Journal of the Korean Society of Mineral and Energy Resources Engineers ISSN:2288-0291(Print) 2288-2790(Online) 한국자원공학회지

Grouting is an injection of appropriate materials under pressure in the area of joint, cavities and pores of the ground. It has been widely used not only to block the groundwater in excavation work but also to reinforce the stiffness of the ground. Recently, the studies of grouting impacts on environmental contamination of ground have been on the increase. The purpose of this study is to estimate the impacts of heavy metals in grouting materials on environment by selecting the grouting operations which have been widely used in Korea. Chromium, Fe, Ni, Cd and Pb were detected in grouting materials, the concentrations of Ni and Cd, however, were negligible. Among the heavy metals, the concentration of Fe was the highest in all grouting materials whereas the highest content of Pb was found in the OPC(Ordinary Portland Cement). In the case of leaching test result on simulated grouting specimens, heavy metals were detected significantly at condition of under pH 4 while Pb and Fe were not leached at under pH 7 and without pH control. As the surface area of specimens increased, amounts of leached heavy metals also were risen. But the concentrations of heavy metals were reached maximum and sustained constant value after quite a few time. According to weathering test, it was shown that heavy metals which had not been leached at normal condition test were leached in test with weathering. From this point, it is apparent that weathering was highly correlated with the leaching of heavy metals in grouting materials. It is evident that the leaching of heavy metals from grouting materials was significant in acidic condition, such as the condition of the abandoned or closed mine areas.