Eighth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Field Hydrologic Performance of Water Balance Cover in North Texas
Publication: Geo-Congress 2019: Geoenvironmental Engineering and Sustainability (GSP 312)
ABSTRACT
Performance assessment of water balance cover or evapotranspiration (ET) cover is critical for waste containment as its performance largely depends on the site-specific condition. Post construction changes in the soils’ hydraulic properties, as a consequence of wetting-drying cycles, frost action, ingress of plant root, etc. may affect the cover performance. The objective of this study was to evaluate the water balance performance of ET cover in the semi-humid region of North Texas. As part of the study, a large-scale test section was constructed with drainage lysimeter (12 m×12 m) in the City of Denton landfill for continuous and direct monitoring of the water balance. The test section was constructed with 0.9 m (3 ft.) of a compacted fine-grained soil layer and 0.3 m (1 ft.) of a vegetated surface layer. Cover soil was placed over a geomembrane and a geocomposite drainage layer. An extensive field instrumentation program was implemented in the field to monitor the water balance components of the drainage lysimeter. Moisture sensors and tensiometers were installed at the site to monitor the change in soil water storage. Surface runoff and percolation collection tanks, connected to the lysimeter through HDPE pipes, were placed at the site to monitor these two components. A weather station was also installed to monitor the overall climatic condition. Based on the monitoring results accumulated after two years, drainage from the bottom of the cover soil (percolation) was recorded to be 42 mm/year and 49 mm/year (2.8% and 3.7% of precipitation) respectively. Annual percolation was identified to be significantly influenced by annul precipitation and water storage capacity of the cover soil.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors acknowledge the support and funding received from the City of Denton Landfill.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2019: Geoenvironmental Engineering and Sustainability (GSP 312)
Pages: 95 - 104
Editors: Christopher L. Meehan, Ph.D., University of Delaware, Sanjeev Kumar, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Miguel A. Pando, Ph.D., University of North Carolina Charlotte, and Joseph T. Coe, Ph.D., Temple University
ISBN (Online): 978-0-7844-8214-8
Copyright
© 2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Mar 21, 2019
Published in print: Mar 21, 2019
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Drainage
- Engineering fundamentals
- Equipment and machinery
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Groundwater
- Hydraulic engineering
- Hydraulic properties
- Hydrologic engineering
- Hydrologic properties
- Hydrology
- Irrigation engineering
- Measuring instruments
- Percolation
- Soil mechanics
- Soil properties
- Soil water
- Water (by type)
- Water and water resources
- Water balance
- Water management
- Water storage
- Water supply
- Water supply systems
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