-7

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957099

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Contents

Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties


of Virgin Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Vanshika B. Muchhara, Lalit S. Thakur, and Avani R. Umatt
Enviro-Economic Evaluation of Dumpsite Rehabilitation Solutions
in Developing Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
A. Galaa
Geosynthetics, an Emerging Engineered Technology in Soil
Stabilization in the Third World Countries for Sustainable
Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
K. C. Onyelowe and B. V. Duc
Geo-Environmental Impact of Bauxite Residue Stabilized
with Fly Ash and Gypsum to Mitigate the Leaching Problems . . . . . . . 44
D. Kishan, S. S. Kushwaha, and N. Dindorkar
Evaluation of Surfactant Formulation for EOR in Some Depleted
Oil Fields of Upper Assam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Miranda Kakoty and Subrata Borgohain Gogoi
Proportioning of CLSM Containing Class C Fly Ash, GGBS, Quarry
Dust and Processed Slag Sand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
C. P. Ramesh, H. P. Vageesh, T. Raghavendra, B. C. Udayashankar,
and A. Shashishankar
New Theory of Soil Response to a High Energy Impact and Its
Environmental Consideration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Khelalfa Houssam
Contaminated Soil Remediation: A Novel Cartographic Model
for the Representation of Technical Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Salvatore Barba, Vincenzo Naddeo, Paula Mardisa,
and Vincenzo Belgiorno

v
vi Contents

Chemical Transport Through Porous Media for EOR of Upper


Assam Basin, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Joyshree Barman and Subrata Borgohain Gogoi
Formulation of Chemical Slug for EOR Application of Moran
Oil Field of Upper Assam Basin, India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Joyshree Barman, Subrata Borgohain Gogoi, Jayakumar Viswanathan,
and Debasish Konwar
A Green Approach for Oil Field Produced Waters of Upper
Assam Basin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Gogoi J. Tapan, Gogoi B. Subrata, and Sarmah Shilpi
Potential of Using Tire Waste in Soil Reinforcement
and Its Application in Geocells Under Static and Dynamic
Loading – A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
C. Rajesh Kumar and Sreevalsa Kolathayar
Analysis and Solution of Containment Stabilization in Gabions Held at
the BR-060 Margins in the Municipality of Guapó/Goiás, Brazil . . . . . . 182
Rideci Farias, Haroldo Paranhos, Itamar de Souza Bezerra,
Silvio Lourenço da Silva Filho, Ranieri Araújo Farias Dias,
and Roberto Pimentel de Sousa Júnior
Solutions of Recovery in Slopes and Access to the Transmission Line
in 500 KV in the Section Located in the Municipalities of Colinas do
Sul and Niquelândia, State of Goiás, Brazil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Rideci Farias, Haroldo Paranhos, Elson Oliveira de Almeida,
Maicon Vitor Oliveira, Erani Bastos, Marcelo Oliveira,
José Augusto de A. Lopes, and Udo Gebrath
Evaluation of the Containment Curtain Staking Influence on
Underground Water Flow Through the Seep/W
Software Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Guilherme Ribeiro Paiva, Rideci Farias, Haroldo Paranhos,
Ranieri Araújo Farias Dias, Roberto Pimentel de Sousa Júnior,
and Lucélia Lisboa Ribeiro
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
About the Editors

Hesham Ameen
Geo-Institute of HBRC is considered one of the largest
geotechnical institutes in the Middle East that has ISO
certificate. Professor Hisham had been selected to chair
the institute many years ago. This selection had been
done based on his activities, accuracy, awareness, and
hard work in the research. He is specialized in
geotechnical testing, neural networks for the geotech-
nical engineering, and soil improvement.

Tamer Sorour
Assistant Professor Tamer Sorour, Faculty of
Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
Assistant Professor Tamer Sorour is a Geotechnical
Engineer graduated from the Faculty of Engineering,
Ain Shams University, and obtained his PhD from the
Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University in 2009.
He performed various researches in different fields of
geotechnical engineering, such as soil dynamics includ-
ing the hazards accompanied with pile driving in
different soil formations as well as the design of
machine foundations and soil liquefaction, and the
stability of soil slopes under the effect of earthquakes.
The field of deep excavations includes different shoring
and anchorage systems. The field of soil improvement
using stone columns and the effect of the installation

vii
viii About the Editors

technique on the behavior of the stone columns. He also


shared in different researches that are focused on the
response of large-diameter piles in different soil
formations. He also have minor/major contribution in
different mega projects in Egypt as supervisor of
structural and geotechnical works including but not
limited to: geotechnical and geo-environmental studies,
execution of boreholes, shallow and deep excavation
works, performing different laboratory testing, field
control and field testing using different techniques,
installation of different types of piles, retaining walls
and different supported deep excavation systems, soil
stabilization, dewatering, protection of side slopes and
landslides, grouting, and field monitoring.
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal
Properties of Virgin Soil

Vanshika B. Muchhara1(&), Lalit S. Thakur2, and Avani R. Umatt3


1
Civil Engineering Department, Parul University, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
[email protected]
2
Civil Engineering Department, Babaria Institute of Technology,
Vadodara, Gujarat, India
[email protected]
3
Department of Health, Life and Applied Sciences, TeamLease Skill University,
Vadodara, India
[email protected]

Abstract. Thermal properties of the soil gain great importance in engineering


projects and situations where heat transfer may take place and affect the soil
properties on the whole. Soil gets affected, for example, during laying of bitu-
minous roads, airfield strips, gas or steam pipelines and/or hot water and cold
gas lines in unfrozen grounds. In-situ determination of thermal properties of soil
is not only time consuming, but in certain cases, costly. The purpose of this
study is to understand the variation in thermal properties of virgin soil with
addition of different carbonates like potassium carbonate, sodium carbonate and
ammonium carbonate using laboratory based Lee’s and Charlton’s apparatus. It
is observed that increase in density of soil with any of the three chemicals
increases the thermal conductivity, however with the selected chemical the
increase is limited to a certain percentage addition after which it does not show
any changes as compared to virgin soil.

1 Introduction

Soil is a natural body comprised of solids (minerals and organic matter), liquid, and
gases that occurs on the land surface, occupies space, and is characterized by one or
both of the following: horizons, or layers, that are distinguishable from the initial
material as a result of additions, losses, transfers, and transformations of energy and
matter or the ability to support rooted plants in a natural environment. The most
important realization of present time is that soils must be regarded as system with
interacting and independent physical, chemical and biological components. This is
exemplified in study of various properties of soils, specifically water quality and
thermal issues. The fate of substance which has the potential to be transported from
near the soil surface region to the water table is influenced by chemical and microbial
transformations, movement between liquid phase and solid phase through sorption
reactions, volatilization & uptake by plants. These processes are in turn influenced by
characteristics of soil such as mineralogical and organic composition and temperature.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019


H. Ameen and T. Sorour (Eds.): GeoMEast 2018, SUCI, pp. 1–14, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01929-7_1
2 V. B. Muchhara et al.

With the preceding sentiment as motivation the present study involved the devel-
opment of a measurement method for soil thermal properties along with a means to
develop a mechanism to examine the interaction between the thermal and hydraulic
aspects of a given soil system.
Lee’s and Charlton’s apparatus is based on the principle that the steady state rate of
heat flowing into a system being equal to rate of heat flowing out of the system. Here
the rate of heat conducted by poor conductor to the Lee’s disc below it is equated to
rate of heat radiated by the Lee’s disc itself.

1.1 Material Used


The present study was carried out on three types of soils i.e. expansive soils, clayey silt
and a single mineral soil commercially available soil i.e. Kaolinite. A single mineral
soil was used to remove the heterogeneity due to various minerals in naturally
occurring soils. The expansive soil (henceforth referred to as Black Cotton Soil) used
for the study was collected from Parekha Village, Kayavaran (Coordinates: 22.067°N
73.2500°E). The clayey silt (henceforth referred to as Silt) was collected from the
Faculty of Technology & Engineering. MSU premises (Coordinates: 22.2979°N,
73.1967°E). After removing all organic matter, both these soils were oven-dried,
pulverized and then sieved through 425 micron sieves prior to use. Physical and
engineering properties of the soils were evaluated and tabulated in Table 1.

Table 1. Index properties of soil


Type of soil LL* (%) PL* (%) SL* (%) FSI* (%) Classification MDD (gm/cc) OMC (%)
Kaolinite 56 31 16 25 CI 1.48 26.91
BC Soil 56 27 11 75 CH 1.64 18.42
Silt 30 21 21.6 11 MI 1.72 12.12
LL = liquid limit, PL = Plastic Limit, SL = Shrinkage Limit, FSI = Free Swell Index

The study was divided broadly into two segment: Study of thermal property
(conductivity) of soil in its virgin state, as collected; and effect of various carbonates on
the conductivity of virgin soil.

