Compaction Characteristics of a Fine-Grained Soil Potential for Landfill Liner Application

Abstract

Increasing population growth and urbanization results in increased demand for waste disposal processes and facilities that can protect public health and the environment. In the Philippines, there is a great demand to construct sanitary landfills (SLF) with only 387 local government units (LGUs) or equivalent to 23.86% compliant to date with Republic Act 9003 which mandates all LGUs to use the sanitary landfill. The compaction characteristics of a locally abundant fine-grained soil at different compaction energy levels were investigated as part of a broader study in the suitability of the soil as a landfill liner material. Compaction is essential in the preparation of a well-compacted soil liner in a sanitary landfill to avoid or minimize the migration of leachate and thereby reduce the risk of groundwater pollution. The physical properties are determined through a series of laboratory tests which covers the grain-size distribution, specific gravity, Atterberg limits, soil classification, XRD and SEM-EDX. Correlations to estimate the compaction characteristics at any rational compaction energy (E) are developed. The maximum dry unit weight values at different compactive efforts were used to determine void ratios which were then utilized to compute for the saturated hydraulic conductivity using numerical model for hydraulic conductivity for the same soil type. The resulting hydraulic conductivity ranges from 2.30 x 10-7 to 1.20 x 10-7 cm/sec well above the required value in the Philippines as per RA 9003 and its IRR for the intended Category I and II SLFs application.

Effectiveness of Compacted Polyurethane-Clay as a Sanitary Landfill Liner

“…Thus, five trials were conducted to approximate the compaction moisture content that would yield an acceptable hydraulic conductivity of the compacted local clay. In which, the trial specimen for this study was targeted to have a similar hydraulic conductivity with the specimen from the study of Tiongson and Adajar [7,8] that used the same type of expansive soil from the same site in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte. The compaction moisture content established from the trial tests was 46.5%, which was used in the mix proportion of the specimens used in the experimentation to obtain the hydraulic conductivity of the compacted polyurethane-clay.…”

“…The summary of the initial void ratio and the description of the manual compactive effort applied for the three kinds of compacted specimen are tabulated in Table 5. The compactive effort that produced the CCL, with an initial void ratio of 1.06, compaction moisture content of 46.5%, and an acceptable hydraulic conductivity based on the study of Tiongson and Adajar [7,8] that used the same type of soil, was applied to polyurethane-clay that produced the CPCL. CPCL had the same compactive effort as CCL, but a higher initial void ratio of 1.44.…”

“…By utilizing the model proposed by Tiongson and Adajar [7,8] to predict the hydraulic conductivity for the same local clay, the compactive effort of the manually compacted specimen in the study may be determined. The actual hydraulic conductivity of CCL is similar to the predicted value for specimen in which the Standard Proctor effort of 600 kN-m/m 3 was applied as the compactive effort.…”

Characteristics of Embankment Soil as Subgrade in Road Pavement Structure

“…Soil compaction techniques can be grouped into several categories, namely laboratory compaction methods, and field compaction methods [14]. Soil compaction is a method used to improve the physical and mechanical properties of the soil [15]. Soil compaction reforms the soil into lumps, thereby minimizing intergranular voids and ensuring reduced permeability and decreased consolidation of the compacted soil, as well as increasing the tensile and shear strength of the soil [14].…”

Geotechnical Characterization of Alluvial Soil as an Alternative Roadway Construction Material

“…Searching for alternative construction materials is considered a sustainable way of development if secondary material is free from hazardous components and does not have any adverse longterm effects [5,6]. Road construction costs can be very high because of the limited opportunity of locating suitable road base material within economic haul distances [3].…”