Author: Fanny Herrera, Luis Chahua, Elio Murrugarra, David Reaño
Conference: Tailings and Mine Waste 2018
Date: September 30-October 2, 2018

ABSTRACT
The Pampa Verde waste dump expansion is highly driven by the following constraints: (1) relatively limited options for laterally extending the existing buttress; (2) the need to satisfy both static and seismic stability; (3) the need to properly select high-strength reinforcement products; (4) the importance of conducting material-specific tests to characterize the soil-geosynthetic interaction; and (5) the complex geometry of the overall system, particularly its global stability. The existing facility is stabilized by a geosynthetic-reinforced toe buttress that includes a compacted earth fill, with a slope of 2.1H:1V, overlying an mechanically stabilized earth wall (MSE or reinforced soil). The MSE structure involves upper and lower MSE wall sections with a horizontal step in between. The upper section is a geogrid-reinforced wall, while the lower section is a Terramesh system involving gabions reinforced with geogrids. The overall design approach involves the design of a geosynthetic-reinforced soil slope (RSS) that would use geogrids of high tensile capacity. The design guidelines for the proposed RSS are those outlined by the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA-NHI-10-024). A key aspect of the proposed design is the proper evaluation of the soil vs. geosynthetic interface; a total of five geogrid products were considered for possible use in the construction of the geosynthetic-reinforced slope at the Pampa Verde project.

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