GUIDELINES TO THE DESIGN

OF A LANDFILL FACILITY
LANDFILL INTEREST GROUP: SEMINAR SESSION 2: OVERVIEW OF
LANDFILL FACILITY DESIGN AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE
27 February 2014

By: Wihan Visser Jan Palm Consulting Engineers

Thorsten Aab WSP Group Africa

2014/02/18
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Topographical survey
3. Site layout and phases
4. Geotechnical and geo-hydrological requirements / limitations
5. Liner material selection / availability / requirements
6. Lab testing (shear box testing with on-site material and proposed
geosynthetic materials, permeability testing of on-site clay if
applicable, proposed liner tests with on-site leachate or similar
leachate)
7. Design considerations (min. and max gradients, stability, critical
interphases between the liner components, storm water channel
sizing, cover material, landfill phasing, stockpile areas)
8. Leachate management, contaminated s/w management, clean s/w
management
9. Site lifetime calculations and stability

Brief overview of rehabilitation requirements (following LIG seminar

session
1. INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this presentation is to touch on the aspects to consider

during the design phase to establish a new landfill facility and / or to
extend an existing facility. This presentation will however not cover the
finer details in the design process due to time constraints.

For the purpose of this presentation it is assumed that the following

has already been covered in the previous LIG Seminar Session 1:
• a waste licence has already been issued; and would have included
the identification and ranking of various alternative sites (part of EIA
process);
• a preliminary design would have determined waste volumes, life
time, final shape and end use of the site.
 2. TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY

Digital terrain modelling (DTM) is extensively used for the landfill design as
well as the landfill development (waste body). To be able to do the DTM one
requires a topographical survey from which one can generate contours which
would form the bases of the design. This is done by land surveyors and is
then manipulated by the design engineer to form the landfill site contours and
determine cut and fill volumes. This can enable the design engineer to
maximise airspace and construction material at optimal costs.
3. SITE LAYOUT AND PHASES

One of the most critical phases in the establishment of a new landfill

facility would be the overall site layout. Much thought must go into the
layout taking all factors into account, not only the landfill itself. The
access roads, office buildings, workshop, weighbridge, storage dams (if
any) etc. need to be placed in such a way that it will serve its designed
purpose for the duration of the site’s operating life. This would,
however, have been basically covered during the license application
process. In the initial phases of a new facility on a clean piece of land,
this is normally not that difficult, but designing extensions to existing and
established sites can become problematic often resulting in existing
infrastructure having to be relocated. As a result it is very important to
put much thought into the initial development plan of a new landfill
facility to avoid future relocation costs for infrastructure. Practical
consideration must be given to the site layout, such as to avoid contact
between stormwater and contaminated run-off water, gravitational
leachate collection and using your first cells for screening, etc.
Infrastructure

When designing a new waste facility it is ideal (if practical) to place all
permanent infrastructure (offices, workshops, weighbridge) in the
corner of the erf, as close as possible to the erf boundary closest to the
incoming access road. This will optimize the property to obtain
maximum airspace and to provide somewhat of a visual shield / barrier
for the passing traffic. This is, however, not always practically possible
and less ideal options may need to be considered.
Permanent infrastructure like weighbridges and wheel washers (if any)
should be designed and spaced to allow for quick and easy vehicle
movement and to avoid queuing. It is advisable to have two weighbridges if
possible, one for weighing in and a separate one for weighing out.

At smaller and less busy landfills it is possible to make use of only one
weighbridge for both functions. There are various types of weighbridges
but due to the amount of dust, mud etc. associated with a landfill site it is
important to choose a weighbridge that can be cleaned from underneath
and also have easy access to the load cells for servicing.
The weighbridge should be positioned far enough “into” the site or at least
away from a busy public road as to prevent trucks waiting to be weighed in
from having to queue on a public road.
 The location of the workshop or vehicle camp should not hinder the flow of
traffic. Due to the heavy machinery used on the landfill it is important to keep
this plant away from the normal access or public roads. Special attention
should be given to the proposed roads (surfacing) to be used by the
operational plant, especially the landfill compactor. One would like to avoid
the landfill compactor crossing any of the permanent roads due to the
damage they can cause with their cleated wheels.

