This document informs about the experience of European member state practices for successfully using alternative materials in earthworks. It covers all earthworks, whether for roads, railways, and other infrastructure, including fills, capping layers, transition zones, drainage ribs or others (for details, see EN 16907-1:2018, Clause 1 "Scope").
Alternative materials have properties, on a geotechnical standpoint, which makes them different from the materials (soils and rocks) being normally used in earthworks. Therefore, the objective of this document is:
- to give an overview of the alternative materials that have been successfully used in earthworks in Europe;
- for the alternative materials, for which use in earthworks is adequately documented, to give general information regarding the points of attention that clients, designers and earthwork companies, keep in mind in any attempt to use them in earthworks.
This document does not deal with alternative materials used as aggregate.
This document does not deal with alternative materials used as binders (fly ash, granulated blast furnace slag or others) or binder components.