Fill Site Research Articles

Geophysics at Australian Landfills: Case Studies

Landfills will continue to provide optimal solutions for residual waste disposal at most locations in Australia. Selected case studies, demonstrate recent applications of surface and borehole geophysical technologies at some existing industrial and domestic landfills to address a range of geotechnical and environmental issues. Electromagnetic, P and S-wave seismic, resistivity, magnetic and gravity methods provide responses that locate the landfill margins and their base, leachate pathways and provide volume estimates for dense materials in the waste. Geophysical technologies are best used at the early stages of the investigations where they provide information that is not easily obtained with other invasive technologies. While these technologies are often cost-effective they do not reliably discriminate different buried wastes, subtle contamination sources nor are they generally capable of sensing groundwater contamination at human risk levels. Regardless of these limitations, geophysics will continue to be applied at Australian landfills and fill sites.

Probability Distribution of Substituted Titanium in RT12 (R = Nd and Sm; T = Fe and Co) Structures

We investigated the atomic fill site probability distributions across supercell structures of RT12-xTi (R=Nd, Sm, T=Fe, Co). We use a combined molecular dynamics and Boltzmann distribution approach to extrapolate the probability distributions for Ti substitution from lower to higher temperatures with an equilibrium condition to assess how temperature affects the predictability of the structures fill path. It was found that the Nd and Sm based Fe systems have the highest filling probability path at lower temperatures but the cohesive energy change due to Ti substitution in Sm and Nd based crystals indicates that a more stable system could be achieved with a combination Co and Fe in the transition metal site.

Temperature-programmed desorption of CO2, formed by CO photooxidation on TiO2 surface

Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) spectra of CO2, remaining on the dehydroxylated powder TiO2 (anatase and rutile) surface after photooxidation of CO at T = 293 K, were analysed. It was shown that the CO2 TPD peak appears at T > 400 K, has a symmetric shape, and its maximum position (Tm) depends on the CO2 coverage: the lower is the CO2 amount, the higher is the Tm value. The CO2 TPD peak is well fitted with the second-order desorption kinetics with Edes = 1.15 ± 0.05 eV and ν = 0.32 ± 0.02 cm2 s−1 for anatase and Edes = 1.24 ± 0.05 eV and ν = 0.16 ± 0.01 cm2 s−1 for rutile. The desorption process can be interpreted as monomolecular desorption of carbonate species with two types of precursor states: 1) “over an empty site” and 2) “over a filled site”. It was supposed that CO2 thermal desorption resulted from migration of strongly bonded carbonate species (CO3) along the surface (via the precursor state “over an empty site”) and interaction of them (desorption from precursor state “over a filled site”).

A polynomial algorithm for the earthwork allocation problem with borrow and waste site selection

In road construction projects, earthwork is planned together with horizontal and vertical alignments. This study focuses on earthwork operations that basically include cutting the hills and filling the holes on the road path. The candidate borrow and waste sites can also be used to obtain or heap earth when the available cut and fill amounts are not balanced or operating these sites reduces the total earthwork cost. Total earthwork cost contains the transportation cost and the overall cost related to opening the candidate sites. The problem is to determine which borrow and waste sites to operate, and the earth flows between cut, fill, waste, and borrow sites such that the total cost is minimized. It is shown that the problem is a generalization of the well-known lot-sizing problem. A fixed charge network flow problem formulation is presented, and a polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm is developed for solving the problem.

