A polyvinyl chloride (PVC) geomembrane was used in combination with a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) as a composite barrier in the cover system for the fmal closure of a paper mill sludge landfill. The landfill contained very compressible and low shear strength wastewater treatment sludge materials. During placement of a vegetative cover soil layer over an installed cover system panel, localized bearing capacity failure of the underlying sludge material occurred. As a result, the geosynthetics settled up to 2.4 min a certain area. Geomembrane samples with and without seam were taken from the affected area for laboratory tests. The test results indicated that the mechanical properties of the geomembra.ne and seam exceeded the minimum requirements of the project specifications and were within the range of conformance test results. These results conf mned that PVC geomembranes are suitable for landfill cover system applications where settlement of the underlying waste may result in large stresses and strains in the geomembrane cover system.
Menu