Hydraulic Balance and Design of Covering System in Landfills

In order to solve desiccation cracks of conventional compacted clay cover system in arid and semi arid areas, three alternative evapotranspiration (ET) covers were proposed.One alternative option configuration consisted of 1m vegetation soil layer and 1m barrier soil layer, while two additional alternatives contained biointrusion barriers layer placed at different depths within the structural profile.Considering precipitation and evapotranspiration, a one dimensional moisture transport model through multilayer unsaturated soil was developed.By the case study of four covering systems under precipitation and evapotranspiration intensity of Dalian city at 1976, it was shown that the compacted clay layer of the traditional landfill cover could not get effective moisture charge.ET cover act as a reservoir during precipitation events and subsequently returned it to atmosphere as evapotranspiration.The biointrusion barriers layer located in the second ET cover design would restrict animal movement and play a key role in drainage.Consequently, these results would be used to assist in decisions making of the landfill cover system in semi arid areas.