Whitecourt Regional Landfill Phase 2 Expansion

New airspace beside an active landfill

The Whitecourt Regional Landfill serves the Town of Whitecourt and surrounding communities in west-central Alberta. With the Phase 1 cell filling, the Authority needed a new lined area built right next to the active face, without interrupting daily operations. The design also had to connect to liner systems built decades earlier and meet Alberta Environment and Protected Areas’ requirements for a detailed construction plan and quality-assurance program.

Field data first, then a buildable design

• Site investigation. Surveyed existing topography and logged 17 test pits: nine in native ground and eight over the existing Cell 5B, where at least 1,000 mm of compacted clay was already in place.
• Using local clay. Native clay samples were sent to an accredited Edmonton lab for hydraulic conductivity testing. Results of 3.6–8.3 × 10⁻¹⁰ m/s confirmed the site’s own soil could form the low-permeability barrier, so no liner material had to be imported.
• Basal liner design. A 1,000 mm compacted clay barrier placed in 300 mm lifts to 98% Modified Proctor, with a non-woven geotextile separator and a 300 mm drainage blanket on top.
• Leachate collection and conveyance. Perforated 250 mm HDPE collection pipes in clear-crush drain rock, cleanouts, and two sumps with 60-mil HDPE secondary containment. A gravity line and a pumped force main tie both sumps into the existing Phase 1 leachate header.
• Integrating with the past. We reviewed historic construction reports and regulator correspondence to show how the new liner joins the existing Phase 1, Cell 5A and Cell 5B systems. At the regulator’s request, we added the Cell 5B clay liner to the drawing set.
• Approval-ready package. Signed and sealed drawings, full technical specifications, and a Construction Quality Control and Assurance Plan, submitted to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas.

A complete, build-ready package

The Authority received a complete package covering design, specifications and QA/QC, putting the Phase 2 works on track for construction in the 2023 season. Building the liner from tested on-site clay kept material costs down, and the new leachate infrastructure connects to the existing system for decades of continued capacity.