Louisa County Landfill Closure – Louisa County, VA

When it came time for Louisa County to construct a final closure cap on their 14-acre, unlined sanitary landfill, they turned to LaBella’s Waste & Recycling team for options and analysis. The County wanted to reduce the operating costs associated with maintaining natural grass cover, repairing slope erosion, and removing silt in stormwater ditches and sediment basins. Our evaluation considered many factors, including gas and leachate control, groundwater and drainage, erosion and resulting maintenance, and initial and long-term costs.

The County ultimately chose ClosureTurf ®, an artificial turf cap system. Though more expensive than a natural grass cover at the outset, ClosureTurf ® was calculated to provide a 3-year payback in reduced maintenance (mowing and erosion repair). Because the artificial turf requires less soil, there was room for an additional 45,000 cubic yards of waste in the permitted airspace, prior to closure.

With no artificial turf closure previously permitted in Virginia, the LaBella team led not only the design, but also the permitting process, ultimately delivering both on time and on budget. The resulting project is warrantied for 20 years.

From bottom to top, the innovative artificial turf cap system – the first of its kind in Virginia – consisted of:

• Intermediate cover soil foundation
• 50-mil linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) structured geomembrane liner (which will offer savings on future piggy back expansion lining)
• Engineered artificial turf layer
• 0.5-inch sand ballast layer
• Cement-lined stormwater conveyance channels