Geotechnical Stability of Waste Fills: Lessons Learned and Continuing Challenges
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 11
Abstract
Several noteworthy stability failures occurred at landfills in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, a timeframe coinciding with the promulgation of modern US environmental regulations. These failures were extensively studied, and lessons were learned. A state-of-practice developed to enable the design of waste fills to be stable throughout their construction, operation, and closure periods. However, a survey of landfill performance in the United States in the 2010–2019 timeframe shows that waste fill stability failures continue to occur. This paper, an expansion of the 2018 Terzaghi Lecture given by the first author, presents a brief review of several waste fill failures from the 1980s and 1990s and the lessons learned during that period. Several more recent waste fill failures are then reviewed, from which it is concluded that 20–30 years after the earlier failures, facility operators and design engineers are relearning the earlier lessons, as well as new lessons related to evolving waste streams and operating practices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the current standard-of-care for the design of US waste fills and suggests that this standard can be improved through application of the lessons described herein.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions from the corresponding author. These include existing data for the three confidential case studies described in the paper.
Acknowledgments
This paper has as its genesis the 54th ASCE Terzaghi Lecture developed and presented by the first author. The lecture was expanded to this paper by all three authors who have worked together on waste fill stability issues for more than three decades. The authors recognize the following current and former Geosyntec personnel involved in the postfailure forensic investigations, or in follow-up studies, for each of the failures described in this paper: Allen Blodgett, David Bonnett, Mihsiung Chang, Youngmin Cho, David Espinoza, Jean Pierre Giroud, Mark Gleason, Ranjiv Gupta, David Hendron, Paul Herr, Michael Houlihan, Ed Kavazanjian, Scott Luettich, Mike Monteleone, James McNash, Bert Palmer, Peter Prommer, Maria Orozco, Juan Pestana, Juan Quiroz, Jeffrey Raines, Thomas Ramsey, Paul Sabatini, Thierry Sanglerat, Rodolfo Sancio, Dan Schauer, Michael Shea, Ray Steinle, and Nicholas Yafrate. The authors also recognize the contributions of the personnel employed by the owners of the facilities discussed in this paper. In every case, these individuals contributed to the postfailure investigations and development of the lessons learned. The authors also acknowledge Professor Edward Kavazanjian, Jr., who performed the ASU direct shear tests reported herein; Professor Craig H. Benson, who participated in the forensic investigation of the Confidential Northeast MSW Landfill failure; and Professors Christopher Bareither and Joe Scalia, who performed the CSU direct shear tests. ConTec performed the CPTu testing presented in Figs. 16 and 25. Finally, the first author gratefully recognizes the following former Terzaghi Lecturers who have been his teachers and/or close collaborators over the course of his career: David E. Daniel, J. Michael Duncan, Jean Pierre Giroud, Robert E. Koerner, James K. Mitchell, and Roy E. Olson.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 11 • November 2020
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© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Sep 21, 2019
Accepted: Feb 11, 2020
Published online: Sep 9, 2020
Published in print: Nov 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Feb 9, 2021
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