2 Lee’s and Charlton’s Apparatus

2.1 Construction of Apparatus


As shown in Fig. 1, Lee’s & Charlton’s disc apparatus consist of an aluminium disc
(Lee’s disc) B having diameter 10 cm and thickness 1.2 cm supported by means of four
strings from a large ring on a retort stand. The experimental disc S, of the same
diameter as B and thickness 1 cm, rests on it. A steam chamber C, having the same
diameter as aluminium slab and thickness 6 cm, with inlet and outlet tubes, is placed
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 3

above S. The bottom of the steam chamber is thick circular metal slab. Thermocouple
T1 and T2 are inserted into holes drilled towards the base of C and into B respectively,
to record their temperatures. A 5 litre round bottomed Durasil flask is placed in the
heating mantle to generate steam. Soil samples of 10 cm diameter and 1 cm thickness
is prepared at density 90% & 95% MDD on wet side of the OMC.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of Lee’s and Charlton’s apparatus

2.2 Sample Preparation


All samples were prepared based on Maximum Dry Density and Optimum Moisture
Content. Samples were prepared at 90% and 95% of MDD with the water content being
kept on the wet side of OMC. The sample size for all the experiments was 10 cm
diameter and 1 cm thickness. All three soils were allowed to rest (mature) for a time
duration of 24 h before using the soil for further testing. After 24 h of maturing, the
soil was mixed well and shaped into cylindrical discs of 10 cm diameter and 1 cm
thickness, compaction is done using small rammer to accommodate the required
quantity of soil with regular measurement of thickness of the sample to get the desired
uniform dimensions, as seen in Fig. 2. Samples of soil with different carbonates in
different percentages, were prepared in the same manner as specified in Table 2. For all
Lee’s and Charlton’s experiments, calculation of thermal conductivity is based on
following parameters,
• Mass of Lee’s Disc = 0.509 kg
• Thickness of Lee’s Disc = 0.016 m
• Radius of Lee’s Disc = 6 cm
• Thickness of soil sample = 1 cm
• Heat capacity of metallic Disc = 0.91 kJ/kgK
4 V. B. Muchhara et al.

Fig. 2. Lee’s and Charlton’s disc sample Fig. 3. Part of Lee’s and Charlton’s apparatus

Table 2. Composition of various samples


Sample no. Density Soil name Carbonate % Carbonate added
1 95% MDD Kaolinite - -
2 90% MDD Kaolinite - -
3 95% MDD Black cotton soil - -
4 90% MDD Black cotton soil - -
5 95% MDD Silt - -
6 90% MDD Silt - -
7 95% MDD Kaolinite Potassium carbonate 2,4,6,8,10
8 95% MDD Kaolinite Sodium carbonate 2,4,6,8,10
9 95% MDD Kaolinite Ammonium carbonate 2,4,6,8,10
10 95% MDD Black cotton soil Sodium carbonate 2,6,10
11 95% MDD Silt Sodium carbonate 2,4,6

2.3 Procedure
The mass of the aluminium disc B (Lee’s Disc) was measured using a balance, whereas
the diameter and thickness was measured with a vernier caliper. The arrangement of the
entire setup is shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. The soil sample was kept between the two
metal discs with the thermocouples inserted in the disc itself with the steam chamber as
well as the lower metal disc. Figure 4 shows the setup for generation of steam and the
connection for the steam to be delivered to the steam chamber. The thermocouples
measure the temperature of the steam chamber as well as the discs at set time intervals.
The steam rate is set so as to achieve a constant temperature in the steam chamber.
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 5

Once the temperature becomes constant i.e. steady the soil sample is removed between
the disc and the steam chamber. The steam chamber was placed directly over the metal
disc until the temperature of the lower discs rises 10 °C above the selected steady
temperature. Temperature versus time reading are noted till the time that the temper-
ature of the disc falls 10 °C below its steady state. These measurements are then used to
calculate the thermal conductivity of the soil (Fig. 5).

Fig. 4. Steam passing to steam chamber Fig. 5. Heating mantle for steam
generation

2.4 Thermal Conductivity Measurement


Let h1 and h2 be the steady state temperatures recorded by the thermocouples T1 and T2
respectively. If d is the thickness and a is the cross sectional area of the disc S, then the
quantity of heat Q conducted through the disc per second is given by

KAðh1  h2 Þ
Q¼ ð1Þ
d

Where K is the thermal conductivity of the material of the disc S. Thus,

Qd
K¼ ð2Þ
A ð h1  h2 Þ
6 V. B. Muchhara et al.

This is the working formula of the experiment. Here K is the determined by


measuring A, d, h1 and h2 directly and Q indirectly,
If m is the mass, s is the specific heat, and dh/dt is the rate of cooling at h2 of the
brass slab B, then
 
dh
Q ¼ ms ð3Þ
dt

In the present method, the rate of cooling of the disc B is determined without the
experimental disc S on it. So on it, so, to obtain the correct value of dh/dt at h2 under
the condition of the experiment, the quantity dh/dt is multiplied by a correction factor f,
due to Bedford. This factor is given by

ðr þ 2d1 Þ
f¼ ð4Þ
ð2r þ 2d1 Þ

Where r is the radius and d1 is the thickness of the circular brass B


Therefore,
 
dh r þ 2d1
Q ¼ ms  ð5Þ
dt 2r þ 2d1

Thus thermal conductivity is given by


n o
ms ddth  2rrþþ22dd1  d
K¼ 1
ð6Þ
A ð h1  h2 Þ

where, k- Coefficient of thermal conductivity of the sample (W/mK), A - Area of the


sample in contact with the metallic disc (mm2), d - Thickness of the sample (mm), T2 -
T1 = Temperature difference across the sample thickness (K), m - Mass of the metallic
disc (kg), s - the heat capacity of the metallic disc (kJ/kgK)d1 - Thickness of the
metallic disc (mm), r - Radius of the metallic disc (mm), dh/dt = Rate of cooling of the
metallic disc at T2.

3 Results, Analysis and Discussion

Tables 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 show calculations for thermal conductivity of all the three soils
with carbonates (Table 7).
Figure 6 shows the thermal conductivity of Kaolinite samples prepared with
potassium carbonate at different percentages. For potassium carbonate thermal con-
ductivity increases and then decreases and then remains almost constant.
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 7

Table 3. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with potassium carbonate


Sample % Trial % Steady Steady Rate of Thermal
no. MDD no. carbonate temperature of temperature cooling conductivity
steam chamber h1 of disc h2 dh/dt k (W/mK)
(°C) (°C) (°C/sec)
1 95 Set 1 2 97.36 71.86 0.028 2.72  10−4
2 95 Set 2 2 96.8 74.48 0.030 0.00033305
3 95 Set 1 4 96.12 72.64 0.029 0.00030604
4 95 Set 2 4 95.62 74.05 0.031 0.00035611

Table 4. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with ammonium carbonate


Sample % Trial % Steady Steady Rate of Thermal
no. MDD no. carbonate temperature of temperature cooling conductivity
steam chamber h1 of disc h2 dh/dt k (W/mK)
(°C) (°C) (°C/sec)
1 95 Set 1 2 95.94 64.96 0.031 0.00024795
2 95 Set 2 2 93.07 65.86 0.031 0.00028220
3 95 Set 1 4 95.35 68.2 0.033 0.00030118
4 95 Set 2 4 94.76 64.45 0.029 0.00023708

Table 5. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with sodium carbonate


Sample % Trial % Steady Steady Rate of Thermal
no. MDD no. carbonate temperature of temperature cooling conductivity
steam chamber h1 of disc h2 dh/dt k (W/mK)
(°C) (°C) (°C/sec)
1 95 Set 1 2 96.35 76.28 0.031 0.00038273
2 95 Set 2 2 95.63 76.77 0.033 0.00043356
3 95 Set 1 4 96.59 73.53 0.030 0.00032236
4 95 Set 2 4 95.33 75.93 0.033 0.00042149

Table 6. Thermal conductivity of black cotton with sodium carbonate


Sample % Trial % Steady Steady Rate of Thermal
no. MDD no. carbonate temperature of temperature cooling conductivity
steam chamber h1 of disc h2 dh/dt k (W/mK)
(°C) (°C) (°C/sec)
1 95 Set 1 2 95.94 73.72 0.04 0.00044606
2 95 Set 2 2 96.07 74.42 0.036 0.00041202
3 95 Set 1 6 95.63 73.42 0.039 0.00043510
4 95 Set 2 6 95.34 74.66 0.037 0.00044333
8 V. B. Muchhara et al.