Management of Hospital Solid Wastes: A study in Pokhara Sub- Metropolitan City

Introduction: Hospital waste can be defined as the total waste stream that is generated from health care establishments. Health care wastes usually consist of sharps, human or animal tissues or body parts, their body fluids and other infectious materials produced during the course of treatment. Methods: For the purpose of the study, population was defined in terms of the medical hospital, having inpatient facilities located within Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City (PSMC). The total numbers of health care institutions (HCIs), having inpatient facilities, were 14 and all were sampled for the study. Questionnaires were prepared to meet the objectives of the study. Results: Various categories of health care waste have been generated in the health care institutions of PSMC which depend on size of individual health care facility, types of medical specialties practiced, and nature of HCIs. Waste generated from health care activities have been categorized as general or non-hazardous waste, and hazardous waste and are separately segregated into 4 different categories, like general waste, infectious wastes, sharps, and saline bottles. Conclusion: Most health care institutions in Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan City depend upon the municipality services for the disposal of health care waste materials collected. The municipality disposed the waste without any segregation and treatment in the sanitary land fill site treating them as a municipal solid waste. There is no separate mechanism for the proper treatment of medical wastes. There should be integrated waste management system and centralized waste management system managed by the municipality under health care waste management act to solve the gravity of problems. If it is not improved the problem of serious environmental health problem will arise in future thus an appropriate management of hospital solid waste should be undertaken.

Phytoremediation of heavy metals and PAHs at slag fill site: three-year field-scale investigation

Big Marsh is a 121-hectares site, representative of many other sites in the Calumet region (near Chicago, IL, USA), which has been significantly altered by the steel industry and decades of legal and illegal dumping and industrial filling. The slag-containing soil at the site has been found to be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals. Due to the large size of the site to be remedied, and variable distribution of the contaminants throughout the shallow depth at slightly above the risk-based levels, phytoremediation is considered as a green and sustainable remedial option. The objective of this work was to investigate the use of phytoremediation in a three-year field-scale study, specifically determine plant survival and the fate of PAHs and heavy metals in soil and plant roots and stems. Replicate test plots were prepared by laying a thin layer of compost at the ground surface and then tilling and homogenizing the slag–soil fill to a depth of approximately 0.3 m. Nine native and restoration plant species were selected and planted at the site, and their survival and growth were monitored and fate of contaminants in soil and plants were also monitored for three growing seasons. Sequential extraction procedure was performed to determine the fractionation of the heavy metals in soils before and after planting. The results showed a decrease in PAHs concentrations in the soil, probably due to enhanced biodegradation within rhizosphere. No significant decrease in heavy metal concentrations in soil was found, but they were found to be immobilized. Contaminant concentrations were found below detection limits in the plant roots and shoots samples, demonstrating insignificant uptake by the plants. Overall, selected native grasses in combination with compost amendment to the soil proved to be able to survive under the harsh site slag fill conditions, helping to degrade or immobilize the contaminants and reducing the risk of the contaminants to public and the environment.

Temporary road transport route optimization based on ArcGIS platform conditions

Based on the ArcGIS software platform, the method of digital elevation model (DEM) is established by using the irregular triangulation (TIN) of the “three links and one leveling” project of the Guquan converter station. The calculation principle and the realization steps are discussed. In the clear fill area, site formation and earth temporary transport route design applications. Research shows that the simulation of ground simulation through ArcGIS can be more rapid and efficient land leveling, design optimization route.

BIRD AIRPORT— TIANJIN LINGANG BIRD SANCTUARY WETLAND PARK DESIGN

Each year more than 50 million birds make the return journey from the Antarctic reaches to the northern tip of the earth along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) seeking food and shelter. As one of the nine global north-south fly ways, the EAAF is now the world’s most threatened due to the loss of bird foraging habitat by coastal urbanization. One in five globally threatened water birds including the Black-Tailed Godwit fly the EAAF but they are suffering rapid declines in population. In a bid to increase critical bird habitat on the shores of the Bohai Bay in China, the Asian Development Bank encouraged the Port of Tianjin to embark upon an international design competition for a wetland bird sanctuary on a degraded land fill site in Lingang. McGregor Coxall won the first prize in the competition with a proposal of establishing the world’s first migratory “Bird Airport” — a 110-hectare wetland park and bird sanctuary. With some birds flying non-stop for more than 11,000 km and up to 10 days without food or water, the airport will be a crucial re-fueling and breeding stop on the EAAF.

