Impact exerted on stability of dump bottoms by waterproofing using geosynthetic materials (geomembranes)

In conformity with the construction regulations in the field of design of production waste facilities (SP 127.13330.2023), in case of risk of ground and surface water pollution, dumps of overburden rocks and other solid waste should be isolated from the subsoil by impervious screens. The use of polymeric sealing materials at the bottoms of dumps requires special research to be carried out to model interaction of these materials with rock masses. This article presents the studies into contact interaction between two types of soils and HDPE geomembranes with different surfaces (smooth, textured, geotextile). The testing followed standard ISO 12957-1:2018 Geosynthetics–Determination of Friction Characteristics–Part 1: Direct Shear Test, at a large area of shearing (500 cm2). The shear resistance of the ground–geomembrane contact depends on the roughness of the geosynthetic material surface, but is at all accounts smaller than soil has. The geomechanical calculations show that waterproofing of dump bottoms using geosynthetic materials decreases stability of dump slopes since a weak contact is induced when rocks are dumped on a firm foundation and an excessive pore pressure forms in water-bearing rocks when dumped on a weak foundation.

Kutepova N. A., Kutepov Yu. I., Vasilieva A. D., Kutepov Yu. Yu. Impact exerted on stability of dump bottoms by waterproofing using geosynthetic materials (geomembranes). MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2025;(1):47-65. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2025_ 1_0_47.

N.A. Kutepova¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Chief Researcher, e-mail: Kutepova_NA@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0006-3803-7222,
Yu.I. Kutepov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, Head of Laboratory, e-mail: Kutepov_YuI@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0009-0004-3333-5699,
A.D. Vasilieva¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Researcher, e-mail: Vasileva_AD@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2769-3738,
Yu.Yu. Kutepov¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Leading Researcher, e-mail: Kutepov_YuYu@pers.spmi.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3698-3072,
¹ Empress Catherine II Saint-Petersburg Mining University, 199106, Saint-Petersburg, Russia.

A.D. Vasilieva, e-mail: Vasileva_AD@pers.spmi.ru.

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