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Assessment of the Design of an Experimental Cover with Capillary Barrier Effect Using 4 Years of Field Data

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Abstract

One important step in the design of inclined covers with capillary barrier effect (CCBE) is the determination of the water diversion length (DL). Numerical simulations can predict the DL more precisely than steady-state analytical solutions. Nevertheless, as simplified methods have always been part of engineering design, the application of analytical solutions with conservative boundary conditions, may allow engineers to make reasonable predictions, particularly during the pre-feasibility stage of a project. In this study, a CCBE was designed, constructed and instrumented at the Saint-Tite-des-Caps landfill, Quebec, Canada. This CCBE included a seepage control layer superimposing a sand-gravel capillary barrier. The seepage control layer was made up of deinking by-products (DBP), an industrial by-product that was previously disposed of as waste. The capillary barrier was designed using an adaptation of the Ross analytical solution and the scenario considered was that of steady-state flow during constant seepage flow applied uniformly at the top of the sand-gravel capillary barrier. Although these conditions appear simplistic, they were deemed reasonable because placement of the seepage control layer on the top of the capillary barrier led to very low suctions at the interface, thereby allowing uniform downward seepage rates, limited by the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the DBP. In this paper, a discussion about the behaviour of the cover system based on 4 years of field data from several instruments is presented. The challenge of using DBP, more precisely the settlement of the DBP layer and its impact on k sat , is also assessed. The DL was reassessed considering the new k sat . A discussion on the validity of employing analytical solutions to determine DL is also presented. This paper illustrates how certain variables affect the design of inclined CCBEs that include a highly compressible material as seepage control layer.

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Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by Cascades Inc. and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) (Canada) under the University-Industry Partnership grant number CRD 192179 and by NSERC under the second Author’s Discovery Grant. The authors also acknowledge help provided by Jean-Guy Lemelin in the design of the experimental cell, installation of the measuring system and with actual testing. The third Author completed part of this study while working at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil, where he was a Visiting Professor with a grant from Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)/Brazil.

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  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke, 2500, Boul. de l’Université, Sherbrooke, QC, J1K 2R1, Canada

    Amir M. Abdolahzadeh, Benoit Lacroix Vachon & Alexandre R. Cabral

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  1. Amir M. Abdolahzadeh
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Correspondence to Alexandre R. Cabral.

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Abdolahzadeh, A.M., Lacroix Vachon, B. & Cabral, A.R. Assessment of the Design of an Experimental Cover with Capillary Barrier Effect Using 4 Years of Field Data. Geotech Geol Eng 29, 783–802 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-011-9417-x

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