Interpretations of surface movements of a landfill built on steeply sloping ground. A cautionary case history

The surface of a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill cell, built on steeply sloping ground, was discovered to be moving downhill. The movements were measured and considered by the owners to be alarming. In an attempt to stop the movement, the compacted soil stability berm at the toe of the cell was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Waste management & research 2007-12, Vol.25 (6), p.572-584
Main Author: Blight, G.E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case histories
Compacted soils
Comparative analysis
Composting
Fabrics
Geologic Sediments - analysis
Gravitation
Grounds
Landfill
Landfills
Mine wastes
Movement
Movements
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid wastes
Municipal waste management
Polypropylenes
Refuse Disposal - methods
Shear
Shear strain
Shear Strength
Slopes
Soil (material)
Soil compaction
Soil Pollutants - analysis
Soil stability
Solid waste management
South Africa
Studies
Surface Properties
Waste disposal
Waste disposal sites
Waste management industry
Waste Products - analysis
Water Movements
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Summary:The surface of a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill cell, built on steeply sloping ground, was discovered to be moving downhill. The movements were measured and considered by the owners to be alarming. In an attempt to stop the movement, the compacted soil stability berm at the toe of the cell was raised by 5 m in two stages. The rate of movement declined, but the waste surface continued to move. Eventually, the cell was not filled to its designed full level. The paper describes the design of the landfill cell and its underliner, as well as three independent investigations into the causes of the surface movement. The first two investigators assumed that the surface movements represented shear displacements at the interface of the geomembrane and its protective geo-fabric, and therefore that the cell was failing in shear. The third investigation, undertaken in preparation of evidence in a civil court case, 7 years later, concluded that the movements resulted from down-slope shear straining of the land-filled MSW. The later investigation concluded that the MSW cell had been, and is still shear-stable, and it points to differences in behaviour between MSW landfill slopes and comparable slopes in mine waste or natural soils.
ISSN:0734-242X
1096-3669
0734-242X
DOI:10.1177/0734242X07079867