Mechanical characterization of MSW using field tests

摘要

A significant fraction of generated solid wastes ends up in sanitary landfills. An appropriate mechanical characterization of the waste that makes up a landfill is necessary to properly design the facility, both to ensure its safety and to maximize its capacity, and hence to reduce its ecological footprint. A procedure has been developed to obtain the mechanical characteristics of municipal solid waste (MSW) using standard in-situ test equipment. The procedure comprises the realization of pre-bored pressuremeter tests (PBP) along with cone penetration tests (CPTu), with minimal adaptation of the test procedures described in the corresponding codes and recommendations. Shear strength and stiffness parameters along with a soil behavior type (SBT) classification can be obtained for the material disposed in a landfill. This paper presents results from a testing campaign in three MSW landfills spread over Spain using the aforementioned procedure. Tests have been performed in waste ranging from recently disposed to almost fully degraded material and in points uniformly located in areas where waste was landfilled, in order to be representative. The obtained parameters have been compared with a previous parameter proposal made by the authors based on previous works and the available bibliography.