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Infiltration through layered-soil trench covers: Response to an extended period of rainfall

T.H. Larson·D.A. Keefer·K.A. Albrecht·K. Cartwright
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Abstract

Four experimental waste disposal trench covers were constructed to test the effectiveness of layered-soil cover designs in reducing infiltration. Three covers each consisted of a layer of gravel between an overlying wick layer of compacted fine-grained material (either silt or loam) and a compacted loam base; the fourth consisted of compactd silt over a loam base. Capillary pressures were monitored at various depths within each cover during October through December, 1985, a period of high rainfall following a dry summer. Moisture movement in response to the rainfall was rapid within the upper layers of all four test covers, but was retained within the upper layers of the three wick-system trenches, despite variations in the design thickness and composition of the wick layers. In the wick systems, moisture did not enter the gravel until a threshold level of pressure approaching saturation was established in the wick layer. Once this level was reached, moisture moved into and through the gravel. This experiment demonstrates the functionality of field-scale wick systems.

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T.H. Larson, D.A. Keefer, K.A. Albrecht, K. Cartwright. 1988. Infiltration through layered-soil trench covers: Response to an extended period of rainfall. https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-7722(88)90034-4

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