Opportunities & Challenges in Capturing Landfill Gas from an Active and Un-scientifically Managed Land Fill Site – A Case Study

Currently, nearly 210 Million Metric Tonnes/Annum of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) is generated in India and most of it gets disposed in Open and un-scientifically managed Landfills. The typical Indian MSW contains approximately 50% of bio-degradable organic components that starts degrading under anaerobic conditions and generates LandFill Gas (LFG). The LFG mainly contains Methane (40-50%) and CO2 (50-60%). Methane is a Green House Gas (GHG), and is 25 times more potent than CO2 in causing Global Warming and is the 2nd largest anthropogenic source of Methane emissions after coal mining. Thus capturing and destructions of LFG shall lead to mitigation of GHG emissions. In addition, open Landfill sites also pose safety risks like fire hazard, explosion, and asphyxiation etc. apart from health risks.At the current MSW generation rate of 0.575MMT/day in India, the LFG generation potential is around 86.25 MMSCMD of LFG. Presently, LFG from the landfill sites is not being captured leading to fugitive GHG emissions. Further, due to rapid population growth and accompanying urbanisation and lack of new landfill sites, the existing waste handling infrastructure is getting stressed and leading to overflowing and vertical growth of the existing landfills. Thus Indian landfills provide good opportunities for the extraction & utilisation of Methane from LFG. However, there are lot of Issues that need to be overcome for exploitation of LFG in a sustainable manner.GAIL (India) Ltd, a Maharatna company, as a part of its R&D activities has taken up an initiative in this direction and implemented a Pilot project to ascertain the recovery of LFG from an un-scientifically managed open active MSW dumping site at Ghazipur Delhi. The utilization of LFG for energy recovery is being explored. This Paper shares the Challenges faced and Key insights gained during the LFG Project Implementation and its Operation.

FUZZY RANKING FOR LANDFILL SITE SELECTION IN INDIAN CONTEXT

Landfill site selection in an urban area is critical issue in the urban planning process. It creates major impact on economy, ecology, and the environmental health of the region. With the growth of urbanization as well as the desire to live in cities, larger amount of wastes are produced. Therefore, unfortunately the problem gets bigger every day. A selection of proper waste disposal site is a function of many parameters pertaining to urban planning and Environmental aspects. The normal practice is to select a site where open space is available. Parameters pertaining to above aspects are hardly attended to. The right method of selection should have been based upon correct assessment of parametric evaluation. All parameters have various scales and values too. In order to integrate these values, fuzzy approach seems to be the reasonable selection method. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to highlight solid waste scenario in Indian context, to present the assessed parameters and to present a model of fuzzy ranking approach to solve the problem. The fuzzy multi criteria decision making (FMCDM) is used to rank different land fill sites. The solution suggested shall be a useful tool for urban environmental applications.

Soil amplification with a strong impedance contrast: Boston, Massachusetts

In this study, we evaluate the effect of strong sediment/bedrock impedance contrasts on soil amplification in Boston, Massachusetts, for typical sites along the Charles and Mystic Rivers. These sites can be characterized by artificial fill overlying marine sediments overlying glacial till and bedrock, where the depth to bedrock ranges from 20 to 80m. The marine sediments generally consist of organic silts, sand, and Boston Blue Clay. We chose these sites because they represent typical foundation conditions in the City of Boston, and the soil conditions are similar to other high impedance contrast environments. The sediment/bedrock interface in this region results in an impedance ratio on the order of ten, which in turn results in a significant amplification of the ground motion. Using stratigraphic information derived from numerous boreholes across the region paired with geologic and geomorphologic constraints, we develop a depth-to-bedrock model for the greater Boston region. Using shear-wave velocity profiles from 30 locations, we develop average velocity profiles for sites mapped as artificial fill, glaciofluvial deposits, and bedrock. By pairing the depth-to-bedrock model with the surficial geology and the average shear-wave velocity profiles, we can predict soil amplification in Boston. We compare linear and equivalent-linear site response predictions for a soil layer of varying thickness over bedrock, and assess the effects of varying the bedrock shear-wave velocity (VSb) and quality factor (Q). In a moderate seismicity region like Boston, many earthquakes will result in ground motions that can be modeled with linear site response methods. We also assess the effect of bedrock depth on soil amplification for a generic soil profile in artificial fill, using both linear and equivalent-linear site response models. Finally, we assess the accuracy of the model results by comparing the predicted (linear site response) and observed site response at the Northeastern University (NEU) vertical seismometer array during the 2011M 5.8 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake. Site response at the NEU vertical array results in amplification on the order of 10 times at a period between 0.7–0.8s. The results from this study provide evidence that the mean short-period and mean intermediate-period amplification used in design codes (i.e., from the Fa and Fv site coefficients) may underpredict soil amplification in strong impedance contrast environments such as Boston.

