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EVALUATION OF CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS USING HYDRAULIC HEAD DATA
Citation:
Ross*, R R. AND M S. Beljin*. EVALUATION OF CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS USING HYDRAULIC HEAD DATA. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Reston, VA, 124(6):575-578, (1998).
Impact/Purpose:
Information
Description:
Subsurface vertical barriers have been used as components of containment systems to prevent or reduce the impact of containment sources on ground-water resources. Many containment systems also include a low permeability cover to prevent the infiltration-/recharge of precipitation, ground water management wells and/or trenches and a monitoring network. Potential failure mechanisms of slurry walls and other vertical barriers types can be due to construction defects or post-construction property changes. A better understanding of the complex hydraulics associated with vertical barriers could be used to enhance the ability of existing performance monitoring systems to detect breaches in physical containment systems. This may also aid in the design of performance monitoring systems by allowing the estimation of minimum monitoring point spacing requirements necessary to detect containment system breaches. Given the current regulatory interest in containment systems as either supplemental or stand-alone remedial alternatives and the lack of adequate performance monitoring strategies at most existing hazardous waste sites utilizing vertical barrier technologies, there is an immediate need for a general protocol to determine which contaminant transport mechanisms are most important for a site and require further evaluation.
