In situ soil mixing, in various forms, has been utilized in the geotechnical field for over 40 years. Originally, the primary applications of soil mixing were for the construction of foundation support elements and earth retention structures. Soil mixing techniques were first applied to environmental applications in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Increasingly, soil mixing is being used in the United States to cost effectively treat a range of waste types in a variety of applications.
This paper presents an overview of soil mixing as it relates to environmental remediation, highlights the differences between stabilization and treatment, and presents recent soil mixing case studies specifically chosen to emphasize common soil mixing reagents and applications.