ZhuQi Town Waste Landfill Expansion, Chiayi County, Taiwan

Chiayi County is located in the southwestern Taiwan. Known for its museums and the scenic areas surrounding it, the area witnesses a very active touristic activity. Next to the touristic activity, the county is also witnessing an industrial development as up to three industrial parks were recently planted in the area. Consequently, different and numerous human activities within the county take place regenerating an amount of waste that cannot go unnoticed.

The landfill was designed and planned to take in the incinerator ashes next to a small proportion of industrial waste from Chiayi. The expansion features an augmentation in the capacity of one of the existing landfills by increasing the embankment’s height by 5m along a total landfill perimeter of about 655 meters.

ACEGrid® GG was used in the expansion construction of the reinforced embankment, and the wrap-around facing system was adopted. A layer of geomembrane was overlaid on the interior surface from the bottom of the landfill up to the inner surface of the embankment, to prevent the leachate and moisture penetration from one side to another. The penetration of any moisture would contaminate the environment and affect the structural safety of the embankment. A fence was built on the top of the embankment for security purpose. The full construction was done within 120 days.

After completion, the wrap-around facing system offered proper space for vegetation growth, hence, the external surface is well covered by green vegetation, not only providing a landscaping attribute to the embankment but also helping in erosion control. As for the overall construction, the expansion contributes in both increasing the capacity of the old landfill and enhancing the waste management in Chiayi County.