The location of perimeter security fencing should not get in the way of future
infrastructure but should not be so remote as to be stolen or vandalised.
Landfill Cells / Phases

It is good practice to develop and operate a landfill in a series of

phases or cells (subdivisions of a landfill) of optimal size. A balance
must be found to minimise impact areas such as working surfaces,
contaminated stormwater catchment area, and leachate generation,
while optimising the construction costs and providing enough airspace.
Typically, a cell should be designed to last for approximately five years.
A five year period provides enough time for the design, construction
and placing of the pioneering layer in the following cell. Depending on
climatic conditions and the amount of bulk earthworks required for the
establishment of a new cell it takes typically 18 – 24 months to
complete, pioneering layer included. The location and order of
development of these phases should be carefully planned in advance
and be adhered to, to avoid future complications.

It is preferable to work from the lowest point of the landfill towards the
higher areas in order to accommodate leachate drainage and prevent
possible overflow of leachate onto unlined / undeveloped lower areas
(should higher areas be developed first).
It is also preferable (if possible) to develop the cells from the most
sensitive visual & noise receptors and work away from them and
towards the landfill entrance. The design engineer must aim to fill each
cell to final level, especially the final outer slopes. This will then make it
possible to remediate or at least temporarily cap the outer slopes to
reduce leachate generation, divert clean run-off from the side slopes
away from the landfill and enable the vegetation or stabilisation of that
slope for a more aesthetical appearance and slope stabilisation to
screen the active cells. Steeper slopes than a 1:3 gradient will make
the remediation process difficult and could cause stability issues;
especially if there are geosynthetics in the capping layers. It is also
problematic to place and compact clay layers on slopes steeper than a
1:3 gradient.

Care should be taken to place stockpiles of excavated material to be

used in future cell layerworks, so as to prevent double handling. If
possible this material should be placed outside the footprint of future
cells, or if not possible, at least in an area where the material would be
used before the development of the area on which the stockpile is
located.
On-site access roads should be kept in a neat condition and should be
graded that all plant / trucks will be able to use them in all weather
conditions. The roads must also be structurally designed to last for their
operating lifespan. On-site roads must be geometrically designed and
aligned to be able to accommodate heavy vehicles with large turning circles
and the trucks must be able to use the on-site roads during all weather
conditions. A longitudinal slope of 1:10 is regarded as an acceptable slope
for most vehicles. Too steep slopes could cause inaccessibility to certain
areas, especially if the trucks are still full of waste and could delay turn-
around time, could cause mechanical damage to the vehicles and lead to the
dumping of waste on unwanted areas.
Proper initial stormwater management planning is crucial during the site
layout to ensure proper drainage of contaminated as well as clean run-
off from current and future cells with minimal alterations to the existing
infrastructure throughout the development of the landfill site. As the
treatment of contaminated water or leachate is usualy expensive,
volumes of water requiring treatment must be minimised as far as
practically possible. This would require that external or uncontaminated
stormwater must always be diverted around waste bodies or
contaminated water to prevent contact and contamination. The design
aspects of the stormwater management system will be discussed later.
4. GEOTECHNICAL AND GEO-HYDROLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS /
LIMITATIONS:

The geo-hydrological specialist study report, done as part of the site

selection and licensing process, will assist the design engineer to
determine the landfill depth which is one of the first parameters to
determine when designing a new landfill. The MR2 require a minimum of
2m separation between the wet season groundwater level and the waste
body. In the case of Class A landfills this means the top of the water table
could almost be in the leachate leakage detection system due to the
thickness of the layerworks (almost 1.5m). It is thus good practice to install
a sub-soil drainage system underneath the layerworks to prevent water
pressure from underneath the lining system until the overlying waste body
is of sufficient thickness to counteract the underlying pressure. Also in
deeper landfills like quarries the depth of the waste body and the resulting
pressure from the waste’s weight will force the groundwater level higher
which makes the sub-soil drainage system a necessity to reduce the
pressure on the overlying lining system.
The outcome of the geotechnical specialist studies, done as part of the site
selection and licensing process, will assist the designer with material
selection for the landfill’s lining system. In ideal circumstances the landfill
will be situated in an area with suitable clayey in-situ material which is ideal
for landfill construction. If the clay is of good quality it can be used in the
lining works. Typically one would need clay with a permeability of
1 x 10ˉ⁶ cm/s to 1 x 10ˉ⁷ cm/s depending on the landfill classification. This
permeability rate is also highly dependent on the compaction of the material
together with the moisture content and plasticity index. These parameters
must be confirmed prior to construction in a laboratory in order to confirm
the material’s suitability as construction material. This could make a huge
difference in the construction costs, as well as the environmental
acceptability of that area for a landfill site.

The geotechnical study would also determine if there might be clean sand
available which could be used as the protection layer on top of the HDPE
geomembrane and even as the leakage detection layer if the sand is of
suitable quality and evenly grained.

This investigation would also indicate whether there is sufficient material for
daily covering of the waste for the life-cycle of that landfill site. Ideally there
would also be sufficient available material within close proximity for the final
capping of that landfill.
5. LINER MATERIAL SELECTION / AVAILABILITY / REQUIREMENTS:

As mentioned in the previous presentation the lining works for the new regulation
classes can be summarized as follows:
There are various alternatives to achieve the abovementioned lining
requirements, which are dependant on material availability, costs, space
saving, time saving and or other physical conditions. Most of these lining
systems are based on the use of clay in the lining system but if there are
either insufficient quantities of clay and / or substandard clay qualities the
design engineer can look at alternatives like geosynthetic clay liners (GCL)
or soil enhancement by mixing the available on-site material with bentonite
or resins. The latter is a very expensive option and requires extensive lab
testing to determine the required mixture to achieve the necessary
permeability requirements and also involves strict construction quality
assurance to ensure consistent mixing, moisturising and placing. Other
factors such as compatibility with leachate and/or waste types must also be
considered.
The leachate leakage and drainage systems are normally a granular
medium but there are alternatives in the form of HDPE caspated sheets
or geosynthetic drainage nets. In each case it is important to test the
material’s drainage performance under the load of the eventual waste
body height, which could be as high as 50m.

All the landfill classes except for Class D now require a leachate
leakage detection system. This drainage system must be designed to
intercept any leakage through the overlaying lining / barrier system.
The detection collection system must be readily accessible and be
easy to take samples from for monitoring purposes.
6. LABORATORY TESTING OF SITE SPECIFIC MATERIAL:

Although literature and estimated friction figures for various materials can
give a good indication of the interface shear strength between the different
lining systems, it is always recommended to do testing with on-site
material as well as the actual lining material to be used.

The stability of the lining system and waste body during construction,
initial filling and final landform level will depend on the weakest interface
shear strength within the lining system and how this is affected by the
driving and resisting forces. The use of geosynthetics introduces weak
interfaces in the lining system.
Direct shear box testing of the different lining interphases under the
calculated loads and angles are critical to ensure stability and prevent
failure. The design engineer must design the layerworks envelope system
as such that if a slip should occur, it should preferably happen on top of
the primary liner in order to keep the liner intact. If shear box testing
cannot be done then the engineer should err on the safe side by designing
the basal side slopes flatter to 1:3.5 – 1:4. It is recommended that
extensive shear box testing with on-site material be done on all the
different interphases where any base liner side slopes are steeper than a
1:3 gradient.
As mentioned previously the on-site clay should be tested in the lab to
confirm if it will achieve the required permeability requirements during
construction, at what optimal water content and at what compaction.

