Geotechnical characterisation of submarine sediments from a polluted site

The present note discusses some laboratory complexities linked to the geotechnical characterization of the soft polluted sediments sampled down from the Mar Piccolo, i.e. a marine basin located within the urban area of Taranto (south of Italy), for which the environmental remediation has been identified as a national priority. The long-lasting industrial activities, together with the waste collection from the densely populated urban center of Taranto, have been responsible for the severe environmental contamination of the Mar Piccolo. In the field of the remediation and management strategies promoted by the Italian Government, a multidisciplinary investigation has been carried out to achieve the chemical, geological and geotechnical characterization of the sediment in the basin. With this purpose, the standard procedures and equipment for geotechnical testing were properly modified to both minimize the soil disturbance and to take account of the influence of both the pore fluid salinity and the presence of organic compounds, shells, mussels and lapideous elements or industrial waste in the soil.