9617468 Zimmie Long term monitoring of two existing landfills will continue under this Small Grant for Exploratory Research, representing a unique opportunity to obtain long term information about landfill performance. Laboratory and field work will include study of frost penetration, freeze- thaw effects, hydraulic conductivity changes, and settlement in the cover materials, especially the impermeable barrier layers. Much attention has been given to date on the performance and constructability of barrier systems beneath landfills, but to date few covers have been installed so that their performance has not been evaluated. This is critically important because, while the landfill lining systems are notoriously redundant in design, landfill covers are not redundant as presently envisaged. In particular, this research addresses the possibility that improved performance and reduced costs for covers can be achieved by the use of unconventional materials, e.g. waste paper sludges. ***
