BLACK SHALE
Black shale is a black carbon and sulphur shale material, deposited about 500 million years ago. It is used in this proposal as a general term that includes both alum shale and clay shale containing carbon.
Black shales are found frequently in Norway, especially in the Oslo area. Black shales swell when disturbed from their natural deposi-tion setting, resulting in damage to buildings, deterioration of steel and concrete, sulphur and heavy metal contamination of the groundwater, emission of carcinogenic radon gas. In addition, there is the uncertainty about the best solution for sound disposal of masses containing black shales.
Added competence on the subject should lead to considerable savings in building and construction costs. The presence of black shales has caused repeated problems and important delays during the implementation of building and construction solutions in Norway and abroad.
The objective of BLACK SHALE is to improve and further develop in a coordinated fashion sustainable
geo-solutions for design in black shales, first for Norway and Sweden, and later for the international market. This ambitious objective requires multi-disciplinary research and development and new and improved approaches.