Geosynthetic Reinforcement in Landfills Design: European Perspectives

(Part of International Perspectives on Soil Reinforcement Applications - GSP 141)Stability of Geosynthetic Lining Systems is, from a geotechnical standpoint, a complex matter. Two geotechnical questions are identified: sliding of the geosynthetic lining system on the slope and pull-out strength of the geosynthetic anchorage at the top of the slope. Research programmes carried out in France on these topics, are presented and related to the two following topics: (1) Large scale experimentations on actual slopes is especially emphasized. The observations derived from the tests and their detailed interpretation are very fruitful, as they highlight specific local interaction behaviour between soil and geosynthetics. These aspects are not taken into account in design methods, in particular the effects of wrinkles and real relative displacements of the geosynthetics along the slope. (2) The behavior of the anchorage of geosynthetics sheets at the top of a slope is a decisive factor when it comes to designing geosynthetic lining systems on slopes. In order to optimize the geometry of the structures in question (to reduce the area taken up by the anchorage at the top of the slope), anchorage solutions using trenches of varying forms are sometimes used. Large scale experimentations and a theoretical approach of this problem were carried out and are presented in this paper.