Evaluating Suitability of Geomaterials-Amended Soil for Landfill Liner: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Assessment of cracks are essential for attaining better performance of landfill liner system. This study provides a new vision toward crack prevention in clayey soils. A comparative study of using various geomaterials, biomaterials, and synthetic materials to prevent the desiccation cracks formation in landfill clay liners has been performed. Small-scale materials-amended soil specimens have been subjected to extreme conditions (i.e., soil saturation to drought) for 25 days and crack-influencing parameters, such as crack intensity factor, water content, and shear strength of soil, have been obtained. The results show that addition of wood biochar (WB), pig manure biochar (PMB), and gypsum (GY) can significantly assist the soil to retain more water compared with other amendments. Furthermore, WB, PMB, and GY reduce the development of desiccation cracks in landfill liners. Altogether, this study provides useful insight toward the selection of suitable amendments for various landfill applications.