Site Safety Management

The landfill is double-lined, with dipole testing after cover material placement required on all slopes less than 10%. In addition, the tie-in areas and penetrations were tested using a combination of arc testing and a modified dipole method testing to enable detection in non-standard configurations. Over the years, several dozen holes have been detected including dozer damage, bad welds, a bad pipe penetration seal, and one knife slice smaller than a grain of sand (shown in photo below right).  TRI has helped to keep this site in compliance with an allowable leakage rate of 189 lphd.

TRI has been performing the ELL testing at this site since 2017, including coal ash landfill cells, drainage swales and an associated detention pond. Damage detected by the dipole method includes large dozer damage as well as leaks as small as pinholes. TRI’s proprietary three meter-spaced double dipole with GPS-based data acquisition allowed each of these large cells (~18 hectares) to be rapidly surveyed by one technician within one working week.

TRI has been performing the ELL testing for this client for their various facility sites since 2019 in order to keep their double-lined wastewater brine ponds in service where no leakage is tolerated. Various methods were used on various liners and liner configurations including arc and spark testing and the water puddle method. TRI specializes in determining the most effective method for various liner materials and configurations, especially during the project construction phase, so that a facility can be put into service without issues.

TRI has been performing the ELL testing at this site since 2013 as part of various pond and pad construction projects totaling over 57 ha. Soil dipole, water dipole, arc testing, and water puddle testing were used for the various configurations as dictated by both project specifications and weather events. Larger ponds were tested as they were being built, demanding a quick response to schedule changes and bringing new challenges due to extreme weather events and contractor coordination.