In-Situ Waste Containment

Methods
In-Situ Waste Containment Methods
• In-Situ Waste containment can be grouped into two categories:
1. Passive System
2. Active System
Passive system
• Passive system includes one or combination of following barriers:
1. Vertical Barriers
2. Bottom Barriers
3. Surface cap or Covers
Passive System
• Installation of physical low permeable barrier all around the waste to
reduce the potential for spreading contaminants.
Vertical Barriers
• Vertical barriers are used to limit the lateral extent of contaminations.
• They are used to contain the contaminants.
• They are used to redirect the ground water flow.
• They are used to block the lateral flow of groundwater.
• They are usually the vertical barriers ,keyed into low permeable
formations.
• If the pollutants are floating ,a hanging wall may extend beneath the
water table.
• Totally impervious barriers are impossible to construct.
Circumferential Barriers
Up-gradient Barriers
Down-Gradient Barriers
 Vertical Barriers
• Types of Vertical Barriers are:
a) Compacted clay barriers
b) Slurry trench barriers
i. Soil Bentonite barriers
ii. Cement bentonite barriers
iii. Plastic concrete barriers
iv. Composite barriers
c) Grouted barriers
i. Pressure grouting method
ii. Jet grouting method
iii. Vibrating beam method
d) Mixed-in-Place barriers
e) Steel sheet pile barriers
Compacted Clay Barriers
Slurry Trench Barriers
• They are the most commonly used vertical barriers and known as
slurry trench cutoff walls or slurry walls.
• They are constructed by excavating a narrow vertical trench ,Typically
2-4 ft. wide. As excavation proceeds the trench is filled with a slurry
that stabilizes the walls of the trench.
• The slurry penetrates the surrounding permeable soils creating a filter
cake on the trench walls that seals the soil formation, prevents slurry
loss, and contributes to the low permeability of completed barrier.
• This narrow trench is then backfilled with a slurry mixture.
Slurry Trench Barriers
Soil Bentonite barriers and Cement Bentonite
Barriers
Slurry Trench Barriers
Plastic Concrete Barriers
• Plastic Concrete barriers are constructed by excavating a trench under a head of
bentonite –water slurry similar to that of soil bentonite barriers and are backfilled
with a lean concrete mix of water ,cement ,aggregate, and bentonite.
• They are usually constructed in panels.
• Design Consideration for PC Barriers are similar to those for SB and CB barriers.
• They are considerable stronger than SB and CB barriers therefore they are
considered for applications where additional strength is required.
• These barriers are more resistant to organic contaminations than CB barriers.
• PC barriers are more expansive than Sb and CB barriers.
Slurry Trench Barriers
• Composite Barriers
• They are constructed using a combination of materials, like
geomembrane is inserted within a slurry trench .
• These composite barriers improve the performance of traditional soil-
bentonite barriers by decreasing the permeability of the barriers and
improving the chemical resistance of the barrier.
Grouted Barriers
• Grouted barriers are also known as grout curtains.
• They are formed by injecting a grout into the subsurface .
• Pressure grouting and jet grouting are two common methods of
injection grouting, in which grout mixture is injected from a hole into
void spaces and fissures in the soil and rock.
• The holes are spaced so that the treated zones overlap to form a
continuous barrier. Often two or three rows of grout holes are
necessary to achieve a continuous low permeability barrier.
Grouted Barriers
• The choice of grout depends on soil permeability , Soil grain size, and
ground water chemistry, compatibility between the grout and the
contaminants presents and rate of ground water flow.
• In general grout can be divided inti two main categories:
a) Particulate grout or suspension grouts ,which includes the slurries
of bentonite , cement , or both and water.
b) Chemical grouts generally contains a chemical base, a catalyst, and
water or another solvent.
Grouted Barriers
Permeation (Pressure) Grouting Method
• In permeation grouting ,Soil voids are filled with a sealing grout.
• To achieve low permeability , the soil voids must be filled completely,
and the lateral extent of the grout penetration must be controlled.
• The design of the permeation grouted barrier must consider soil
permeability, grout viscosity, and the soil and grout particle size.
• In general permeation grouting with chemical grouts is suitable in
soils with permeability greater than 10-3 cm/s, while particulate
grouts can be used when soil permeability is greater than 10-1cm/s.
Grouted Barriers
Jet Grouting Method
• Jet grouting involves the use of a
combination of grout , air, and
water delivered by a small jet or
jets in the drill rod at very high
pressures, often reaching 5000 to
6000 psi.
• After advancing the drill rod to a
desired depth , it is lifted and
rotated as the jetted grout cuts
away the soil and creates a large
cylindrical hole.
Grouted Barriers
Vibrating Beam Method
• A vibrated beam barrier is a grouted barrier that is suitable for shallow
depths.
• Construction of a vibrating beam barrier consists of driving a modified H-
pile into the ground with a vibratory hammer and modified to inject grout
through nozzles at the bottom end of the pile.
• During pile driving , a small amount of grout may be injected through the
nozzles to provide lubrication.
• Grout is injected through the nozzles to fill the voids as the pile is
withdrawn.
• The driving and filling process is repeated in an overlapping pattern to form
a continuous barrier for containing waste or contamination.
Grouted Barriers
Vibrating Beam Method
• Cement bentonite grouts are commonly used for vibrating beam
barriers, although bituminous grouts have also been used.
• Vibrating beam barriers are only 2-3 inch. thick and therefore have a
high potential to hydro-fracture.
