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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Cover systems for managing hazardous waste

Book ·
OSTI ID:116357
 [1]
  1. Univ. of Western Ontario, London, Ontario (Canada)
The hydraulic conductivity, k, of a compacted fine-grained soil in a cover system is an important parameter that requires attention during applications to the closure of both landfills and mine waste sites. Climatic cycles such as wetting and drying and freezing and thawing can severely undermine the integrity of the cover. The use of granular soils above and below the fine-grained soil would minimize evaporation and drainage and essentially preserve high water saturation and hence oxygen diffusion coefficient and hydraulic conductivity. Moisture-suction and hydraulic conductivity-suction relationships can be used to make predictions on moisture flow under severe wet-dry cycles. Two examples of field implementation n mine tailings and a waste rock pile suggest that, if the cover is properly designed, and the hydraulic conductivity is not greater than 1 {times} 10{sup {minus}9} m/s, water percolation may be only 2--4% of the total precipitation.
OSTI ID:
116357
Report Number(s):
CONF-9507173--; ISBN 0-7844-0095-4
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English