Preliminary Investigation of the GCL’s Boiling toward An Upward Water Flow

Abstract

The performance of GCL as liquid barrier depends on its hydraulic performance. During its application, the GCL may encounter high water level and opposite water flow from ground water that can cause the failure of the GCL in maintaining its water tight. In this experiment, the high water pressure coming from above pushed the GCL to be thinner in some part and trigger the bentonite powder to escape from its carrier. However, the GCL did not lose its capacity to retain the water flow. Meanwhile, the opposite direction of water pressure applied afterward had a significant effect to the GCL performance after three days. The hydraulic performance of the GCL dropped significantly alongside with some physical changes on the GCL’s cover. The boiling of bentonite was built up during the failure of the GCL.