A Vascular Flora of the Eckerd College Palm Hammock Nature Area: A Dredge and Fill Site in Pinellas County, Florida

A study of the vascular plants of the Palm Hammock Nature Area, a designated natural area on the west side of the Eckerd College campus in Pinellas County, Florida, was carried out between January 2012 and January 2013. The site is situated entirely on dredged fill soil, rendering it an intriguing site on which to study natural succession. This floristic inventory provides baseline data on the species composition at the site for use in future studies of the Palm Hammock and other forested dredge and fill sites. A total of 157 vascular species were collected from the 4.6 ha site, including 155 angiosperms. Of these, 99 species are native to North America, and 58 species are not native. Of the nonnative species, 20 are considered invasive. The most frequently represented families included Asteraceae (18), Fabaceae (18), Poaceae (14), and Cyperaceae (11). The Palm Hammock Nature Area, which comprises small patches of cabbage palm/oak hammock, cabbage palm stands, and grasslands similar to coastal savannas, shares characteristic species and composition with both maritime and mesic hammocks.

Monitoring of dynamic compaction using topographic survey

This paper demonstrates how a topographic survey can be used as a tool to assist in assessing dynamic compaction in uncontrolled fill sites. A full-scale dynamic compaction trial was carried out during which a topographic survey was used to monitor the change in ground level immediately after the application of each pass during the dynamic compaction process. The topographic survey data has been used to develop spatial plots of the print-to-heave volume ratio. For the primary and secondary passes the spatial plots provide an indication of the consistency of the ground response to dynamic compaction, delineating areas of low print-to-heave volume ratio, where the soil is relatively dense, and areas of high print-to-heave volume ratio, where the soil is relatively loose. Topographic surveys could be used in the quality assurance and quality control processes for dynamic compaction. For example, the spatial plot of print-to-heave volume ratio could be used to locate additional geotechnical investigations, to delineate areas of different compaction levels in uncontrolled fills, and to identify areas where a tertiary pass is and is not required.

Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Site Selection using Analytical Hierarchy Process Method and Geographic Information System in Abadan, Iran

Background and purpose: An appropriate solid waste (SW) disposal has been a major problem in municipal environment. The use of landfills is the most economical and environmentally acceptable method for the disposal of SWs all over the world. However, landfill leachate can cause environmental issues such as soil and ground water pollution. So, finding suitable land fill site is one of the most significant tasks in SWM. In this study, Geographic Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method were used for Abadan solid waste landfill site selection. Materials and Methods: Six criteria were used in this study comprise distance from aquatic ecosystem, risk, residential, economical, geographical and social criteria. Each criterion weighted by using AHP method. After omission of inappropriate areas, the suitability examination of the residue areas was accomplished using GIS. Results: Relative importance weight of each criterion and score value of sub-criteria in the GIS environment was determined and finally suitability map was prepared. Based on the final suitability map, appropriate solid waste landfill site was located in north part of the study area. Conclusion: The combination of AHP method with GIS in our experiment proves it is a powerful tool for solid waste landfill site selection.

An MASW survey for geotechnical engineering in an urban setting - an application to pre-tunnelling investigation.