• The permeability of a vibrating beam barrier depends on the grout
used.
• A permeability of 10-5 to 10-6 cm/s may be expected where cement
bentonite grout is used.
Grouted Barriers
Vibrating Beam Method
• The principal advantage of a vibrating beam barrier is that handling or
disposal of excavated material is not required.
• The primary advantage of vibrating beam barrier is that the H-piles
may deflect from vertical, making the continuity of the barrier at
depth uncertain.
• The bottom of the vibrating beam barrier cannot be inspected to
confirm vertically or key penetration.
Mixed –In-Place Barriers
• Mixed in place barriers, also known as deep soil mixed barriers or soil
mixed walls are constructed by in-situ mixing of soil and a slurry.
Specially designed equipment consisting of three auger mixing shafts
is used to inject and mix a water bentonite or cement bentonite slurry
into the soil as the augers are advanced.
• Mixed in place barriers are relatively wider than other type of barriers
because potentially contaminated soils are not excavated, these
barriers reduce health risks and safety issues.
• One major advantage is that the bottom of mixed in place barriers
cannot be inspected to confirm key penetration.
Steel Sheet Pile Barriers
• Steel sheet pilings have been used for wide variety of Civil
Engineering applications, including control of groundwater flow into
excavations at construction sites.
• Steel sheet pile barriers are also known as sheet pile cutoff walls or
simply sheet pile barriers, may be used to contain subsurface
contamination and to divert groundwater flow around a
contaminated area.
• To serve as an effective barrier ,sheet piles should extend into a low
permeability soil stratum or to bed rock
Bottom Barriers
• Bottom barriers are provided when no naturally flow is occurring and
low permeable stratum exists at reasonable depth beneath a waste
site. They are as follows:
a) Permeation Grouting
b) Jet Grouting
c) Bottom barriers by directional drilling and Grouting
d) Bottom barriers by using Hydro-fracturing and block displacement
method
e) Sheet pile combined with injection Grouting
Permeation Grouting
• In coarse grained soils, permeation grouting can be used to build a
layer of over lapping grout bulbs beneath the contaminated site.
• The grout in injected at pressures that will displace water in void
spaces and maintain the soil structure .
• The pressures should not be so high as to cause hydraulic fracturing.
The thickness of the grouted barrier must be great enough to ensure
adequate water tightness.
• Field tests are performed to determine the thickness required. The
hydraulic conductivity of the grouted soil will vary from 10-6cm/s with
Portland cement grout to 10-10cm/s with acrylate grout or microsilica
grout.
Jet Grouting
• The jet grouting technique is also used to form short columns or disks
that will overlap each other to form a seal beneath the contaminated
region.
• Similar to permeation grouting ,jet grouting can be used to create
both bottom and vertical barriers. jet grouting however, provides
better barrier characteristics than permeation grouting ,for the
following reasons:
a) Good control of grout column dimensions
b) Good control of continuity of grout placement
c) Relative independence from heterogeneities in the soil
d) Ability to use Portland cement grout
Jet Grouting
• If drilling through a contaminated zone or waste for the installation of
a bottom barrier is not allowed, Jet grouting may be considered.
• However , this method will be applicable only if the waste width of
the contaminated zone or waste is small.
Bottom barriers by directional drilling and
Grouting
• Directional drilling allows the drilling of a parabola shaped path from
one point on the ground surface to another point on the ground
surface. This may be grouting e useful for reaching beneath a waste
pile or contaminated zone without going through it.
• The minimum radius of curvature that directional drilling can achieve
is on the order of 15 to 30m .
• Directional drilling is used in conjunction with either permeation
grouting or jet grouting to create bottom barriers.
Bottom barriers by using Hydro-fracturing and
block displacement method
• Hydro-fracturing is the intentional fracturing of a soil formation by
water or air pumped into the ground under high pressure.
• In the block displacement method, a series of boreholes are injected
simultaneously with fluid under high pressures in order to lift a block
of waste and surrounding soil and to place a low permeability bottom
barrier beneath the block.
• This method requires drilling several boreholes around the perimeter
of the waste as well as through the waste.
• Bentonite grout is pumped at high pressure into each interior hole
simultaneously so that horizontal fractures are developed.
Bottom barriers by using Hydro-fracturing and
block displacement method
• The bentonite grout fills the fractures, forcing them to open wider
and expand laterally .The thickness and expansion of the fractures
force the block to displace upward.
• The bentonite grout also keeps the fractures from closing .The grout –
filled fractures act as a bottom barrier.
Sheet pile combined with injection Grouting
• A buried waste may also be contained utilizing a combination of steel
sheet piles and permeation grouting.
• The steel piles are driven at angles towards a common point or line
located below the buried waste, forming a cone or wedge, similar to
slant drilling.
• Once the sheet piles are in place ,the soil mass between the sheet
pile wedge and the waste is filled with grout using permeation
grouting through multiple injection holes.
• The grout fills the voids in the soil and the joints between the
individual sheet piles, preventing further leachate migration.
Surface Caps or Covers
• Caps may range from one layer system of vegetated soil to a complex
multilayer system of soils and geosynthetics. Multilayer cap includes:
• Surface or erosional layer
• Protection layer
• Drainage layer
• Barrier layer
• Gas collection Layer
• Foundation Layer
Active Waste Containment System
Subsurface Drains
Use of Subsurface Drains
Use of Subsurface Drainage