Table 7. Thermal conductivity of silt with sodium carbonate


Sample % Trial % Steady Steady Rate of Thermal
no. MDD no. carbonate temperature of temperature cooling conductivity
steam chamber h1 of disc h2 dh/dt k (W/mK)
(°C) (°C) (°C/sec)
1 95 Set 1 2 94.85 77.62 0.033 0.00047458
2 95 Set 2 2 94.89 79.66 0.038 0.00061824
3 95 Set 1 4 95.57 77.7 0.036 0.00049918
4 95 Set 2 4 95.5 73.59 0.032 0.00036190

Fig. 6. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with potassium carbonate at 95% MDD

Figure 7 shows that thermal conductivity with ammonium carbonate increases with
increase in percentage of carbonate. Values of thermal conductivity at 2%, 6%, 10% are
(2  10−4), (3  10−4), (2  10−4)W/m K which shows that for 6% it is the highest
and then it decreases Thus after a certain amount of ammonium carbonate there is no
increase on thermal conductivity of kaolinite.
Figure 8 shows thermal conductivity for black cotton soil with sodium carbonate,
follows the same trend as that of thermal conductivity for kaolinite with sodium
carbonate.
Figure 9 shows that thermal conductivity of silt with sodium carbonate. The value
of thermal conductivity of silt with sodium carbonate at 2%, 4%, 6% are (5  10−4),
(4  10−4), (3  10−4)W/m K respectively which shows that thermal conductivity of
silt with sodium carbonate decreases with addition in percentage of chemical.
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 9

Fig. 7. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with ammonium carbonate, at 95% MDD

Fig. 8. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite with sodium Carbonate, at 95% MDD


10 V. B. Muchhara et al.

Fig. 9. Thermal conductivity of black cotton with sodium carbonate, at 95% MDD

Figure 10 compares the thermal conductivity of kaolinite, black cotton soil and silt
mixed with sodium carbonate. For 2% addition of sodium carbonate thermal con-
ductivity for kaolinite, black cotton soil, and silt is (4  10−4), (4.3  10−4),
(5.4  10−4) W/m K respectively. A similar trend of increase in the conductivity value
was observed for varying percentages of sodium carbonate added to the three soils.

Fig. 10. Thermal conductivity of kaolinite, black cotton, silt with sodium carbonate at 95% MDD
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 11

Fig. 11. Temperature v/s time (cooling rate) for kaolinite with potassium carbonate for two trials

Fig. 12. Temperature v/s time (cooling rate) for kaolinite with ammonium carbonate for two trials
12 V. B. Muchhara et al.

Fig. 13. Temperature v/s time (cooling rate) for kaolinite with sodium carbonate for two trials

Fig. 14. Average temperature v/s cooling rate for kaolinite with potassium carbonate for two trials
Effect of Density and Carbonates on Thermal Properties of Virgin Soil 13

Figure 10, 11 and 12 below indicates the decrease of temperature with respect to
time for kaolinite with carbonates. The change of temperature with respect to time i.e.
rate of cooling is calculated from the graphs. For kaolinite with sodium carbonate, the
temperature range is between 80 °C to 90 °C. Similar trends were observed with black
cotton soil and silt with sodium carbonate.. For other virgin soils with and without
chemical mixtures temperature range is between 70 °C to 90 °C. Also, the cooling rate
for virgin soils and Kaolinite with Potassium Carbonate, is between 0 to 900 secs. For
all other soils with chemical mixtures cooling rate is 0 to 800 s.
The coefficient of co-relation i.e. R2 value for polynomial trendlines are best suited
when it is 1. This is in good correlation of periodic heat flow in a medium being
described as propagation of thermal waves in the medium, wherein these thermal
waves have characteristics similar to the characteristics of other typical waves. These
plots can be further used to study waver propagation and its verification in deep soils or
field conditions for study of water flux movements.
Figure 13 shows graphs of cooling rate versus average temperature for kaolinite
with Potassium Carbonate. Similar graphs were drawn between other virgin soils and
carbonates. The cooling rate is between 0.01 °C/sec to 0.023 °C/sec (Fig. 14).

4 Conclusions
• Thermal conductivity of kaolinite at 95% MDD is 0.0005 W/m K & at 90% mdd is
0.0003 W/m K. Similar results were observed for thermal conductivity of black
cotton soil and silty soil. The observed results show that as density increases,
thermal conductivity increases.
• Thermal Conductivity of virgin Kaolinite at 95% mdd is 0.0005 W/m K whereas its
value drops down to 0.0002 W/m K on addition of potassium carbonate or for that
matter of fact any salt used in the entire study. A comparable trend was observed for
black cotton and silty soil used in the study.
• Values of thermal conductivity of Kaolinite with Ammonium Carbonate at 2%, 6%,
10% are 0.0002, 0.0003, 0.0002 W/m K respectively. It shows that for 6% addition
of Ammonium Carbonate thermal conductivity of Kaolinite is highest and then it
decreases after which any further increase in salt concentration fails to raise or
decrease its value in any soil.
• Thermal Conductivity of silty soil with addition of 2, 4 and 6% of sodium carbonate
decreases with values of 0.0005, 0.0004, 0.0003 W/m K respectively.

References
Abdulagatov, I.M., Emirov, S.N., Abdulagatov, Z.Z., Askerov S.Y: Effect of America journal,
Soil Sci Soc America, pp. 8–14 (2006)
American Society of Testing Materials: ASTM D5334 “Standard Test Method for Determination
of Thermal Conductivity of Soil and Soft Rock by Thermal Needle Probe Procedure”, Annual
Book of ASTM Standards, vol. 0409 (2000)
Farouki, O.T.: Thermal Properties of Soils. Trans Tech Publications, New York (1986)
14 V. B. Muchhara et al.

Aramide, F.O.: Production and characterization of porous insulating fired bricks from Ifon clay
with varied sawdust admixture. J. Minerals Materials Characterization Eng. 11, 970–975
(2012)
Flynn, D.R., Watson, T.W.: Measurements of the thermal conductivity of soils to G. Ed., vol. 1,
pp. 305–343. Springer, Berlin (1969)
Bhojani, P.: Thermal conductivity of various types of soil. Maharaja Sayajirao University,
Baroda, India (2014)
Salomone, L.A., Kovacs, W.D.: Thermal resistivity of soils. J. Geotech. Eng. 110(3), 375–389
(1984)
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University of Finance and Economics, China
Enviro-Economic Evaluation of Dumpsite
Rehabilitation Solutions
in Developing Countries

A. Galaa(&)

Geo-Institute, Housing and Building National Research Center (HBRC),


87 El-Tahrir St., Dokki, Giza 11511, Egypt
[email protected]

Abstract. Egypt has suffered an ill-defined solid waste management


(SWM) system for decades which drove the informal sector to take control of many
components within the system. As a result, uncontrolled practices prevailed
leading to aggravated health, environmental, economic, and social problems.
Economic losses due to poor SWM practices are magnified due to the need to deal
with the environmental and health consequences. In addition, opportunities to
utilize solid waste, particularly municipal and agricultural are often missed. One of
the most deleterious consequences to SWM system deficiencies is uncontrolled
disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW). This study presents an attempt to cal-
culate the economic cost incurred as a result of leaving open dumps in operation
and to evaluate the economic impact of four environmentally viable solutions for
decommissioning open dumps. The evaluation of the four options was applied on
the existing Shebin El-Kom dumpsite in Egypt. The four options proposed in the
report are: Option 1: Complete removal - no waste mining (i.e. no material
recovery); Option 2: Complete removal - waste mining (i.e. with material recov-
ery); Option 3: Partial removal – capping; and Option 4: Partial removal – capping
– waste mining. The comparative economic evaluation showed that Option 2 will
be the most lucrative option that may return with profit and will leave the least
negative impact on the public health and environment. However, other options
should not be overlooked as political and administrative considerations may opt to
one of them. Recommendations and required actions to refine the economic
evaluation and to proceed are also presented in the paper. The same assessment
methodology can be applied to other open dumping locations grown to similar
scales. The key action is to integrate the closure or the decommissioning project
with a wise solid waste management practice.

