Effects of geosynthetic fibres on the hydraulic conductivity of clay liners

Abstract

Clay liners are used as "impermeable boundaries" to prevent the migration of leachate, due to their very low hydraulic conductivities. Clay (like all soils) however, is weak in tension; due to this fact clay liners are prone to tensile cracking when non-uniform loads act on them. These cracks dramatically increase the hydraulic conductivity, recent work has focused on reinforcing fibers being added to the clay to increase it's tensile strength. I preformed falling head tests on clays with 0, 0.25, 0.5 % reinforcing fibres at the optimum moisture content to determine if increased fibre content created a preferred path for fluid flow increasing the hydraulic conductivity.