Republic Waste had a short timeline and a tall order to fill – constructing a new seven-acre landfill cell with 193,550 cubic yards of earth excavation. Team Elmer’s answered the challenge, travelling all the way to Indiana, ensuring perfect conditions were met in creating an addition to the Hoosier State’s County Line Landfill.

The clay liner is the biggest hurdle to overcome. The process consists of: placing the clay in 6-inch lifts with the scrapers; grading with the GPS guided D-6 dozer; disking with the Rome disc and Challenger; adding lots of water with the Husky water wagon hooked to another Challenger; compacting with a Cat 815 sheeps foot soil compactor; and then rolling with a smooth drum roller. If the density and moisture aren’t within +/- 2% of perfect, then you start all over. The material, when perfect, is the consistency of a fudge batter, but very difficult to navigate through. Team Elmer’s crew persevered with some equipment modifications.

In addition to the landfill project, Team Elmer’s also installed 18,450 feet of horizontal HDPE gas piping ranging from 2-inch diameter to 8-inch diameter. The piping connects to 30 new vertical methane wells that were installed by another contractor.

After the owner’s pump failed during a rain event, Team Elmer’s crews worked shifts around the clock throughout the week and weekend to ensure the owner’s pump and Team Elmer’s back up pumps kept the cell structure clear of water.

By the Numbers

• 193,550 cubic yards of earth excavation
• 138,000 cubic yards of structural fill
• 35,400 cubic yards of clay liner (3’ thick layer of conditioned clay under the liner)
• 11,500 cubic yards of drainage layer (pea stone placed on top of the liner)
• 8,650 cubic yards of topsoil placement

Date Started:July 2011
Date Ended: September 2011
Partners: Indiana landfill – CQA Firm – Cornerstone Environmental Group, LLC