Hallaton Installs Liner System at Maryland Landfill

Aerial view of Millersville solid waste landfill

Throughout our past 25 years of business, we have enjoyed working at this Maryland landfill on several occasions.

This publicly-owned municipal solid waste landfill, which accepts residential and commercial curbside trash, is the lone landfill in the area. The landfill is situated on 375 acres, of which 195 acres are utilized for solid waste placement. Subcells and phases are constructed over the course of time while the landfill is operational.

Landfill Phases

Several years ago, Hallaton worked on the Phase 9 section at this landfill. The landfill subsequently constructed the Phase 10 section and is currently placing waste in that subcell.

This year, in conjunction with the contractor Allan Myers, Hallaton began installing the geosynthetic liner system within Phase 11, in May 2018. Phase 11 is an area covering 15 acres. During our initial mobilization, Hallaton’s geosynthetics installation crew installed approximately 13 acres, and we plan to complete the remaining 2 acres in August 2018.

“The contractor can’t do anything until we’re done, so we work as quickly as possible,” said Kennedy Garber, Hallaton’s Vice President of Construction. “Weather permitting, we can usually cover at least an acre per day with GCL and liner combined.”

Containment System of Linings

“The liner system that we select is extremely important,” said Bob Oler, the Director of Corporate Development at Hallaton. “It protects the ground water, which the area citizens use to drink. So we’re protecting the ground water for our children and our children’s children to drink.”

To prevent the landfill’s leachate from seeping through the underlying soils and into the region’s aquifer system, we installed the highest quality materials from AGRU America—GCL (clay liner) and 60 mil HDPE liner. “That liner is the main containment layer, which is responsible for containing all the leachate,” explained Kennedy.

A geotextile cushion fabric was installed on top of the 60 Mil HDPE geomembrane to protect it from punctures, followed by the installation of a 12” thick leachate collection aggregate. In conjunction with the leachate collection aggregate layer, the geosynthetics layers we installed create a leachate collection zone which allows the leachate to be collected and treated at a nearby waste water treatment facility.

Once Hallaton completes the installation of the multi-layer liner system within Phase 11, the general contractor will continue to complete the subcell construction and prepare it for use by Maryland residents for waste disposal. After Phase 11 has reached its waste disposal capacity, it will eventually receive a final cover system that is constructed of a geosynthetic liner system, two feet of cover soil and vegetation.

By installing environmental linings that are connected from the bottom and the top, we create a continuously seamed system to contain the solid waste and the leachate that is generated. These safeguards in turn help protect the nearby Chesapeake Bay.

Near and Dear

“Phase 11 is just a 15-acre piece of over 100 acres they have permitted for waste,” said Kennedy. “This job is near and dear to our heart, because the quality of our work comes right back to the people in our community, protecting our waters here in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. And we’re really proud to be a part of the environment solution for this region.”

360 Video

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be laying a foundation for a landfill? We’ve prepared this special 360 video experience to show you our installation work. It’s the closest thing to actually being there!

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