Independence Excavating (IX) was awarded the cell 5 landfill construction by FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) at their Hollow Rock Facility, (HRF) in Toronto, Ohio. This site is in the vicinity of the large Sammis Power Generating Station that FE operates, and is the designated disposal facility for the gypsum by-product waste generated by the power plant. 

This turnkey landfill construction package also follows cells 1, 2 and cell 4 that IX has previously built at the HRF. In January 2016, IX mobilized and began earth moving operations on the former strip mining site. Our contract included the excavation of 350,000 cubic yards of mine-spoil to an onsite waste area, nearly 2 miles away from the cell. The haul road utilized for this work was also to be shared by leachate tankers and other vehicles, which required the careful coordination of heavy truck traffic. 

Once mass excavation was complete in March, IX began installation of an 18” thick re-compacted soil liner (RSL) on the sub-grade floor. Planning and coordination was required to ensure that each clay lift was properly moisture conditioned during loading and placement to meet contract requirements of 1% over optimum moisture content to create a sealed liner and also meet the compaction criteria.

The project also required the installation of a 10-acre liner system over the clay comprising of a geosynthetic clay liner, 60 mil membrane, and geo-composite matting. IX was also responsible to install leachate piping/force-mains, sump pumps and all necessary electrical / controls to establish a fully functional landfill cell. IX successfully completed the leachate extraction pumping and controls in August 2016 to allow the eventual use of the cell by FE operations.