Geosynthetic Clay Liners for Waste Containment Facilities

Increasingly stringent regulation of pollution and waste production worldwide drives the need to isolate contaminants that pose a threat to human and environmental health by using engineered barrier systems involving the use of low permeable materials. Over the past two decades, geosynthetic clay liners have gained widespread acceptance for use in such barrier systems. They are often used as a component of primary and secondary base liners or final cover systems in municipal solid-waste landfills as well as in regulated industrial storage and mining waste-disposal facilities.

This book gives a comprehensive and authoritative review of the current state of practice on geosynthetic clay liners in waste containments. It provides an insight into individual materials (bentonite and the associated geosynthetics) and the manufacturing processes. This is followed by the coverage of important topics such as hydraulic conductivity, chemical compatibility, contaminant transport, gas migration, shear strength and slope stability, and field performance.

1. Background and Overview of Geosynthetic Clay Liners 2. Durability and Lifetime of the Geotextile Fibres of Geosynthetic Clay Liners 3. Mineralogy and Engineering Properties of Bentonite 4. Hydraulic Conductivity of Geosynthetic Clay Liners 5. Contaminant Transport Through GCL-based Liner Systems 6. Chemico-osmosis and Solute Transport Through Geosynthetic Clay Liners 7. Gas Permeability of Geosynthetic Clay Liners 8. Internal and Interface Shear Strength of Geosynthetic Clay Liners 9. Slope Stability with Geosynthetic Clay Liners 10. Hydrologic Performance of Final Covers Containing 11. Oxygen Diffusion Through Geosynthetic Clay Liners 12. Field Observations of GCL Behaviour

Abdelmalek Bouazza, John J. Bowders Jr.