Embankment Over Fly Ash Pond at Portsmouth Power Station

Newman, F. Barry; McGee, Jack; Burns, Dana; ,

Embankment Over Fly Ash Pond at Portsmouth Power Station

by F. Barry Newman, GAI Consultants Inc, Monroeville, PA, USA,
Jack McGee, GAI Consultants Inc, Monroeville, PA, USA,
Dana Burns, GAI Consultants Inc, Monroeville, PA, USA,

Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Geotechnical Practice for Waste Disposal '87

Abstract:

The fly ash and bottom ash sediments from the Portsmouth Power Station in Portsmouth, Virginia were being sluiced into a 39 acre diked ash pond near the plant. The plant was about to convert to dry ash disposal, and thus, the plan was to construct a 30-foot high fly ash embankment over the previously ponded ash. To meet regulatory guidelines, the conversion from wet to dry disposal of fly ash required that the existing 'wet' pond area be 'closed' with an impermeable cover and that the new 'dry' area have an impervious liner (a cover-liner system). This posed potential drainage constraints necessitating an underdrain system below the cover-liner system. This paper describes the subsurface exploration, stability evaluations, underdrains, design, instrumentation results, and problems encountered during construction of this converted disposal area which extended the life of the facility a minimum of five years.

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