As a part of the Airport Tunnel project in Brisbane, an MASW survey was carried out to investigate the nature of the fill site of an old rock quarry. The main target of the survey is the depth of the landfill after the quarrying operation to avoid the tunnelling penetrate the fill material. The site is currently used as a shopping centre car park in an inner suburb of Brisbane along one of the main roads. To avoid excessive noise, the survey took place at night.Some part of the seismic data presented an unusual but consistent noise pattern. External sources of this unusual noise, such as buried electric cables and drainage were considered, but no source could account for it. Therefore the noise was determined to be due to composition of the materials underground.The analysis of the seismic data outlined the depth and shape of the quarry. The noisy area was identified as a shallow hard rock left in the quarry, perhaps as an access ramp. This was verified a historic photography of the old quarry.The depth of the quarry was found shallower than the proposed depth of the tunnel to ensure the safety of boring.

Symmetric Polynomials and Symmetric Mean Inequalities

We prove generalized arithmetic-geometric mean inequalities for quasi-means arising from symmetric polynomials. The inequalities are satisfied by all positive, homogeneous symmetric polynomials, as well as a certain family of non-homogeneous polynomials; this family allows us to prove the following combinatorial result for marked square grids.Suppose that the cells of a $n \times n$ checkerboard are each independently filled or empty, where the probability that a cell is filled depends only on its column. We prove that for any $0 \leq \ell \leq n$, the probability that each column has at most $\ell$ filled sites is less than or equal to the probability that each row has at most $\ell$ filled sites.

Influence of C and Φ Values on Slope Supporting by Soil Nailing Wall in Thick Miscellaneous Fill Site

In recent years, soil nailing wall supporting technology is widely applied in the design of pit supporting. However, in the design of deep foundation pit supporting in miscellaneous fill site, the values of cohesion and angle of internal friction, that is c and φ, are too conservative to be chosen, so the security and economy cannot be obtained together. To study the influence of c and φ values on deep foundation pit supporting design in miscellaneous fill site, Lizheng-FSPw60 was the analysis software, and the circular sliding simple slice method was the theory. It is concluded that cohesion and internal friction angle of the soil have great influence on the stability of the soil nailing wall. Analysis and practice show that if c and φ values are reasonably chosen, the slope supported by soil nailing wall in thick miscellaneous fill site will be much safer, and the project will be less wasteful.

MASW surveys in landfill sites in Australia

Multichannel analysis of surface waves (Park et al., 1999), commonly called MASW, is a seismic technique used to map the near-surface S-wave velocity structure. It has been applied to a range of geotechnical engineering problems, such as detection of cavities (Miller et al., 1999), the search for bedrock structure (Carnevale et al., 2005), examining water seepage (Ivanov et al., 2006), and monitoring ground improvement (Burke and Schofield, 2008). As a by-product of urban development, industrial and domestic refuge is amassed and deposited in various places, ranging from naturally low ground to abandoned quarries. These places are called landfill sites. As urban development progresses, the landfill sites reach their capacity and become unsuitable for further filling. At that point, a variety of approaches are considered as a means of increasing the capacity. When housing developments creep up to the fill site, more refuse is not welcomed and the land use is reconsidered.

Siting MSW landfills by combining AHP with GIS in Hamedan province, western Iran

In most large and fast growing urban areas, finding suitable lands for construction of landfill is one of the serious problems in environmental management. Land fill site selection process depends on different factors, regulations and constraints. Ignoring each of these parameters may cause miscalculations and lead to selection of an inappropriate landfill site which could have negative environmental, economical, and ecological impacts. Therefore, this process must be accomplished by taking into account all of the related criterions and variables. In this study, landfill site selection is performed by combining geographic information system (GIS) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in Hamedan province, west of Iran. In relation to landfill site selection, ten different criteria including Geology, surface water, aquifer, land use, elevation, slope, and distance to main roads, residential areas, faults and sinkholes were investigated. Using AHP each criterion was weighted, then geographic information system (Arc GIS 9.3 software) was used to manipulate and present spatial data. Finally, suitability map was prepared by overlay analyses and most suitable and suitable areas were identified and checked in field. The results indicate that 60.4 % of the area in the Hamedan province (11,631 km2) is unsuitable, 33 % (6,257.7 km2) moderately suitable and 6.6 % (1,344 km2) most suitable for construction of landfill.

HYDRODYNAMICS OF THE CONDADO LAGOON

HYDRODYNAMICS OF THE CONDADO LAGOON