Influence of the design on slope stability in solid waste landfills

Abstract

This paper presents, firstly, the influence of the geometry of a slope in the safety factor (SF). In order to do this, the SF is compared among three types of slopes: with berms every 7 m high and a dam at the toe, without berms and with a dam at the toe, and without berms nor dams. It was observed that, for the same inclination, the berms do not significantly influence the stability. However, the construction of an earth dam at the base increases safety, especially with little height and slope in waste with poor mechanical properties. On the other hand, a set of diagrams to learn, quickly and easily, the safety factor of a landfill slope has been developed. Thus, this set of diagrams allows calculations from the SF height (from 17 to 80 m) and slope inclination (from 45° to 14°) with values of effective cohesion of the waste (C'o) from 1 to 3 t/m2 and effective friction angle (F') of 10° to 25°.