Modelling Cover Systems for Waste & Unsaturated Soils Mechanics in Engineering Practice

One of the most active unsaturated soil mechanics applications over the past two decades has been the design of cover systems associated with mine wastes; particularly “store and release” (or evaporative) covers. Cover systems appear to be a success story for unsaturated soil mechanics; however, it is time to stop and ask the question, “Are we doing it right?”

The design of cover systems involves many complexities. Del’s presentation will include some of the design challenges, together with feedback from field evaluation of the performance of many cover systems.

The presentation will be of interest to owners and operators of mines and landfills, as well as regulators, consultants and contractors.