1 Introduction

The features of the solid waste management (SWM) system in Egypt were ill defined
for a long period leading to aggravated health, environmental, economic, and social
problems. Part of the inefficiencies in SWM system lay in the lack of a unified legal
framework and the other part in the poor coordination between relevant public as well
as private sectors. Moreover, other factors such as capital, human resource and data
restrictions contribute to the problem (Zaki et al. 2013). Thus, the foundation for the
decision-making process will be missing.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
H. Ameen and T. Sorour (Eds.): GeoMEast 2018, SUCI, pp. 15–37, 2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01929-7_2
16 A. Galaa

Uncontrolled disposal of municipal solid waste (MSW) is one of the problems that
resulted from SWM system deficiencies during the past decades and is continuously
growing. According to the SWEEP-NET report (Zaki 2014), 80 to 88% of the gen-
erated MSW in Egypt is open-dumped in uncontrolled dumps, 7% are disposed in
landfills, and the rest is recycled and/or composted. According to the same report, out
of 22 planned sanitary landfills only 7 are hitherto operational while 2 are still under
construction. An urgent need exists forbetter waste management strategies to attain
higher rates of waste recycling and reuse, and lower rates of disposal. At such poor
recycling and reuse rates as well as insufficient landfill capacities, giant open dumps
grew across the country, which poses serious threat to the environment and public
health.
This report focuses on the current situation of uncontrolled open dumps in Egypt
and the possible solutions to reduce the associated negative impacts. While imple-
menting such solutions may only solves temporary and local issues, holistic changes to
the SWM system should be considered and executed to ensure the sustainability of the
implemented solutions.

1.1 Impacts of Open Dumps


As an open dump is approached, often randomly spread uncovered waste; scattered
spontaneous fires; vermin, dogs, birds and other vectors; leachate seeping through the
bottom of piles, and scavenging at site is noticed. Such features are the common
characteristics of uncontrolled open dumps. However, the impact of open dumping
extends to beyond unpleasant visuals to serious risk to the environment and public
health as will be explained in the following sections. The training module of the United
Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is consulted in the following sections
addressing the different impacts.

1.1.1 Environmental Impacts

1. Contamination of groundwater and surface water due to the flow of leachate


through waste and/or soil. It has also been noticed that at many locations in Egypt,
solid waste is dumped by the banks of waterways or on the shores of water bodies.
2. Various contaminants (especially heavy metals) can contaminate soils beneath and
beside the dump site hindering the possible future use of the site after removal of
waste.
3. The emission of gases such carbon dioxide and methane due to biodegradation of
organic waste contributes to the greenhouse effect.
4. Spontaneous fires (self-ignition) burns solid waste, including plastics, releasing
smoke and gaseous contaminants into the air. The smoke contains particulates,
carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other contaminant gases, including low levels
of dioxins, all of which represent a serious risk to health. Odour from the generation
of hydrogen sulphide may also be problematic.
Enviro-Economic Evaluation of Dumpsite Rehabilitation Solutions 17

5. Fauna in and around dump sites may be impacted, either by direct consumption of
the solid waste, or by consumption of contaminated plants and/or animals, or as a
result of leachate pollution to groundwater and surface water.
6. Plants near open dump sites can be impacted directly by the waste, dust or smoke
from burning.

1.1.2 Impacts on Public Health

1. Rising smoke from dumps due to uncontrolled fires may cause chest diseases,
respiratory disorders, and potentially heart diseases and cancers. Several dumpsites
in Egypt are located close to residential areas which elevates such risks.
2. Polluted water and soil can directly or indirectly harm water users.
3. Infections can spread due to direct contact of scavengers with waste. In addition,
vectors such as animals, rodents, birds and flying insects.
4. Waste can also slide underneath loads from moving on-site machinery causing fatal
accidents.

1.2 Current Situation in Egypt


An attempt to characterize the present SWM system is presented by Egypt’s SWEEP-
NET country report (Zaki et al. 2013). As part of describing the system, waste disposal
sites were categorized as uncontrolled dumps, controlled (public) dumps and sanitary
landfills. While such classification may describe disposal sites from an administrative
point of view, the reality is quite different.
Little or no controversy rises when describing sanitary landfills. The distinctive
features between controlled and uncontrolled (open) dumps are detailed by the Training
Module of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP 2005). The current sit-
uation shows that uncontrolled dumps grow in random sites selected by the public with
no intervention from the municipalities. Controlled dumps may only differ in the fact
that municipalities officially allocate a specific site for MSW disposal with no or
meagre measures to control any impact waste may impose. The only difference could
be a fence. Waste disposal practices in both controlled and uncontrolled dumps in
Egypt are the same. Uncontrolled dumps vary from small (few hundred square meters)
to large size (thousands square meters) dump sites, and controlled dumps are mostly
larger in size, while practices remain the same. At various locations, uncontrolled and
controlled dumpsites both grow to occupy a gigantic footprint (several feddans/acres).
El-Montazah and Abees dumpsites in Alexandria; and El-Wafa Wa El-Amal dumpsite
in Cairo are good examples on that. No daily covers, no leachate/gas management and
waste pickers prevail when it comes to salvaging recyclables. Based on UNEP’s
description both controlled and uncontrolled dumps in Egypt can be classified as
Uncontrolled Open Dumps.
18 A. Galaa

2 Possible Gains from Dumpsite Rehabilitation

The previous sections addressed the possible harmful impacts of uncontrolled dumps
and the associated practices on the public health and safety as well as on the envi-
ronment. The required remedial measures range from decommissioning of the dump,
whether by removal or capping, to the upgrade to a more controlled waste disposal
facility. Choice of the most appropriate remedial measure depends on environmental as
well as economic factors. In this section, the sources of possible economic return will
be presented.

2.1 Return on Environment and Public Health


Despite the damage already caused by the dump, the cost of not closing the dump will
exceed the cost of closing it and constructing a properly engineered disposal facility,
mainly due the impact on environment and public health. Such costs appear on the
long-term and may not appear as a number in a feasibility study as, sometimes, the
damages to environment and public health are immeasurable in monetary value.
Containing the source of contamination will definitely stop ongoing pollution, limit the
extent of polluted zone and restore reversible damage caused by the dump.

2.2 Financial Return


2.2.1 Waste Value
Both incoming and accumulated (aged) waste at a dump are of economic value.
Incoming fresh waste can be diverted to sorting and recycling plants, composting
facilities, and waste-to-energy plants. The possible returns from accumulated waste are
presented in this paper. If the dump is to be totally or partially removed, the removal
process can be turned to mining and processing activities instead of just transporting
the waste to new locations. Accumulated waste can be mined for the following:
1. Compost: the organic fraction in aged waste has undergone considerable aerobic
and/or anaerobic digestion and may need only minor processes to reach an end
product, given that the waste has not undergone severe incineration.
2. Recyclables: accumulated waste is already scavenged and may contain a fraction of
recyclables significantly less than fresh waste. However, there is always a fraction
of recyclables left in the waste that could be of economic value such as scrap
electronics and aluminium (Hogland et al. 2011).
3. Rejects-to-energy: The Energy Rich Fraction (ERF) of the non-biodegradable and
non-recyclable materials in accumulated waste can be turned into refuse-derived-
fuel (RDF). Combustibles obtained from aged waste have lower moisture content
and higher calorific value than those obtained from fresh waste as proven by Chen
et al. (2007).

2.2.2 Land Value


Soil underlying open dumps experience serious contamination that may hinder the
reuse of the land for various activities, particularly agricultural purposes. Treatment of
Enviro-Economic Evaluation of Dumpsite Rehabilitation Solutions 19

soil contamination is a costly, complicated and lengthy process. The good side is
having several suitable uses for the affected land. The location and post-closure use of
land defines the potential value of the salvaged land through removal or capping of the
open dump. There have been examples in Egypt where a capped dump has been used
for recreational purposes after decommissioning (closure). For example, EL-Darassa
dumpsite was capped and turned into what is currently known as Al-Azhar Park giving
live example of turning a dumpsite to a profit generating project when the location is
lucrative. Al-Fustat garden is another example on a smaller scale. If the location is not
as lucrative as in the previous cases, the dump could be partially or totally removed and
land can be utilized in a more efficient waste management system. For example,
transfer stations; sorting, composting, and/or recycling plants could be built on the
cleared section of the salvaged land. This was the solution adopted for Al-Montazah
dumpsite in Alexandria.

3 Dump Decommissioning Project Components

The dump decommissioning project has three interdependent components, namely, an


engineering component pertaining to excavation/reshaping/capping of the dump; a
SWM component including the integration of the dump in an efficient SWM and
material recovery; and the post-closure land use component. The SWM and the land
use components were discussed in the previous section on the economic return while
the engineering component will be detailed in the following section. However, each
component cannot be considered separately as several combinations of the different
components may be suitable.

