Date
01 Jun 1988, 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Abstract
The containment dikes of two sludge disposal lagoons were founded on low strength, highly compressible wetland soils in Madison, Wisconsin. These lagoons, constructed in 1942 and 1967 respectively, encompass 130 acres of digested sludge produced at the sewage treatment plant. The dikes have experienced two previous failures in 1970 and 1973. A dike rehabilitation program was initiated in 1976 to prevent additional failures. New dikes were built using wood chips as a lightweight fill. Non-woven synthetic filter fabric was used to prevent soil intrusion into the chips and to provide resistance to lateral spreading. An investigation was initiated in 1984 to assess the current and long term stability and settlement of the dikes, to determine the fate of the wood chip fill, and to develop recommendations for ways to stabilize the dikes, if necessary. This paper presents the results of the stability and settlement analyses, and the attendant interpretations. The investigation indicated better than marginal stability, predicted minor loss of freeboard between 1987 and the year 2000, and found only minor changes in the wood chips after 10 years of service.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Bosscher, Peter J. and Edil, Tuncer B., "Performance of Lightweight Waste-Impoundment Dikes" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 13.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/2icchge-session1/13
Performance of Lightweight Waste-Impoundment Dikes
The containment dikes of two sludge disposal lagoons were founded on low strength, highly compressible wetland soils in Madison, Wisconsin. These lagoons, constructed in 1942 and 1967 respectively, encompass 130 acres of digested sludge produced at the sewage treatment plant. The dikes have experienced two previous failures in 1970 and 1973. A dike rehabilitation program was initiated in 1976 to prevent additional failures. New dikes were built using wood chips as a lightweight fill. Non-woven synthetic filter fabric was used to prevent soil intrusion into the chips and to provide resistance to lateral spreading. An investigation was initiated in 1984 to assess the current and long term stability and settlement of the dikes, to determine the fate of the wood chip fill, and to develop recommendations for ways to stabilize the dikes, if necessary. This paper presents the results of the stability and settlement analyses, and the attendant interpretations. The investigation indicated better than marginal stability, predicted minor loss of freeboard between 1987 and the year 2000, and found only minor changes in the wood chips after 10 years of service.
