Cecil County, Maryland ceased operation of Cell 4 of their Central Landfill in the 1990s due to an engineering study showing that the landfill liner and leachate collection system would be compromised if waste continued to be placed there. BAI was enlisted in 2008 to develop, permit, and oversee construction of a two-year, two-stage approach. The project was initiated by relocating waste from the first half of Cell 4 to active disposal area onsite, then removing the liner system and reinstalling a new composite soil/geosynthetic liner and leachate collection system. Following redevelopment of the first half of the cell, the second half commenced by relocated waste from the second half into the first. Work was completed in January 2012, ahead of schedule and under budget, and will provide an additional 10-12 years of disposal life to the Landfill.
Craig Marker, the Project Manager for Cecil County who presented the project in August 2012 at SWANA’s WasteCon in Washington, D.C., stated: “The innovative two-stage approach designed by our consultant at BAI not only helped to minimize odors during waste extraction and allowed the landfill to remain open during the project, but also allowed the redevelopment to occur within the limited available disposal space of the landfill available without having to take existing waste offsite for disposal.”
BAI is proud to of its innovative work on the project which is receiving accolades both locally and regionally, receiving the following awards:
- 2012 Project of the Year Award in the Large Project Category from the County Engineers Associates of Maryland (CEAM), and
- 2012 Project of the Year Award in the Mid-Size Environmental Projects Category from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA).
The Mid-Atlantic Chapter’s Public Works Project of the Year Awards are intended to recognize and promote excellence in the management and administration of public works projects by recognizing the alliance between the managing agency, the consultant/architect/engineer, and the construction contractor who, working together, complete public works projects. Awards are given in four size divisions based on total project cost and five categories (Structures; Transportation; Environment; Historical Restoration/Preservation; Disaster or Emergency Construction/Repair). The Cell 4 Redevelopment Project was selected as the winner of the “Environmental” category for projects costing $5 – $25 million.