3.1 Engineering Solutions


Several engineering solutions could be served at the same site depending on the ulti-
mate goal behind decommissioning and on the cost of the best combination of the
project components. Engineering solution for decommissioning a dump can fall under
four main methods:
1. Decommissioning by completely removing the waste and remediating the site,
2. Decommissioning by shaping and capping the waste,
3. Combining 1 and 2, and
4. Decommissioning the uncontrolled practices by upgrading the site to a sanitary
landfill
The first three methods start by preventing dumping at the current site and allo-
cating an alternative site for waste disposal to accommodate all or a fraction of the
amount of waste at the dump as well as the incoming waste. Upgrading to a sanitary
landfill may not be suitable for most of the major uncontrolled dumpsites in Egypt due
to the inappropriateness of their locations for waste disposal in the first place. There-
fore, the following sections will discuss the first three methods.
20 A. Galaa

3.2 Complete Removal and Site Remediation


There are two major components for this solution that may seem conventional, exca-
vation and transportation. However, MSW is not like conventional excavation debris
and require special precautions especially during excavation. Methane is explosive
when exposed to heat at concentrations between 4.4% to 15% (UNEP 2005). There-
fore, the use of spark-less equipment and machinery may be necessary. If such
equipment is not available, methane levels in the air should be continuously monitored
and work should be halted until levels are back to below the explosive limits of
methane.
Transportation of the excavated waste for disposal in an alternative location or for
processing at a recycling or composting facility is the other major component of
complete removal solution. Therefore, waste destination should be prudently selected
to minimize the cost of transportation. The best practice is to process the material onsite
and transport only a small fraction to the closest sanitary landfill.
Leachate and gas migration into the soil and water underneath the dump causes a
serious environmental challenge. Remediation of the contaminated soil, groundwater,
surface water, and air is required upon the removal of the dump. Remediation options
range from removing the source of contamination or containing the contamination to
the cleanup of contaminated zones. The suitable option depends of the foreseeable use
of the salvaged land and on the scale of contamination caused by the dump. Site
assessment and investigation is required to assess the scale of the problem and select
the suitable option. Soil and groundwater should be tested for the concentration of the
different contaminants commonly available in MSW leachcate.

3.3 Shaping and Capping the Dump


This alternative is preferred when removing the waste is not feasible or practical. This
alternative contains the waste in-place and minimizes its impact on the surrounding
environment (air, soil, and water). This happens via capping the top surface of the
dump with a low permeability cover or a barrier while installing gas and leachate
collection systems to control the migration of such contaminants. According to Solid
Waste Management Privatization Procedural Manual (SWMPP) and UNEP (2005), the
main elements of this solution are:
• Shaping (cut and fill) and compaction of waste to the required shape with stable
slopes and graded surfaces.
• Final cover (cap) to minimize the percolation of water to covered waste, reduce gas
migration, isolate the waste from vermin and animals, minimize the escape of odor,
and to support vegetation for landscaping purposes. The cover is composed of a gas
collection soil layer on the top of waste, overlain by compacted low permeability
soil or alternatively geotextile and geomembrane (liner) for preventing water flow,
overlain by uncompacted topsoil for vegetation and landscaping purposes.
• Drainage control system through providing the adequate slopes and water path-
ways to convey water to particular spots where it can be collected and disposed.
Slopes and materials should also be designed to avoid surface erosion.
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and almost constantly engaged in savage warfare, he may hardly be
looked upon as an originator of poetic beauty. Moreover, his English
culture clung to him for generations, while politically he considered
himself an Englishman. The songs he sang, therefore, were the
songs of his fathers, and precious little social opportunity he had for
indulging in their charm. Isolation and lack of communication
effectually precluded a current interchange of ideas.

In a great measure these conditions apply to the subsequent


generations of all European races in America—the pioneers as well
as the later immigrants. Their own traditions, whatever their
nationality, are preserved for a generation or so to the exclusion of
new influences; then the old songs die away and the memory of
them becomes obliterated in the great stream of cosmopolitanism.
Only in isolated spots, where a race, especially strong in tradition or
racial peculiarities, or where a mere aggregation of people, united in
a common mode of life, is sequestered, have these traditions
survived or engendered new ones. Instances of this are the French
Canadians, the Creoles of Louisiana, the Spanish-Americans of
Mexico and California, and the mountaineers of Kentucky and
Virginia. These people have a folk-song peculiar to themselves,
which is founded, however, upon a traditional racial idiom, and may
therefore be classed as 'adapted' or 'transformed' folk-song. For the
indigenous American folk-song we shall have to look elsewhere.

The only caste in American history whose condition in any way


resembled that of the peasant class in Europe was the negro slave
of the South. Not only was he subjected to sufferings, hardships, and
oppression, but, injected into a civilization in which he found himself
an outcast, he was forced to create a racial existence for himself,
which, while it adapted elements of the society that ruled him,
nevertheless was bound to be distinctive because of a peculiar
admixture of savage customs and superstitions, the imperfection of
his understanding, and the extraordinary emotional makeup of his
character. The negro in his uncivilized way was endowed with the
ingenuousness of a child, and the susceptibility to impressions that
goes with the untutored mind. He had a childlike, poetic nature, a
natural gift of song, an emotionalism and a sentimentality that
responded unfailingly to all the pangs of an unjust and cruel
existence. The ruthless severing of family ties, the physical pains,
the hardships of labor found a direct expression in his music, the
idiom of which was partly innate and partly acquired. Add to this the
intense religious excitement to which the negro is subject—an
emotion which seems to have translated itself with all its elemental
power from savage idolatry to Christian worship—and you have a
combination which could not but produce a striking result. 'Nowhere
save on the plantation of the South could the emotional life which is
essential to the development of true folk-song be developed,
nowhere else was there the necessary meeting of the spiritual cause
and the simple agent and vehicle.'[62]

The peculiar fact that the one true indigenous class of American folk-
song is the product of an African race is, as we have seen, due to
circumstances alone. It is no reflection upon the capabilities of the
other races for artistic expression. It simply demonstrates the fact
that folk-song grows under certain conditions and no other. A nation
that is prosperous, that is plunged headlong into the feverish
activities of industrial progress, cannot be expected to bring forth
melancholy 'complaints' or gems of contemplative lyricism. But there
come even to such nations moments of national stress that give rise
to unusual outbursts. While these are usually voiced by single
individuals, they reproduce so vividly the spirit of the people that they
often rank with folk-songs in spontaneity and directness. Such are
the patriotic songs, whose creation accompanied every war and
every revolution. Often they are mere adaptations of freshly
composed words to old but stirring tunes, which thus take on a new
significance—often these very tunes are 'captured' from the enemy
and annexed to the country's flag. Such was the case in the War of
the Revolution, in the War of 1812, and again in the Civil War. These
songs—not strictly folk-songs—might better be described as 'songs
in the folk manner,' a distinction indicated in German by the adjective
volkstümlich or volksmässig.
Such songs in the folk manner follow in the wake of every
considerable folk-song tradition. They have not failed to do so in
America, and it is significant that the spirit which they reproduce or
aim to reproduce is the spirit of the negro folk-song. The movement,
or after-movement, started with the imitation of negro ditties by white
composers in connection with the so-called negro minstrel troupes
which, beginning about 1845, became a favorite form of amusement
in the United States. Its culmination must be recognized in the work
of such men as Stephen Foster and Henry Clay Work, whose works
are part of the permanent stock of American lyrics. Beyond this the
negro song has had an influence upon the so-called American
popular song, a degenerate type which has appropriated, often in
distorted form, some of the character of plantation song, notably the
peculiar form of syncopation known as 'ragtime.'

We have now enumerated all the subdivisions of folk-song in its


broader sense: the native folk-song proper, exemplified by the negro
plantation song; the song in the folk manner, exemplified by the
negro minstrel tunes, the work of Stephen Foster and the patriotic
songs, adapted or original; the adapted folk-song of the French-
Canadian, Spanish-American, the Kentucky mountaineer, etc.; and,
finally, the simon-pure folk-song of foreign birth, perpetuated in
America by immigrants. All of these are vital forces in American
composition and as such must receive more detailed attention.

