Cone Penetration Testing for Characterizing Landfilled Municipal Solid Waste
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 141, Issue 3
Abstract
The cone penetration test (CPT) was evaluated as a tool for characterizing landfilled municipal solid waste (MSW). Cone penetration test soundings were performed at 16 locations in a closed MSW landfill in Florida, United States, where tip resistance (), sleeve friction resistance (), and friction ratio () data were collected up to a depth of 10 m, and compared to waste properties from borings in the same location as five of the CPTs. The delineation of cover soil, waste, and subgrade soil was readily identifiable from the CPT data, but intermediate cover layers could not be discerned. At greater depths in the landfill, waste generally exhibited greater degradation with an average biochemical methane potential of volatile solids versus shallower waste that was less degraded with an average BMP of volatile solids. More degraded waste tended to have lower tip resistances of 3.6–3.7 MPa than less degraded waste that exhibited 5.0–5.4 MPa. The friction ratio tended to be greater for more degraded waste (2.8–3.2%) than less degraded waste (2.3–2.4%). The CPT data collected from the MSW landfill were also compared to conventional correlations to soil classification systems. The CPT data for more degraded waste generally correlated with finer soil classifications while CPT readings of less degraded waste corresponded to more coarse soils.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research reported in this paper was funded by the Polk County Waste Resource Management, Florida.
References
ASTM. (1998). “Standard test method for mechanical cone penetration tests of soil.” D3441-98, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2000a). “Standard classification of soils for engineering purposes (unified soil classification system).” D2487-00, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2000b). “Standard test method for performing electronic friction cone and piezocone penetration testing of soils.” D5778-95, West Conshohocken, PA.
ASTM. (2001). “Standard test method for determining anaerobic biodegradation potential of organic chemicals under methanogenic conditions.” E2170-01, West Conshohocken, PA.
Cho, Y. M., Ko, J. H., Chi, L., and Townsend, T. G. (2010). “Food waste impact on municipal solid waste angle of internal friction.” Waste Manage., 31(1), 26–32.
Lunne, T., Robertson, P. K., and Powell, J. J. M. (1997). Cone penetration in geotechnical practice, Blackie Academic and Professional, London.
Machado, S. L., Karimpour-Fard, M., Shariatmadari, N., Carvalho, M. F., and Nascimento, J. C. F. D. (2010). “Evaluation of the geotechnical properties of MSW in two Brazilian landfills.” Waste Manage., 30(12), 2579–2591.
Mehta, R., Barlaz, M. A., Yazdani, R., Augenstein, D., Bryars, M., and Sinderson, L. (2002). “Refuse decomposition in the presence and absence of leachate recirculation.” Environ. Eng., 228–236.
Robertson, P. K. (1990). “Soil classification using the cone penetration test.” Can. Getech. J., 27(1), 151–158.
Robertson, P. K., Campanella, R. G., Gillespie, D., and Grieg, J. (1986). “Use of piezometer cone data.” Use of in situ tests in geotechnical engineering, ASCE, Reston, VA, 1263–1280.
Schmertmann, J. H. (1978). “Guidelines for cone penetration test, performance and design.”, Washington, DC.
Sillan, R. K. (1995). “An analysis of cone penetrometer tests in municipal solid waste landfills.” M.E. thesis, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Townsend, T. G., Miller, W. L., Lee, H. J., and Earle, J. F. K. (1996). “Acceleration of landfill stabilization using leachate recycle.” J. Environ. Eng., 263–268.
Zekkos, D., et al. (2006). “Unit weight of municipal solid waste.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1250–1261.
Zhan, T. L. T., Chen, Y. M., and Ling, W. A. (2008). “Shear strength characterization of municipal solid waste at the Suzhou landfill, China.” Eng. Geol., 97(3–4), 97–111.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 16, 2013
Accepted: Oct 15, 2014
Published online: Dec 4, 2014
Published in print: Mar 1, 2015
Discussion open until: May 4, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.