View Important Policies and System Requirements for this course.
This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Geo-Institute(G-I) and ASCE Continuing Education
Instructor: Craig H. Benson, Ph.D, P.E., DGE, M.ASCE
Course Length: 1.5 Hours
Purpose and Background
Landfill covers that rely on water balance principles, known as water balance covers, alternative covers, evapotranspirative (ET) covers, or store-and-release covers, are commonly used for final closure of solid waste landfills and other waste containment facilities, particularly in drier climates. Water balance covers enhance sustainability by relying on natural processes to control water movement and local materials and labor for construction. Cost savings as high as 50 percent can also be realized relative to conventional covers employing hydraulic barriers. Water balance modeling with unsaturated flow programs is generally required during design and permitting of water balance covers. This ninety-minute webinar provides the basic knowledge engineers need to conduct unsaturated flow modeling for water balance covers.
The basic principles of unsaturated flow modeling for water balance covers are reviewed and the webinar illustrates how these principles are implemented in software. A software package is provided to all participants.
- Characterize unsaturated hydraulic properties of soils
- Define plant properties for unsaturated flow modeling
- Understand unsaturated flow principles and Richards’ equation
- Select an appropriate model
- Select appropriate boundary conditions
- Selecting meteorological data series
- Select and define equivalence criteria for design
Engineers designing water balance covers need to know how to model unsaturated flow for design and for regulatory requirements. This webinar provides you with the principles needed to get started with unsaturated flow modeling.
Learning Outcomes and Webinar Benefits
You will learn the basic principles of unsaturated flow modeling for water balance covers and develop the skills needed to get started with flow modeling.
Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Know how the unsaturated hydraulic properties of soils are defined
- Identify how and where to obtain the climate data needed for modeling
- Gain knowledge of how to select an unsaturated flow model for cover design
- Recognize “reality checks” on modeling results
- Find out what regulators want to know when reviewing model reports
- Determine the questions to ask when being asked to review a modeling report
Assessment of Learning Outcomes
Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).
Intended Audience
Geotechnical engineers, civil engineers, environmental engineers, hydrologists, geologists, solid waste engineers, regulators, consultants, and landfill operators will benefit from this webinar.
Webinar Outline
- Developing a conceptual model
- Selecting a computer (numerical) model
- Selecting climate input data and dealing with incomplete data sets
- Selecting and obtaining vegetation data
- Selecting and measuring soil hydraulic properties
- Example application
- Reality checks on model output
How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion
To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.
How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?
1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]