II
The discussion of the negroes' claim to the title 'American' would be
perhaps out of place at this late date, and particularly in this place,
were it not that a considerable class of American citizens has denied
to them not only social equality but equal consideration and
opportunity as a native citizen of the country. The preponderance of
European blood in the nation hardly justifies this any more than it
would justify the exclusion of the large number of Americans that are
of anciently oriental origin. In contrast with this the name 'American'
is never denied to the Indian, but priority of settlement can hardly be
argued in his favor, for by such reasoning the negro has superior
claims over some of the 'elect' of the white elements among
Americans. Negroes were sold into slavery in Virginia before the
landing of the Pilgrims in 1790. The first census of the United States
showed 759,208 negroes, and to-day they constitute nearly 13 per
cent. of the entire population. Their intellectual powers have been
amply proved by the achievements of individual members of the
race, in science, in education, and in the arts. It is hardly necessary
to name such men as Booker T. Washington, Paul Lawrence Dunbar,
and Dr. Burghardt DuBois in support of this. Mr. Krehbiel, however,
does well in quoting the last-named of these in proving the present
contention:

'Your country? How came it yours? Before the Pilgrims landed we


were here. Here we have brought three gifts and mingled them with
yours—a gift of story and song, soft stirring melody in an ill-
harmonized and unmelodious land; the gift of sweat and brawn to
beat back the wilderness, conquer the soil and lay the foundations of
this vast economic empire two hundred years earlier than your weak
hands could have done it; the third a gift of the Spirit. Around us the
history of the land has centred for thrice a hundred years; out of the
nation's heart we have called all that was best, to throttle and
subdue what was worst; fire and blood, prayer and sacrifice have
billowed over this people, and they have found peace only in the
altars of the God of Right....'

The negroes' songs are sung in the language of the country—or a


dialect of it; and, while they do not voice the sentiments of the entire
population—no song in a country so heterogeneous could do that—
they are American songs by the same right that the peasant songs of
Russia are Russian or the song of any other class of Americans
would be American.

In order to prove the originality of the negro folk-song it has been


necessary to combat the opinion of so learned a writer as Dr.
Wallaschek,[63] who has contended that these songs are
'unmistakably "arranged"—not to say ignorantly borrowed—from the
national songs of all nations, from military signals, well-known
marches, German students' songs, etc., unless it is pure accident
which has caused me to light upon traces of so many of them.' This
radical statement, while it has the force of scientific deduction, is
erroneous in the premises upon which these deductions are based.
Dr. Wallaschek has relied too freely upon the testimony of travellers
whose musical knowledge is doubtful and he has evidently confused
genuine slave songs with imitations of them, such as the so-called
minstrel tunes written by whites. Besides, as Mr. Krehbiel very
plausibly remarks, 'similarities exist between the folk-songs of all
peoples. Their overlapping is a necessary consequence of the
proximity and intermingling of peoples, like modifications of
language; and there are some characteristics which all songs except
those of the rudest and most primitive kind must have in common.
The prevalence of the diatonic scales and march-rhythms, for
instance, make parallels invariable. If the use of such scales and
rhythms in the folk-songs of the American negroes is an evidence of
plagiarism or imitation, it is to be feared that the peoples whose
music they put under tribute have been equally culpable with them.
Mr. William Francis Allen—with Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy
McKim Garrison the compiler of the most famous collection of negro
songs[64]—while admitting that negro music is partly imitative of the
music of the whites, says that 'in the main it appears to be original in
the best sense of the word, and the more we examine the subject,
the more genuine it appears to be.' Only in a very few songs does
Mr. Allen trace strains of less familiar music which the slaves heard
their masters sing or play. In spite of this, the songs themselves
prove that they are the spontaneous utterances of an entire people.
As in the case of all folk-songs, their first germs were uttered by
individual spokesmen, but these germs were such genuine
reflections of sentiments common to all and were subjected to such
modifications in their travels from lip to lip as to assume the
character of a composite expression of the race. They are indeed
'original and native products. They contain idioms transplanted hither
from Africa, but as songs they are the product of American
institutions, of the social, political, and geographical environment
within which their creators were placed in America; of the joys,
sorrows, and experiences which fell to their lot in America.'

Having established the 'Americanism' and the originality of the negro


folk-song, and having stated the presence of an African as well as
European element, we may now attempt to point definitely to
instances of both. Generally speaking, the African characteristics
consist of rhythmic and melodic aberration, while the European
ingredients find expression in the harmonic structure and the style of
the melodies as far as they are influenced by that structure. But this
statement is subject to qualifications. While the African, like every
other exotic race, is generally innocent of harmonic science,
travellers have brought evidences of a genuine natural feeling for
harmony among the African tribes. Thus a German officer recounted
to John W. D. Moodie[65] how his playing of an aria from Gluck's
Orfeo on the violin was immediately imitated with accompaniments
by the native Hottentots. Peter Kolbe, writing in 1719, testified to the
Hottentots' playing of their gom-goms in harmony, and Mr. Krehbiel
records the singing of a Dahoman minstrel at the World's Columbian
Exposition (1893) to the accompaniment of a Chinese harp as
follows: 'With his right hand he played over and over again a
descending passage of dotted crotchets and quavers in thirds; with
his left hand he syncopated ingeniously on the highest tuned string.'
According to the same writer, another investigator, Dr. Wangemann,
transcribed a hymn by a Kaffir in which the solos were sung in
unison but the refrain in full harmony. These instances should give
some clue to the extraordinary ability of negroes to 'harmonize,' that
is, improvise harmonies to a given melody.

Of course, the strongest musical accomplishment of the African is


his extraordinary command of rhythm. As is the case with most
primitive music, the rhythm of the African music is determined by the
native dances. The drum, which marks the rhythm, is the most
important instrument of the African, and his ability upon it is nothing
short of marvellous. He has developed a 'drum language' which he
uses in signalling in war time and for communication at long
distance. 'The most refined effects of the modern tympanist seem to
be put in the shade by the devices used by African drummers in
varying the sound of their instruments so as to make them convey
meanings, not by conventional formulas but by actual imitation of
words.'[66] Their ability to use cross rhythms and intricate effects of
syncopation is evidently inherited by the American negroes, whose
prowess in that direction may be verified in a thousand dance halls.
Syncopation and the peculiar form of it which Mr. Krehbiel refers to
as the 'Scotch snap' is indeed the outstanding characteristic of all
negro music. The short note on a strong beat immediately followed
by a longer one on a weak beat, and the consequent shifted rhythm
popularly known as 'ragtime' is scarcely ever absent in negro folk-
music. That it is a heritage from Africa seems to be conclusively
proved by the recording of such melodies as these:

Drum Call from West Africa.

Hottentot Melody.

Next to their rhythmic snap, the most radically outlandish


characteristic of the negro songs is their frequent variation from the
diatonic scale. This most often takes the form of a raised (major)
sixth in a minor key (while the seventh is not varied or is omitted
altogether); the raised seventh in the minor scale, or the flattened
seventh in the major. Besides these 'wild notes,' as Mr. Krehbiel calls
them, there are omissions of certain notes of the scale that produce
a decided exotic effect. Thus we have the major scale without the
seventh or without the fourth, and the minor scale without the sixth.
The major scale with both the fourth and the seventh omitted, in
other words the pentatonic scale, familiar in all primitive and exotic
music as well as in certain folk-tunes, notably the Celtic, is also
present in negro song. There are, moreover, examples in the so-
called whole-tone scale.

The effect produced by these aberrations constitutes the most


beautiful quality of negro music. We cannot refrain from quoting here
an example or two. The raised sixth in the minor scale is most
exquisitely shown in the famous 'spiritual' 'You May Bury Me in de
Eas',' which we quote in full, without harmonization:[67]

You may bur-y me in the East, You may bur-y me in the West;
But I'll
hear the trump-et sound In that morn-ing. In that morn-ing, my
Lord,
How I long to go, For to hear the trump-et sound, In that
morn-ing.

Another instance is seen in the second section of 'Come Tremble-ing


Down,' the first part of which is in C major, turning into A minor with a
striking disregard of harmonic convention, and proceeding as
follows:
Come trem-ble-ing down, go shout-ing home, Safe in the
sweet arms of
Je-sus, Come Je-sus, 'Twas just a-bout the break of day, King
Je-sus stole my
heart a-way, 'Twas just a-bout the break of day, King Je-sus
stole my heart a-way.

Such examples contain nothing that is imitative. Their disregard for


the natural progressions of diatonic melody leave no doubt that the
negro possessed, to begin with, a wholly independent sense of
tonality, which sense he has in some measure retained or
compromised. As an instance of the minor seventh in the major scale
take 'A Great Camp Meetin'.' We quote only the last three measures
of the first section in order to establish the key:

Don't you get a-weary, Dere's a great camp-meet-in' in de


prom-ised land,
Gwine to mourn an' neb-ber tire,——— mourn an' neb-ber
tire,
mourn an' neb-ber tire;— Dere's a great camp-meet-in' in de
prom-ised land.