If on-site sand is used in the leachate leakage detection layer the grading
should be tested to determine its drainage properties. It is advisable to do
all tests with on-site leachate and if this is not available one must try and
source a similar type of leachate. This is especially important in the case of
GCL’s. Studies have shown that little to no hydration has been achieved on
GCL samples with some hazardous leachates. If this is the case, and no
clay is available, one will have to look at pre-hydration of the GCL with
water in order to achieve the GCL’s specified permeability properties.
7. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

During the design of a landfill one of the most important aspects is to

avoid a head of the leachate over the lining system. The base of landfills
should be graded to ensure gravitational free-flow into the main leachate
drainage pipes. Slopes between 2 – 5% of a landfill cell floor are
preferable. It is a good idea to rather reduce the spacing between the
leachate drainage pipes (increase the amount of drainage pipes) in the
stone drainage layer since it is a small portion of the cost compared to
the rest of the works.
It is also recommended to install two drainage pipes alongside each other
in the longitudinal direction in-case one becomes blocked.
The leachate drainage pipes must be tested to determine their
deformation under the loads that will be experienced under the final landfill
height. Pipes with sufficient side-wall strength are very important to
ensure free flowing drainage for the site life of the landfill.

Pipe penetration through the HDPE geomembrane is also a critical

element in landfill designing. By nature these penetrations are normally in
the low point of a landfill and as a result would almost always be
submerged under leachate. Due to the various linings to be penetrated
and sealed this forms a very likely point for possible leakage. It is
important to construct this on a solid base like concrete to minimize
movement. The pipe should be prefabricated through a HDPE flange and
cast into the concrete base and the lining is then battened onto the base
and sealed with a capping strip.
Pipe penetration base

Battening of primary HDPE geomembrane

to concrete pipe penetration base

Final capping strip extrusion welded over

penetration
It is also good practice to design two low-points per cell (of similar depths)
in case one low point becomes blocked. In deeper landfills it’s very difficult
to get to the low point for repairs once covered, so an additional outflow
point is a good backup.

As mentioned previously it is important to consider the critical interphases

of all the individual components in the lining system. The whole design
should be based so that the primary liner system stays intact in the
unfortunate event of a liner failure / slip.
When considering the different barrier systems for the different classes of
landfill one should remember that these are guidelines with minimum
requirements. The design engineer should still consider alternatives,
especially with construction practicalities in mind. For example: The
minimum thickness for the geomembrane protection layer is only a 100mm
compacted sand for Class A, B and C landfills. Realistically, with the type of
plant tracks used and the difficulty in detecting any damage of the
geomembrane under the sand, it would be recommended to rather increase
this thickness to 200mm of compacted sand. It is also advisable to place this
layer early in the morning before sunrise when the geomembrane is still flat
and without wrinkles. CQA during the placing of this sand protection layer is
critical and the whole process must be witnessed by the CQA agent, but this
will be covered in a forthcoming CQA presentation.

Preparing for early morning placement of Note the smooth HDPE

sand protection layer without wrinkles
Another design consideration would be the geomembrane protection on the
side slopes (normally 1:3). It is difficult to place a sand protection layer on
slopes in excess of 18 degrees since it would simply slide down the HDPE.
A thick non-woven geotextile is normally used as an alternative for the
protection of the HDPE on the side slopes, typically a geotextile of 1 000 –
1 500g/m² should be used but again it is a good idea to do lab testing to
determine possible damage to the HDPE with the predicted load from the
final waste body on the slope. The geotextile can also be used on the floor
of the landfill if sand is not available or more expensive; the installation of
the geotextile is by far more practical and quicker than placing a sand
protection layer.
On the landfill side slopes the stone leachate drainage layer is normally
placed directly on top of the protection geotextile, but on longer slopes the
geotextile might tear under the load of the stone and a reinforcing grid must
be installed to carry the load of the stone. The designer must specify that
the stone be placed from the top to the bottom (pushed down the slope).

