An Irrefutable Case for Case Histories: Seismic Design of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

The importance of case histories to our understanding of the performance of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills subject to seismic shaking is irrefutable. Case histories have been used to establish the properties of MSW at large cyclic strains, that earthquake ground motions may be amplified by MSW landfills in a manner similar to amplification of earthquake motions by earth dams, and that, despite the potential for significant amplification, the waste mass in an unlined landfill is able to withstand very high levels of seismic loading without instability or large deformation. However, case histories have also shown that geomembrane liners for landfills may be susceptible to damage when subject to strong ground motions, that the allowable nominal tensile strain in a geomembrane may be limited due to installation damage and strain concentrations, and that sampling of geomembrane seams for CQA testing should be avoided where tensile strains are expected, including on the upper reaches and bench of a lined slope.