A Historic Landmark

Overview

The construction of landfills is extremely intricate because it is a complex, multifaceted system. It is designed to protect the ground and surroundings from contamination. Given the burden of a lot of toxic material, landfills take years to plan and develop. They are typically divided into areas called “cells” which are designated areas for storing the waste.

Project

Vapi Green Enviro Limited (VGEL) is a company involved in storing industrial waste from neighbouring industries. With increased business, VGEL needed greater storage volume at its existing landfill site to cater to at least two additional years worth of waste. The landfill is in a congested zone and expanding horizontally would be an expensive and unfeasible option.

The Conventional Approach:

Conventionally, landfills are constructed with containment dykes with side-slopes (as flat as 1V:3H), and filled with waste within the containment. Due to flat slopes and limited land availability, there are limitations to the height to which these dykes can be constructed. The flat slopes and limited heights impose a severe restriction to the landfill volume. VEGL had very limited space at its disposal for expansion.

The conventional solution did not meet the two year requirement.

Strata’s Innovative Approach:

Thinking out of the box, Strata devised a containment system with a reinforced soil structure, which is a slim, yet safe structure. The lean structure would generate more space for storage. This vertical expansion was made possible without the need for a voluminous earth retaining structure.

As mentioned above, the landfill is divided into cells, and each cell is filled one at a time. The first three cells were closed and covered as per statutory requirements. Strata developed Cell 4. To achieve this, Strata successfully executed the following:

a) A horizontal spread – “Cell 4 Extension Part 2”
b) Vertical expansion of Cell 4 “Cell 4 Extension Part 1”

The complete construction involved two of Strata’s innovative systems: StrataSlope™ and StrataBlock™. The inner slope (StrataSlope™) that bordered the landfill material was a StrataGrid™ (polyester geogrids) fascia wrapped around soil bags. This face was draped with a composite of geomembrane and nonwoven geotextile to prevent landfill leachate from seeping into the containment. Lastly, to provide a maintenance-free structure, Strata provided an aesthetically pleasing outer fascia. StrataBlock™ (precast segmental concrete modular blocks), in connection with the internal StrataGrid™ using keys, is the face of the wall, providing a “fortress” look to the structure. The total fascia area of reinforced soil containment system is 6,600sqm.

Strata’s Value:

– Increased the total dumping capacity by 2.5 times conventional methods
– Cost-effective by providing more storage revenue within the same land space
– Aesthetically pleasing
– Safe and robust to withstand differential settlements without distress
– Rapid construction with sound systems
– Minimal maintenance due to the innovative technologies used

About Strata:

Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt. Ltd. is a market leader in the geosynthetic segment for soil reinforcement solutions in India and across the globe. It was established in 2004, in partnership with Strata Systems Inc., USA – a two decade veteran in geosynthetics.

Strata provides end-to-end solutions for soil reinforcement challenges including supply, design, and construction with our world renowned StrataGrid™ (geogrid) and StrataWeb® (geocells).

Our manufacturing plants are ISO certified and our products have the CE mark. In addition, all testing is conducted in GAI-LAP accredited labs across the U.S., U.K., and India. We are also a proud member of the International Geotechnical Society (IGS) promoting advancements in geosynthetics.

About Strata:

Strata Geosystems (India) Pvt. Ltd. is a market leader in the geosynthetic segment for soil reinforcement solutions in India and across the globe. It was established in 2004, in partnership with Strata Systems Inc., USA – a two decade veteran in geosynthetics.

Strata provides end-to-end solutions for soil reinforcement challenges including supply, design, and construction with our world renowned StrataGrid™ (geogrid) and StrataWeb® (geocells).

Our manufacturing plants are ISO certified and our products have the CE mark. In addition, all testing is conducted in GAI-LAP accredited labs across the U.S., U.K., and India. We are also a proud member of the International Geotechnical Society (IGS) promoting advancements in geosynthetics.

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