And, as a last example of tunes that have little in common with any
other kind of folk-song, a melody worthy of the sophistication of an
ultra-modern composer, let us add 'O'er the Crossing':

Bend-in' knees a-ach-in', Bod-y rack'd wid pain, I wish I was a


child of God, I'd
git home bime-by. Keep-prain', I do be-lieve We're a long time
wag-gin' o' de
cross-in'. Keep pray-in', I do be-lieve We'll git home to heav-
en bime-by.

There are many, many more.[68] Melodic imagination of a high order


would be required to produce consciously such melodies as these.
There is in them little that is trivial, nothing that is frivolous. Even the
'rhythmic snap' never sounds cheap in true negro music, as distinct
from worthless imitations and so-called popular music—'coon songs'
and the like. Note the following as a noble example of its use:
No-bod-y know's the trou-ble I see, Lord, No-bod-y know's the
trou-ble I see;
No-bod-y know's the trou-ble I see, Lord, No-bod-y knows but
Je-sus.
Broth-ers, will you pray for me, will you pray for me,
Brothe-rs, will you pray for me, And help me to drive old Sa-
tan a-way?

In summing up the melodic and rhythmic characteristics of negro


tunes we may state the apparently contradictory fact that the great
majority of them are in the major mode, notwithstanding their almost
ever-present note of sadness. Out of 527 songs analyzed by Mr.
Krehbiel 416 are in ordinary major, only 62 in ordinary minor, 23
'mixed and vague,' and 111 pentatonic. Herein the negro folk-song
differs from most other folk-songs. Its Southern habitat would, of
course, seem to predispose it to major, and thus it bears out the
argument in favor of climatic influence. Nevertheless the effect of
sadness in the melodies does not escape us. Often it is produced by
the aberrations of which we have spoken; but more often it is less
tangible. In the words of Dr. DuBois 'these songs are the music of an
unhappy people, of the children of disappointment; and they tell of
death and suffering and unvoiced longing toward a truer world, of
misty wanderings and hidden ways.'

Practically all of the songs are in duple and quadruple rhythm, triple
time is extremely rare. The rhythmic propulsion is always strong. The
persistent excitement of rhythm is evidently an African relic and the
sense of it is so strong as to overcome the natural tendencies of the
text. 'The negroes keep exquisite time,' says Mr. Allen, 'and do not
suffer themselves to be daunted by any obstacle in the words. The
most obstinate hymns they will force to do duty with any tune they
please and will dash heroically through a trochaic tune at the head of
a column of iambs with wonderful skill.'

The form of the songs is, of course, determined by the structure of


the verse. They are composed of simple two-and four-bar phrases.
Four such usually make up a stanza, while four more are comprised
in the 'chorus' often placed at the beginning of the song and
repeated after every verse. The stanzas of the older songs
commonly contain an alternating solo and refrain; the second and
fourth lines are usually given to the refrain and the first and third to
the verse, the third being often a repetition of the first. In some cases
the refrain occupies three lines and the verse the remaining one.
'The refrain is repeated with each stanza,' says Mr. Allen concerning
the manner of performance, 'the words of the verse are changed at
the pleasure of the leader, or fugleman, who sings either well-known
words, or, if he is gifted that way invents verses as the song goes
on.'[69]

Some difficulty was experienced by those who have transcribed the


music of the negroes in reproducing 'the entire character' of the
songs by the conventional symbols of the art. This is due in part to
the primitive elements in the music, and in part to the peculiar
manner of the performance. The characteristic improvisational style
of the negro, the peculiar quality of the voices, and the slurring of
certain values are all necessary in order to produce the proper effect.
Moreover, the improvised harmony, simple as it was, had become an
inherent part of the music not easily to be reproduced. The following
description, taken from 'Slave Songs in the United States,' may be
illuminating in this connection:

'There is no singing in parts, as we understand it, and yet no two


appear to be singing the same thing; the leading singer starts the
words of each verse, often improvising, and the others who "base"
him, as it is called, strike in with the refrain, or even join in the solo
when the words are familiar. When the "base" begins the leader
often stops, leaving the rest of the words to be guessed at, or it may
be they are taken up by one of the other singers. And the "basers"
themselves seem to follow their own whims, beginning when they
please and leaving off when they please, striking an octave above or
below (in case they have pitched the tune too high), or hitting some
other note that "chords," so as to produce the effect of a marvellous
complication and variety and yet with the most perfect time and
variety, and yet rarely with any discord. And what makes it all the
harder to unravel a thread of melody out of this strange network is
that, like birds, they seem not infrequently to strike sounds that
cannot be precisely represented by the gamut and abound in "slides"
from one note to another and turns and cadences not in articulated
notes.'

A word should be added here regarding the instruments used by the


negro. The one most closely identified with him is, of course, the
banjo, which, in a primitive form, he is said to have brought from
Africa. The 'banjar' to which Thomas Jefferson refers in his 'Notes on
Virginia' was an instrument of four strings, or perhaps less at first,
whose head was covered with a rattlesnake's skin, and which
resembled closely an instrument used by the Chinese. (Cf. Vol. I, p.
54.) It is thought that the original banjo was a melodic rather than a
harmonic instrument, which is the peculiar office of its modern off-
spring, and, since the negro's music was at first purely melodic, it
must have been accordingly played. The tuning, too, was probably
very different from that of the banjo of to-day.

Besides this, the negro's chief instrument was the drum, as already
indicated. There were two principal sizes, made of a hollowed log
(the smaller one often of bamboo sections) over the end of which
sheep or goat skin was stretched. These drums were played in a
horizontal position, the player sitting on the instrument astride. Then
there were rattles, some like the Indians', some consisting of a jaw-
bone of an animal, across which a piece of metal was 'rasped'; also
the morimbabrett, consisting of a small shallow box of thin wood,
with several sections of reed, of graduated lengths, placed across it,
the ends of which were plucked by the player. The familiar Pan's
pipes, made from two joints of brake cane ('quills') and various noise
instruments—'bones,' triangle, tambourine, and whistles—were all
made to do duty. But when the negro had become thoroughly
civilized the violin became his favorite instrument, and the 'technique'
he achieved upon it without any real training has often astonished
the white listener.

III
Attention was not directed to the value of negro songs till the middle
of the nineteenth century. Considerable research resulted finally in
the publication of several collections, of which the 'Slave Songs of
the United States,' already mentioned above, was the first. This
collection of songs represents every phase in the gamut of
expression. The so-called 'sorrow' songs, the oldest surviving negro
songs, are perhaps the most expressive. Some of them have sprung
from the memories of a single act of cruelty, or an event of such
tragedy as to create a really deep impression. Others echo simply
the hardships encountered day by day. There are songs, too, that
reflect the sunshine and gaiety that was not altogether foreign to
plantation life, but those inspired by grief are the most beautiful.
Then there are the 'occupational' songs suggested by the rhythm of
labor which form a part of every kind of folk-song the world over. The
value of such songs was fully recognized by the slaves' masters, for
they were unfailing accelerators of labor, and it is known that the
slaves who led the singing in the field were given special rewards. In
consequence of this the negroes generally came to abhor that class
of songs, and it is significant that very few of the 'corn songs,' 'reel
tunes,' 'fiddle songs,' and 'devil songs' have been preserved, while
hundreds of the religious songs—'spirituals,' etc.—are now common
property.[70]
A special class of labor songs were the so-called 'railroad songs,'
which originated during the Civil War, when negroes were employed
in building earth works and fortifications. They consisted of a series
of rhythmic, protracted chants, upon words usually originated by a
leader. Railroad tracks were laid to these same strains—hence their
name. Their originality of thought and the fact that they represent the
last spontaneous outburst of the negro under rapidly changing
conditions, lends them a special interest. The railroad itself naturally
stimulated the negro's imagination. He introduced it metaphorically
even in his religious songs: the Christian was a traveller, the Lord
was the conductor and the ministers were the brakemen. At gospel
stations the train stopped for those that were saved, or to supply the
engine with the water of life. All of the negro's power of imagery was
here brought into play.

The love songs of the negro are few and those few lack depth, and
sometimes border on frivolity. An exception is usually made for 'Poor
Rosy,' concerning which one old negress has said that 'it cannot be
sung without a full heart and troubled spirit.'

