Geotechnical Considerations for End-Use of Old Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

Geotechnical investigations of waste fills are rarely undertaken, and consequently the geotechnical community has little knowledge of their engineering properties. In this study, a geotechnical testing program was conducted to evaluate the engineering properties of old municipal solid waste sampled in Whamyung MSW landfill site, Busan, Korea. The conducted tests included water content, specific gravity, Atterberg limits, grain-size distribution, compaction, small scale and large scale consolidation, triaxial compression (CU), and direct shear tests. The Compression Index, c C , derived from small scale (70mm in diameter) and large scale (250mm in diameter) one-dimensional consolidation tests was about 0.04 and 0.09, respectively. A secondary compression coefficient, ? C , appeared to be less dependent on stress level and more dependent on the aging level. In triaxial compression and direct shear tests, friction angle and cohesion were evaluated as 36~46o and 25~60 kN/m2 , respectively. The results reported in this study are comparable to those reported in the literature and obtained from laboratory and field tests.