It is important to add all possible

loads during the design of the
reinforcing grid, not only the load of
the stone, but also the weight of the
construction plant that will place and
level the overlying material.
Anchor trenches must be designed to anchor the lining system without it
slipping out or tearing. The anchor trench must be deep enough and its run-
out length long enough to prevent the geomembrane from pulling out. It is
advisable not to “over-anchor” the HDPE too tightly as a “slight release” within
the anchor trench could prevent the tearing of the HDPE, which could result
in a global slip.
For the latest Class A landfill liner requirements, a double composite lining
system is required and therefore consideration must be given to the
construction practicalities around anchoring two geomembranes separately.
This may involve two separate anchor trenches which might be a problem if
space is restricted.
The design should also provide the details of a double pipe penetration,
where required.
When designing the anchor trench one must also ensure that the anchor
trench does not shear in a horizontal plane, especially for deeper anchor
trenches with shorter run-out lengths.
The design engineer can run different anchor trench configurations to
determine the optimal usage of space and material, for example a deeper
anchor trench with a thicker cover layer would reduce the run-out length
required, if space is a problem.
 Another addition to the latest lining regulations is the installation of a filter
geotextile on top of the stone leachate drainage layer.

This is a very important addition to the lining envelope. This geotextile was
not required in the MR2, which led to the clogging of the leachate collection
layer, due to biological fouling, in many landfill sites that were constructed
without this geotextile. The leachate drainage layer has an important function
to ensure continuous free draining of leachate which in turn would reduce the
hydraulic head on the primary liner and as a result minimize the potential of
contaminant migration. Even if the geotextile clogs up, it would ensure that
enough leachate is drained to prevent a hydraulic head to build up.
Stormwater / run-off water management:

Another important aspect of landfill design is the internal and external

stormwater design. It is a minimum requirement to prevent clean run-off to
come into contact with contaminated water and vice versa. External storm
water channels must be constructed around the landfill to divert all
upstream clean run-off around the site. If the landfill is designed to divert
side slope run-off into a polluted storm water dam then these channels
must be located along the toe of the landfill and have the required capacity
to drain a 1:50 year storm in a 24 hour duration. All storm water drainage
and containment structures must also have a 500mm freeboard.
When sizing the capacity of the leachate storage dam and / or the
contaminated run-off water dam it is important to make provision for the
possibility that the dam might be full or near full in the event of recurrent
rain events. A good rule of thumb is approximately 3 – 4 times the capacity
required for a dam to accommodate the 1:50 year storm in a 24hour
duration. Stormwater retention ponds are designed to mitigate the impact
of a rapid flood event, but are not intended to store the uncontaminated
stormwater.

Cover material:

Waste must be covered daily to reduce odours, nuisance conditions,

vermin, fires and scavengers. It would be ideal to obtain this material
from or close to the site or even have this material stockpiled on site.
However, if the material is too clayey, it may form horizontal impermeable
layers or preferential flow paths that could surface on the side slopes of
the landfill. The ideal cover materials are sandy soils or clean builders
rubble, but this should be addressed in more detail in the operational
presentation. For calculation purposes, approximately 17% of the total
airspace could be taken up by the volume cover material required for the
landfill, depending on the waste type and compaction.
Phasing:
As mentioned in the beginning it is important to have a good conceptual
design that includes future phasing. The phases are typically 5 years
apart, but should constantly be verified by the latest average disposal
rates, usually of the last 6 months.

Typical phased layout drawing for the

development of a landfill
 3D Modelling of the existing landfill and
future phases

Once the deposition rates have been verified by the weigh bridges,
and compaction calculated using topographical surveys, future
phases can be predicted using 3D modelling.
8. LIQUID MANAGEMENT:

Liquid could refer to uncontaminated stormwater runoff (no contact with

waste); contaminated water run-off (from the working face) – previously
discussed; or leachate (precipitation allowed to percolate through the
waste).

