Shrinkage Characteristics of Boulder Marl as Sustainable Mineral Liner Material for Landfill Capping Systems

Steffen Beck-Broichsitter, Horst H. Gerke and Rainer Horn
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Steffen Beck-Broichsitter: Research Area 1 “Landscape Functioning”, Working Group “Hydropedology”, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Horst H. Gerke: Research Area 1 “Landscape Functioning”, Working Group “Hydropedology”, Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Rainer Horn: Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Christian Albrechts University Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, 24118 Kiel, Germany

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: The soil shrinkage behavior of mineral substrates needs to be considered for engineering long-term durable mineral liners of landfill capping systems. For this purpose, a novel three-dimensional laser scanning device was coupled with (a) a mathematical-empirical model and (b) in-situ tensiometer measurements as a combined approach to simultaneously determine the shrinkage behavior of a boulder marl, installed as top and bottom liner material at the Rastorf landfill (Northern Germany). The shrinkage behavior, intensity, and geometry were determined during a drying experiment with undisturbed soil cores (100 cm 3 ) from two soil pits; the actual in-situ shrinkage was also determined in 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, and 1.0 m depth by pressure transducer tensiometer measurements during a four-year period. The volume shrinkage index was used to describe the pore size dependent shrinkage tendency and it was classified as low (4.9%) for the bottom liner. The in-situ matric potentials in the bottom liner ranged between −100 and −150 hPa, even during drier periods, thus, the previously highest observed drying range (pre-shrinkage stress) with values below −500 hPa and −1000 hPa was not exceeded. Therefore, the hydraulic stability of the bottom liner was given.

Keywords: landfill capping system; mineral liner; shrinkage geometry; critical matric potential; in-situ shrinkage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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