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Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99

CONFINEMENT DE TERRES POLLUEES DANS UNE GEOMEMBRANE BITUMINEUSE : EXEMPLE

DE LA BRETELLE DE SORTIE DE RONCQ SUR L'A 22

BITUMINOUS GEOMEMBRANE CONTAINMENT FOR CONTAMINATED SOILS AT RONCQ SLIP ROAD

ON A22 MOTORWAY
A. DUWELZ
DDE NORD

D. LAUREAU, F. MERCIER
COLAS NORD-PICARDIE

B. BREUL
DRD, COLAS S.A.

 Rsum
L'autoroute A22 relie Lille la frontire belge en direction de Gand. Les remblais de cette autoroute ont
t construits en partie avec des dchets industriels dont certains contenaient des traces de chromate.
Des travaux d'tanchit du terre-plein central avec une gomembrane bitumineuse ont permis
d'arrter la dissolution des chromates. En 1998 des travaux de modification de la bretelle de sortie
de Roncq ont pos nouveau le problme des remblais pollus qui ont t stocks sur place dans une
enveloppe en gomembrane bitumineuse.
Mots cls : confinement, terres pollues, gomembrane, bitumineuse, enveloppe
 Abstract
The A22 motorway leaves France at the Belgian border, in the direction of Gent. The road embankment
was built partially with industrial waste of which some contained traces of chromate. Installing an
impervious bituminous geomembrane on the central reservation halted dissolution of the chromate.
Changes to the Roncq interchange in 1998 re-opened the pollution problem and the contaminated fill
was stockpiled on site within a bituminous geomembrane envelope.
Keywords: containment, contaminated soil, Pollution, geomembrane, bituminous, envelope

Photo 1 Vue gnrale du chantier / Overview of the construction site

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Centre de stockage de dchets et confinement de sites pollus
Waste landfilling and polluted sites confining

Summary

Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99
1 BACKGROUND: A22 MOTORWAY CONSTRUCTION DIFFICULTIES
1.1. Description of Motorway
The A22 motorway between Marcq en Baroeuil and Halluin on the Belgian border was opened in 1997 to
interconnect the French and Belgian motorway systems. It is 18 km long, through flat country where the
density of construction made it necessary to build several fly-overs across local roads and so avoid
underpasses. The associated embankments required large quantities of fill material which could not be
excavated locally in the densely built-up area. It was decided to use locally available high quality industrial
waste. Quantities were:
250,000t fly ash from Comines, 10 km away
660,000t fly ash from Les Ansemeuilles, 30 km away
500,000t shales from mine workings at Carvin, 40 km away
450,000t ore refining ash from Wattrelos, 10 km away
160,000t limestone from Gaurain, 45 km away
and 136,000t processed materials for the carriageways such as granulated slag, lime, porphyry and bitumen.
When work commenced on the motorway in 1969, the mine shale and fly ash had already proved successful
for embankment construction. Data on grain size, physical properties and Proctor compaction revealed that
the ore refining ash from a waste tip at Wattrelos had excellent bearing capacity and could substitute for
missing materials.
1.2. Ore Refining Ash
Chromite containing 55% Cr2O3 is crushed and mixed with dolomite and sodium carbonate, roasted in a
rotary kiln and finally washed and filtered to recover sodium dichromate.
The filter cake is stockpiled as a by-product. Soil mechanics tests yielded satisfactory results in terms of grain
size and bearing capacity, making the ash suitable for re-use as road fill.
1.3. Long-term Performance of Fill
By 1998, 19 years after completion, residents along the A22 reported that the grass in some areas at the
embankment toe was dying back and yellow stains were appearing. Investigation by the Lille public works
laboratory and APAVE discovered the cause was due to trace chromate from the refinery ash leaching into
the ground, concentrating the contamination at the bottom of the embankment slopes. Much contaminated
leachate was collected by the toe ditches.
Exploratory boreholes found the water table at a depth of 100 metres under a cap of three watertight beds of
clay and clayey chalk. The water was uncontaminated. It was considered sufficient simply to line the ground
surface with an impervious material to prevent the contamination spreading.
1.4. Repair Alternatives
A panel of experts was formed, and the local public works authority invited nearby communities, the Press
and local environmental groups to make submittals to a public enquiry. The panel recommended an 800mlong trial section of the whole road formation and side slopes should be rendered watertight, with ample lined
toe ditches to convey run-off to the storm sewer system, since the water would not have been in contact with
the contaminated fill.
This article describes the measures taken to control this environmental pollution problem.
1) In 1990, an "umbrella" system was installed on the 800m trial section to shelter the fill from rain (photo 2).
2) In 1994, results were found to be satisfactory and a further 250m section was similarly protected.
3) In 1998, selective sorting enabled containment to be installed for the contaminated fill collected when a slip
road was demolished.
2 TRIAL SECTION WORKS
The trial section was rendered watertight with Coletanche bituminous geomembrane.
2.1. Safety Barriers

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Waste landfilling and polluted sites confining

Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99
The old metal safety barriers had stanchions penetrating the pavement, with attendant loss of watertightness.
They were removed and replaced with an in situ reinforced concrete barrier, to which the geomembrane was
welded.
2.2. Carriageway
The old pavement with its asphalt-wearing course was judged to be impervious and was kept, with the
following improvements:
* Cracks were patched with hot elastomeric bitumen to seal leaks.
* An elastomeric emulsion was spread.
* A 6cm course of dense continuously graded asphalt was laid.
Work on the 16,000-m2 area of carriageway was completed in two nights, to prevent traffic disruption.
2.3. Embankment Side Slopes
The embankment side slopes were not disturbed, in order to prevent the chromate dispersing into the
atmosphere. The work consisted of:
* Clearing grass from the slope and regrading in situ to form a reinforced concrete ditch to collect run-off.
2
* Installing a 750-g/m composite geotextile drain nailed to the slope with plastic nails.
* Installing an NTP2 geomembrane with the sanded face uppermost.
The reinforced concrete ditch lining was given a cold primer coat along 30cm of edge. The bituminous
geomembrane was welded to this prepared surface and an aluminium strip was laid over it and nailed into the
concrete. Seams between geomembrane strips were made by flame gun and pressed tight to form a leakfree seam.
The polyester film on the geomembrane provides a smooth surface on which the overlying gabions can slide
without damaging the geomembrane, if their toe restraint moves. The gabions, filled with 17cm of topsoil and
grassed, were laid over the geomembrane. The final item was the run-off drainage discharging into the storm
sewer system, because the water does not come into contact with the contaminated soil.
2.4. Lessons Learnt
Unlike much new construction, work on the A22 was performed under difficult conditions: traffic was not
interrupted, all danger of environmental pollution and contact with workmen had to be avoided, the time
allowed was very short, and a variety of different jobs were involved.
3 RELOCATION OF RONCQ SLIP ROAD
3.1. Reasons for Relocation
The Roncq interchange on the A22 near a large supermarket was opened in 1971 but was modified in August
1998 in order
a) Facilitate the exchanges of the highway with a hardly circulated secondary road by limiting the risks
of commitment of a crossroads to fires close to the strap, to
2
b) Free an area of 10,000 m to add a further 450 spaces to the supermarket car park.
3.2. Work Performed
Colas Nord Picardie was contracted to
* Demolish the ore refinery ash and other fill of the old slip road in the area for the car park extension
* Build a new impervious car park
* Import new uncontaminated material for the new slip road
* Build the new ramp.
3
The demolition recovered 35,000 m of material, i.e.
3
* 7,000 m contaminated refinery ash
3
* 18,000 m sound material for re-use on the new skip road.
Separating the sound and contaminated fill involved special precautions. The workforce had to be properly
trained, the material had to be damp to prevent dispersion into the atmosphere, and both the environment
and the workmen had to be suitably protected.
Haulage required 120 truck journeys daily, using 25t articulated vehicles travelling at slow speed to prevent
raising dust.
The imported material was stabilised with lime and rolled to form the ramp for the new slip road. The base
course to the ramp was 60cm of calcareous material, overlain by a 55cm unprocessed sand and gravel base

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Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99
course and 8cm asphalt. The radius and width of the new interchange, 135m long, have been considerably
improved.
3.3. Containment of Refinery Ash
All the refinery ash was removed in the demolition work. The chromium-contaminated material was removed
2
2
and enclosed within a 10,000 m envelope of 3.9mm bituminous geomembrane with a base area of 3500 m .
The envelope backs onto the motorway embankment, mainly near the old interchange (photos 3 et 4).
The bottom geomembrane was laid directly on the motorway embankment slope after removing topsoil. The
roll was dispensed manually from a beam carried on the boom of a tracked digger. The 20cm overlaps
between strips were seamed by flame gun and flattened with a steel roll. All seams were fully tested.
The contaminated material was then dumped onto the geomembrane with a mechanical shovel, smoothed
and graded. The top geomembrane was then laid over it, and sealed to the bottom geomembrane by flame
gun. The outer side of the bituminous geomembrane is protected with 20cm of topsoil held in place with an
Enkamat mat manufactured by AKZO.
4 CONCLUSION
Examples of environmental protection against contaminated embankment fill using bituminous
geomembranes refer to an "umbrella" system for a section of motorway and a containment envelope when
rebuilding a motorway interchange.
Both umbrella and on-site containment systems are attractive because they do not involve transporting
dangerous materials over long distances to secure landfills, which are few in number and must not be overexploited.
Bituminous geomembrane showed itself to be extremely versatile and easy to use. Connecting in the
previous edges (on 1990 , 1994) because of the very weak ageing of the bitumen were easy and sound. It
is also a very durable material compared with waste lifetimes.
It is also pertinent to mention the safety features of these jobs, where workmen and the work site area were
effectively protected from danger, as well as the wider environment.

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Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99

Photo 2 Impermabilisation du remblai / Watertighting of the fill

Photo 3 Confinement total in situ des matriaux contamins / Total in situ confining contaminated materials

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Centre de stockage de dchets et confinement de sites pollus
Waste landfilling and polluted sites confining

Rencontres Gosynthtiques 99

Photo 4 Confinement total in situ des matriaux contamins / Total in situ confining contaminated materials

Photo 5 Nouvelle bretelle / New ramp

Photo 6 Extension du parking Auchan avec constitution dune chausse rservoir tanche par
gomembrane bitumineuse / Extension of the parking Auchan with constitution of a road reservoir watertight
with bituminous geomembrane

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Centre de stockage de dchets et confinement de sites pollus
Waste landfilling and polluted sites confining