Each site must have its own liquid management plan and design. Where
possible, gravity systems should be designed that require no or minimum
pumping. In some sites leachate collected can drain to sewer, in other
instances this leachate or contaminated run-off water must first be collected
and stored, before treatment, either on or off site. Storage facilities must be
designed to contain all run-off / leachate within a 1 in a 50 year storm event
and must be lined so not to contaminate the underlying substrate (leak).
The design engineer must ensure that the site is equipped with the
necessary mitigating measures in case some of the drainage and/ or
storage facilities fail.
In the case of landfill draining into pump sumps it is important to protect the
inside of the manholes by a HDPE membrane or similar, typically anchor
knob sheets. As a result the concrete will be protected from chemical
attack, increasing the sumps lifetime and reducing maintenance costs.

Concrete manhole ring with HDPE

Anchor Knob sheet cast in

The pump sump or chamber should preferably be equipped with two

pumps, one as a standby pump in case of failure of the primary pump.
The pump chamber as well as pumps must also be designed to be able
to accommodate all future phases to be linked to its “catchment area”.
Even where leachate drains directly to municipal sewer, it would be a good
idea to design a backup storage facility for this leachate, in the event of a
sewer blockage or other problem. Other means of handling leachate would
be to drain or pump it into holding tanks and / or leachate lagoons and to
tanker the leachate to sewage treatment plants. This could also cause
problems in the case of shut down at these treatment plants or if they
refuse the leachate load for whatever reason. This will then have a rollover
effect on the landfill if the particular landfill is running close to its design co-
disposal ratio since one will not have enough storage capacity to drain the
landfill at the rate required. This could result in the pump sumps
overflowing or leachate seeping out of the sides of the landfill.

On-site treatment of the leachate is expensive due to the relative small

volumes of leachate, compared to a conventional sewage works. However,
the advantages include saving tankering costs where the nearest municipal
sewage work is far away, the treated sewage could replace clean water
used for dust suppression, and the municipal sewage works can’t be
negatively affected by leachate loads.
Leachate generation calculations are complicated and need to be verified
by actual daily measurements.
9. SITE LIFETIME AND STABILITY:

Site lifetime determination is important for future planning. It can be

determined in basically two ways:

Using estimated or weighbridge tonnages of the waste stream which must

be converted to m³ by assuming site specific compaction densities of the
waste stream combined with cover material of approximately 17%. This is
not a very accurate method.
The most accurate method is to do site surveys every month or at least 6
monthly and then calculate the difference in airspace consumed over a
period of time using a DTM package like ModelMaker. This method then
includes the compaction ratio, cover material, primary settlement and a
portion of secondary settlement. By using the average of the last 6
months airspace consumption one can do a very accurate site life
prediction of current and future cells.
 Construction FLF
Permitted FLF Hx
Liner 5%
(Base)

NGL H

Normally all licenced or permitted landfills have a maximum height

restriction which must be adhered to. Due to secondary settlement, a
landfill could potentially be constructed a little higher than the maximum
height and should settle over time to fall within the maximum height. By
calculating the height that a landfill could settle and constructing the landfill
to this “higher” final height the landfill owner / operator increases the site life
and optimizes all available airspace. Secondary settlement can be as high
as 15% of the waste body height (H), but a more conservative figure of 5 –
10% is suggested. The design engineer must also remember to make
provision for the final capping layer thickness when he does the final landfill
modelling. The maximum permitted height must include these capping
layers.
Stability monitoring is required on co-disposal landfill sites as leachate
build-up has a significant effect on waste body stability. This is
exacerbated by the use of geosynthetic materials in landfill construction
which typically have very low interface friction properties.
The first form of stability monitoring is visual inspection of the waste
pile. This should be conducted by the operations team on site on a
daily basis. Visual clues to be on the lookout for are: cracks developing
on the waste slope, sloughing of waste/cover at the base of the slope
and significant leachate seepage at the base of a slope.
All co-disposal landfills with a significant waste slope height (>5m)
should have a stability survey monitoring network installed.
REHABILITATION REQUIREMENTS:
Landfill Rehabilitation and Gas Management does not form part of this presentation and will be covered in a future LIG seminar. Below are just a brief
summary of the current regulated capping requirements as per the MR2: