Abstract
ABSTRACT
Landfills remain, in the vast majority of cases, the most economic form of municipal solid waste disposal. Historically, landfill sites have been constructed on large areas of land adjacent to urban communities. The continuous growth of these communities pushes urban boundaries towards landfilled areas. Although the development of such areas becomes a necessity, particularly near land-limited locations, it is invariably hindered by settlements due primarily to biodegradation of organic materials within the landfill. The rate and magnitude of landfill deformations are often nonuniform, resulting in differential settlements that can have devastating effects on the integrity of any structure erected on the landfill. The biodegradation–settlement process is relatively slow, and can continue in excess of several decades after landfill closure unless appropriate management practices are implemented to enhance biodegradation processes and achieve rapid waste stabilization. This paper presents results from laboratory and mathematical modeling studies that have been conducted to correlate settlement rates with stabilization processes at a closed coastal landfill. Test cells were designed and constructed to evaluate the effect of salt-water intrusion on the biodegradation and settlement of municipal solid waste. The laboratory results are used to provide the basis for the calibration of empirical models that can be used to estimate the rate and magnitude of landfill settlements after site closure.
Key words:
Biodegradation; landfill; mathematical models; seawater; settlement; solid waste
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