OWNER:
Westvaco Bleached Board Division
104 East Riverside Street
Covington, VA 24426

ENGINEER:
Tensar Environmental Systems, Inc.

Landfill No. 3 contained existing sludge that had a surface area of about eleven acres. A cross dike divides the landfill into a north area and a south area. The south area covers about seven acres and contains sludge that exists to an estimated depth of 100 feet. Plans were to construct a drainage layer consisting of bottom ash over the existing sludge surface and to continue to fill the impoundment with solid waste. The drainage layer had to be flexible and have sufficient capacity to drain a design storm of three inches in twenty-four hours within a thirty-hour period. Biaxial geogrids were used to construct the drainage layer over the existing sludge surface. Geosynthetic strip drains placed 14.5 feet on center were used to increase the capacity of the drainage layer. The drainage layer was constructed to empty into a periphery French drain system. After constructing the drainage layer, uniaxial geogrid was placed to provide stability for maximum 4-foot lift thicknesses of solid waste placed with a dozer. Construction of the drainage layer began in 1993 and solid waste is continuing to be placed.