Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Web resource for polysaccharides/hydrocolloids.

Prof. Martin Chaplin of the London South Bank Univ. has a very good web resource for polysaccharides/hydrocolloids.

It can be found here...

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/water/hydro.html

Did you know ?...

Gums that are used in food applications can be used to temporarily bind and stabilize soil ?
Guar, pre-gelatinized starch, and psyllium [mainly arabinoxlyan and better known as Metamucil] are recommended, with application rates codified such places as in the The California Stormwater Best Management Practice Handbooks
http://www.cabmphandbooks.com/Documents/Construction/EC-5.pdf

I tried it with partial success recently.
The shiny stripe along the top of the cut is where the gums have hydrated and penetrated the soil cracks. This has been partially successful and (fingers crossed) the section past the step in the wall is still OK. The closer section caved in well behind where the stabilizers were placed - taking the whole lot with them.

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