EREF Webinar – Landfill Covers: Water Balance

June 20, 2019
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EST

Final covers are used to reduce the quantity of water that infiltrates into the waste mass in solid and hazardous waste landfills. Current regulations require that final covers be constructed with clayey soils or with geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs), with or without geomembrane. These types of covers tend to be expensive and prone to degradation due to wet-dry cycling. An alternative approach is to use “Alternative Earthen Final Covers”, such as Evapo-Transpiration (ET) covers, which exploit the water storage capacity of finer textured soils and the water removal capability of vegetation to reduce infiltration into the underlying waste. The top layer of an ET cover consists of a heavy rooted zone. Roots and vegetation have also been known to be suitable media for a natural bacteria that can oxidize landfill gases. This webinar will present information on the use of various ET covers that are suitable for a wide range of climatic conditions and discuss design tools to assess the feasibility of these covers under their specific conditions.

Upon completion of this webinar, the attendee will be able to:

• Describe different alternative earthen final covers
• Understand the tools available to access the use of alternative earthen final covers
• Discuss current research advances in landfill covers

Dr. Tarek Abichou
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering

Dr. Abichou is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at FAMU-FSU in the College of Engineering. Dr. Abichou received his MS and PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Some of his research activities include primarily designing, analyzing, and testing different components of landfills and other waste containment infrastructures. Dr. Abichou has been involved in research investigating alternative ways to cover solid waste facilities for more than 20 years.