Physical Characterization of Municipal Solid Waste for Geotechnical Purposes
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136, Issue 9
Abstract
A procedure to characterize municipal solid waste (MSW) for geotechnical engineering purposes is developed based on experience with waste characterization and testing. Existing MSW classification systems are reviewed briefly, and the field and laboratory waste characterization programs of two important projects are presented. Findings on the influence of the waste’s physical composition on its mechanical response from these projects and recent studies of MSW are integrated to develop a waste characterization procedure for efficient collection of the relevant information on landfill operation and waste physical characteristics that are most likely to affect the geotechnical properties of MSW. A phased approach to implementation of this procedure is proposed as a best practice for the physical characterization of MSW for geotechnical purposes. The scope of the phased procedure can be adjusted to optimize the effort required to collect relevant information on a project-specific basis. The procedure includes a systematic evaluation of the moisture and organic content of MSW, because they are important factors in the geotechnical characterization of MSW.
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Acknowledgments
The work described in this paper was funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Civil and Mechanical Systems under Grant Nos. UNSPECIFIEDCMMI-0220064, UNSPECIFIEDCMMI-0635435, and UNSPECIFIEDCMMI-0220159 as part of a collaborative study by the University of California at Berkeley, the Arizona State University, the Geosyntec Consultants, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Patras. Interactions with our other research collaborators, Dr. G. Athanasopoulos, Dr. E. Rathje, and Dr. K. Stokoe were invaluable. The writers would like also to thank S. Chickey of Geosyntec Consultants for his help in the field investigation at the Tri-Cities Landfill, B. Seos, Ph.D. student at Arizona State University, for his help in the classification of MSW, and Mr. Guy Petraborg of Waste Management for assisting with the waste sampling operations at the Tri-Cities landfill. More information on this project and blank forms for future waste characterization are available through the Geoengineer website at http://waste.geoengineer.org.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 136 • Issue 9 • September 2010
Pages: 1231 - 1241
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 3, 2008
Accepted: Jan 20, 2010
Published online: Jan 25, 2010
Published in print: Sep 2010
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