Landfill barriers

Raffaello Cossu
IMAGE Department, University of Padova, Italy
Barriers system components

Natural Materials:
 Clayey soil
 Bentonite
 Sand
 Gravel

Synthetic Materials:
 Geo-membranes
 Geo-textiles
 Geo-grids
 Geo-nets
 Geo-composites
Natural materials

Clayey soil – the quality of clay liners is affected by:
 Hydraulic conductivity
 Degree of compaction
 Moisture content
 Clay composition
 Field placement tecnique
 Liner thickness

Bentonite
 it’s a general term for swelling clay minerals, when wet the volume increases up
to 15-18 times
 Mixture of sand and bentonite ensures low permeability

Sand
 Widely used for protecting synthetic liners

Gravel
 For filtering and draining
 Porosity
 Grain shape and strength (resistance to weathering and carbonate content)
 Drainage layer thickness
Synthetic materials

Geo-membranes - Flexible membranes with very low permeability
 Bituminous geomembranes – produced by spraying asphalt or bitumen on to both
woven or not-woven textiles
 Polymeric geomembranes – manufactured using several kind of polymers and
lassoers
 The most used geomembrane is HDPE membrane for its biological resistance

Geo-textiles – synthetic fabrics procuded either by:
 Weaving (woven geotextiles)
 Arranging in a randomly structured mat (not-woven geotextile)

Geo-grids – regular net-like structure, developed for reinforcement
of soil

Geo-nets – produced by a continuous extrusion of ribs which
intersect forming a network structure, suitable for drainage.

Geo-composites – produced by combining two or more different
geo-synthetics and natural material, the most common GC are:
 Geotextile + bentonite + geotextile (bentonite geocomposite)
 Geotextile + synthetic drainage mat + geotextile (geocomposite drain)
Functions of barriers system components

Lining

Leachate percolation

Leachate Drainage and collection

Soil reinforcement

Mechanical protection

Separation

Erosion control

Water filtration

Water drainage and collection

Biogas migration control
Lining – Barriers
S Y N T H E T IC NATURAL
M A T E R IA L S M A T E R IA L S
Applicability level

mixture
● HIGH

SD. Sand

bentonite
GV. Gravel

GN. Geonet

GG. Geogrid
● MEDIUM

GT. Geotextile
CL. Clayey soil
○ LOW

GM. Geomembrane
BT. Bentonite soil

GB. Geocomposite
L IN IN G

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L E A C H A T E P E R C O L A T IO N

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L E A C H A T E D R A IN A G E

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S O IL R E IN F O R C E M E N T

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M E C H A N IC A L P R O T E C T IO N

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S E P A R A T IO N

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FUNCTION

E R O S IO N C O N T R O L

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W A T E R F IL T R A T IO N

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W A T E R D R A IN A G E

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B IO G A S M IG R A T IO N C O N T R O L

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Lining – Barriers
a. Single liner natural CLAY
material SUBGRADE

GEOMEMBRANE
b. Single liner of synthetic SUBGRADE
material
GEOMEMBRANE
CLAY
SUBGRADE
c. Single composite liner

GEOMEMBRANE
d. Single Sandwich CLAY
composite liner GEOMEMBRANE
SUBGRADE
Lining – Barriers
e. Double liner of natural CLAY
DRAINAGE
material CLAY
SUBGRADE

GEOMEMBRANE
f. Double liner of synthetic DRAINAGE
material GEOMEMBRANE
SUBGRADE

GEOMEMBRANE
DRAINAGE
g. Double semi-composite GEOMEMBRANE
liner (double synthetic top liner + CLAY
SUBGRADE
single natural liner)

GEOMEMBRANE
CLAY
DRAINAGE
h. Double liner of synthetic GEOMEMBRANE
material CLAY
SUBGRADE
Liner in some Countries
BARRIER
SAND

GEOTEXTILE
WASTE
GEOMEMBRANE

BENTONITE
NATURAL
SOIL MINERAL BARRIER
Lining – Barriers
Liner
DRAIN
HDPE
TUBE

GRAVEL

COMPACTED
GEOTEXTILE
CLAY LAYER

GEOMEMBRANE
Liners
Liner and drainage system

Geomembrane

Geotextile

Clay
Clay layer laying in steep slope
Slope < 18-22°

Slope > 18-22°

Top cover Capillary top cover

NATURAL SOIL

GEOCOMPOSITE DRAIN
GEOMEMBRANE
LOW PERMEABILITY GRAS
S
LAYER
GEOTEXTILE NATU
RAL S
OIL
BIOGAS
CAPTATION Fine
LAYER sand
60 c m
Grav
el 25 cm
WASTE
Rainfall drainage