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Understanding the Critical Role of Geosynthetic Materials

Waste Containment System Design “Digging Deeper into Geosynthetic Design Through the Assessment of Surface and Subsurface Flow, Available Technical Support Documents, and Concepts to Enhance Electrical Resistivity Testing”

About this Seminar

This technical training opportunity has been developed to provide attendees with a deeper working knowledge of surface and subsurface flows of stormwater impinging on landfill closures.  This discussion will go beyond slope stabilization using the infinite slope formula. Various design approaches and details will be discussed to show how they either hinder or promote the long-term stability of the soil cover. This seminar will also denote where significant documents and current practice information can be found to educate and support the work effort of geosynthetic users. The cost of many of these documents are free or of little cost to the user. Based on these documents, there will be a discussion regarding Construction Quality Assurance (CQA) testing, frequency, timing and expected quality of test results. Finally, there will be a review of design considerations that increase the effectiveness of Electrical Resistivity Testing of liner systems and discuss the dynamics of construction water trapped in the secondary leachate collection and removal system in order to effectuate better construction outcomes.

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Key Seminar Elements

The seminar has been developed to provide participants with an overview of the latest environmental regulatory requirements relevant to the design, specification and construction of double-lined landfills as required under New York State’s recently revised Landfill Regulations, 6 NYCRR Part 363.

Starting with “Darcy’s Law”, the participants will be shown how the principles of surface and subsurface flows impacts the design process and how these pathways change over time. Although this discussion of flow pathways will mainly be reviewed within the landfill closure design applications, it will be shown that this same train-of-thought is applicable to some bottom liner design details. Examples and case histories will show the long-term impacts of various landfill closure design elements.

The participants will be shown where valuable technical information can be found to support their professional engineering design and CQA services. These documents are either free to the user or a minimal cost to the user (e.g. ASTM, GSI, IGS, etc.).  There will be discussion on specific areas of ASTM standards and how this knowledge (along with knowledge of geosynthetic manufacturing) impacts factors-of-safety, CQA testing requirements and scheduling of tests prior to construction.

The participants will also be shown how specific sections of ASTM standards can impact the design engineer’s understanding of the test results. Digging deeper into the methods of manufacturing geosynthetic products and understanding how these materials are tested can allow for a greater understanding of the limitations and quality of the test results, and in some cases be used to better inform the design engineer and ensure a successful design outcome.

Participants will be provided with design considerations that increase the effectiveness of Electrical Resistivity Testing for liner defect location. Case studies from sites in New York State will be used to illustrate key concepts. Recent research on the dynamics of construction water in the leak detection layer will be presented, which shows that sustained flow from the leak detection layer can be caused by construction water drainage rather than by leakage through the primary geomembrane. This discussion includes how to distinguish leakage through the primary geomembrane from construction water flow and also how to prevent it.

Who Should Attend?

Landfill design engineers, construction supervisors, landfill owners and operators, regulatory agency staff, and public works and municipal engineers will all benefit from this seminar.  This seminar is uniquely developed to benefit both the experienced as well as newly hired practitioners in the field of waste containment design and construction.

PE Professional Development Hours (PDH)

There will be 12 PDHs offered for New York State professional engineering continuing education credits for participating in this unique technical learning event.  Attendance for the full duration of this Seminar is required to receive the 12 PDH credits.

About the Instructors

Principal Instructor, Robert (Bob) Mackey, P.E. BCEE, Principal, S2L, Incorporated, Maitland, FL 32751. Mr. Mackey is a Past Chairman of ASTM D35 Committee on Geosynthetics with 35+ years of solid waste facility design experience. He is a former adjunct Professor at the University of Central Florida, ASCE Continuing Education Course Instructor and ABET Program Evaluator for Civil/Environmental Engineering Programs.

Electrical Leak Detection Instructor, Abigail Gilson, P.E., Senior Engineer, TRI Environmental, Inc. has over seventeen years of diverse civil engineering experience and is a registered Civil Engineer in multiple states including New York, where she resides. She spent the first part of her career as a containment facility design engineer and joined TRI in 2012 to focus solely on the implementation and innovation of electrical leak location technologies. She has over fourteen years and 160 million square feet of electrical leak location experience. Her contribution to the field of electrical leak location includes numerous published technical papers, educational seminars, presentations world-wide, and chairing the ASTM committee for the recent revisions and additions to the ASTM Standard Guide and Practices.

Regulatory Instructor, Robert Phaneuf, P.E., Assistant Director of New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation’s Division of Materials Management, Albany, NY has worked in the field of solid waste management in a regulatory oversight role for over 40 years. Bob’s primary duties have included: formulation of statewide solid and hazardous waste management policy and regulation including supervision of technical and administrative evaluations of applications to construct and operate solid and hazardous waste management facilities throughout New York State. Since 1988, Bob has been a key member of the Division’s rule-making team for the State’s solid waste management regulations.

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