We have already pointed out the preponderance of religious songs in


the folk-music of the negro. The reason is not hard to find. In his
aboriginal home religious rite, music and dance were closely
associated, as they are in the life of all primitive peoples. The
African's religion was a form of idolatry known as voodooism.
Connected with it were certain chants and rites, relics of which have
long survived.[71] These primitive rites were calculated to excite the
emotions rather than to uplift the spirit and under this excitement the
negro gave voice to the music that was in him. He accepted the
Christian religion as a substitute just as he accepted the English
language as a substitute for his African tongue. He garbled both. He
considered the new religion not in a dogmatic, philosophical, or
ethical sense, but rather as an emotional experience. When under
religious excitement he would wander through the woods in swamps
much like the ancient Bacchantes. 'A race imbued with strong
religious sentiment,' says Mr. M. A. Haskell,[72] 'one rarely finds
among them an adult who has not gone through that emotional
experience known as conversion, after which it is considered vanity
and sinfulness to indulge in song other than of a sacred character.'

His religion became the negro's one relief, comfort, and enjoyment.
His daily life became tinged with his belief; in his very sufferings he
saw the fulfillments of its promises. Nothing but patience for this life,
nothing but triumph in the next—that was the tenor of his lay.
Emancipation he thought of in terms of ultimate salvation rather than
earthly freedom. Thus he sang:

'Children, we shall all be free,


Children, we shall all be free,
Children, we shall all be free,
When the Lord shall appear.'

A religious allegory colored nearly all his songs, a pathetic, childlike


trust in the supernatural spoke through them, and biblical references,
echoes of the 'meetin',' shreds of the minister's teaching, were
strewn indiscriminately through all of them. 'The rolling of Jordan's
waters, the sound of the last trumpet, the vision of Jacob's ladder,
the building of the ark, Daniel in the lion's den, Ezekiel's wheel in the
middle of a wheel, Elijah's chariot of fire, the breaking up of the
Universe, the lurid pictures of the Apocalypse—all asked for swelling
proclamation.' Analogies between the chosen people and their own
in bondage were inevitable—and 'Hallelujahs' seemed as
appropriate in secular songs as in spiritual ones.

Often biblical words were garbled into mere nonsense. Thus 'Jews
crucified him' became 'Jews, screws, defidum,' etc. The personality
of the Prince of Darkness assumed a degree of reality which reminds
us of the characters of mediæval miracle plays. One of the songs
personifies him thus:

'O Satan comes, like a busy ole man,


Hal-ly, O hal-ly, O hal-lelu!
He gets you down at de foot o' de hill,
Hal-ly, O hal-ly, O hal-lelu!'

The so-called spirituals ('sper'chels) hold perhaps the largest place


in the negro's sacred repertory. These plantation songs
—'spontaneous outbursts of intense religious fervor'—had their
origin chiefly in the camp-meetings, the revivals, and other religious
exercises. 'They breathe a childlike faith in a personal Father and
glow with the hope that the children of bondage will ultimately pass
out of the wilderness into the land of freedom.' To them belong such
gems as 'You May Bury Me in the Eas',' the plaintive 'Nobody Knows
de Trouble I see,' the tender 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,' and many
others as rare.

At meetings the spirituals were often accompanied by a most


extraordinary form of religious ceremony, namely the so-called
'shouts,' which flourished particularly in South Carolina and south of
it during antebellum days.[73] The spirituals sung in this connection
were consequently called 'shout songs' or 'running spirituals.' The
shouts were veritable religious orgies, or bacchanalia, and no doubt
represent a relic of an African custom. Julien Tiersot refers to them
as 'dishevelled dances.'[74] A vivid description of a shout is given by
a writer in 'The Nation' of May 30, 1867:

'... The "shout" takes place on Sundays, or on "praise" nights


throughout the week, and either in the praise-house or in some cabin
in which a regular religious meeting has been held. Very likely more
than half the population of a plantation is gathered together. Let it be
the evening, and a light fire burns red before the door of the house
and on the hearth. For sometime one hears, though at a good
distance, a vociferous exhortation or prayer of the presiding elder or
of the brother who has a gift that way and is not "on the back seat"—
a phrase the interpretation of which is "under the censure of the
church authorities for bad behavior"—and at regular intervals one
hears the elder "deaconing" a hymn-book hymn, which is sung two
lines at a time and whose wailing cadences, borne on the night air,
are indescribably melancholy.

'But the benches are pushed back to the wall when the formal
meeting is over, and old and young, men and women, sprucely
dressed young men, grotesquely half-clad field hands—the women
generally with gay handkerchiefs twisted about their heads and with
short skirts—boys with tattered shirts and men's trousers, young girls
barefooted, all stand up in the middle of the floor, and when the
"sperichil" is struck up begin first walking and by and by shuffling
around, one after the other, in a ring. The foot is hardly taken from
the floor, and the progression is mainly due to a jerking, twitching
motion which agitates the entire shouter and soon brings out
streams of perspiration. Sometimes they dance silently, sometimes
as they shuffle they sing the chorus of the spiritual, and sometimes
the song itself is sung by the dancers. But more frequently a band,
composed of some of the best singers and of tired shouters, stand at
the side of the room to "base" the others, singing the body of the
song and clapping their hands together on the knees. Song and
dance are alike extremely energetic, and often, when the shout lasts
into the middle of the night, the monotonous thud, thud of the feet
prevents sleep within half a mile of the praise house.'

Closely related to the shout songs are the funeral songs which
accompanied the 'wakes' and burials of the negroes. They were
sung in a low monotonous croon by those who 'sat up' and are
particularly noted for their irregularity in everything except rhythm.
The negroes are especially inclined to voice their sorrow in nocturnal
song, as their savage ancestors did before them, and likewise they
indulged in funeral dances at night. Mrs. Jeanette Robinson Murphy,
writing in 'The Independent,' speaks of a custom in which hymns are
sung at the deathbed to become messengers to loved ones gone
before and which the departing soul is charged to bear to heaven.
'When a woman dies some friend or relative will kneel down and sing
to the soul as it takes flight. One of these songs contains endless
verses, conveying remembrances to relatives in glory.' Often these
funeral songs convey deep emotion in a nobly poetic vein. An
example recorded by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson has the
following words:

'I know moonlight, I know starlight,


I lay dis body down.
I walk in de moonlight, I walk in de starlight,
I lay dis body down.
I know de graveyard, I know de graveyard,
When I lay dis body down.
I walk in de graveyard, I walk troo de graveyard,
Fo lay dis body down.
I lay in de grave, and stretch out my arm;
I lay dis body down.
I go to de judgment in de evenin' of de day,
When I lay dis body down,
An' my soul an' your soul will meet in de day
When I lay dis body down.'

'Never, it seems to me,' comments Col. Higginson, 'since man first


lived and suffered, was his infinite longing for peace uttered more
plaintively than in that line.' There are many other examples of such
funeral songs preserved; some of them Mr. Krehbiel has reprinted in
his 'Afro-American Folksongs' (pp. 100 ff.).

Few of the secular songs have survived. Even these, it seems, were
often made to do service in the religious meeting, on the Wesleyan
principle that it would not do to let the devil have all the good tunes.
Some songs, on the other hand, were used to accompany rowing as
well as 'shouting'—probably because of the similarity of the rhythm in
the two motions. In 'Michael, Row the Boat Ashore,' which was a real
boat-song, not a human Michael but the archangel himself was
meant. Other tunes used for rowing were 'Heav'n Bell a-ring',' 'Jine
'em,' 'Rainfall,' 'No Man,' and 'Can't stay behin'.' Similarly, other
spirituals were used as working songs, for their rhythms were hardly
ever sluggish. As a good specimen of purely secular songs—'the
strange barbaric songs that one hears upon the Western
steamboats'—Mr. W. F. Allen points to the following:

I'm gwine to Al-a-ba-my, Oh!———


For to see my mam-my, Oh!———

She went from ole Virginny,


And I'm her pickaninny,

She lives on the Tombigbee,


I wish I had her wid me.

Now I'm a good big nigger,


I reckon I won't git bigger,

But I'd like to see my mammy,


Who lives in Alabamy.

The negro's natural impulse for dancing seems to have found its
outlet in the 'shout,' as far as the Atlantic seaboard states are
concerned at least, for the Christian sects promptly stamped out the
dances which were connected with primitive superstition. In
Louisiana, however, the negro came in contact with a very different
sort of people, the Spanish and French settlers—southern races of a
more sensuous turn than the Anglo-Saxon. The musical result was
the superposition of Spanish and French melody over negro rhythms
—the two ingredients of the Creole folk-songs, which are to a large
extent dance songs.

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