RESULTS OF SPECIAL LABORATORY TESTING PROGRAM ON HACKENSACK VALLEY VARVED CLAY

A special laboratory program was conducted at M.I.T. on 5 in. diameter samples of the varved clay from glacial lake Hackensack at Secaucus, N.J. in cooperation with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The program included: constant rate of strain consolidation tests; measurement of K sub o vs OCR; permeability tests on cubic samples to determine k sub h/k sub v; UU triaxial compression tests run on specimens cut at various inclinations; k sub o consolidated-undrained direct-simple shear tests to establish s sub u/sigma sub vc consolidated-undrained triaxial compression and extension tests on normally consolidated samples. This report describes the equipment and test procedures, presents the results of the tests, and compares the data to that obtained on other varved clays. It is concluded that the basic properties of the Hackensack Valley varved clay are very similar to those previously determined for Connecticut Valley varved clays from Amherst and Northampton, Mass. Two major problems are still unresolved: the in situ value of k sub h/k sub v vs that measured in the laboratory; and the value of undrained strength for horizontal loading, s sub u(h).