Dr. Ali Khatami, PE, is SCS Engineers’ National Expert for Landfill Design. Over his 40-year career, he has developed countless innovative engineering solutions to improve landfill design and function. Dr. Khatami generously shares his wealth of knowledge and expertise with clients and colleagues. He prepared a series of in-depth videos to explore various landfill design components. In this first blog, we introduce Dr. Khatami’s videos that cover modern landfill design and best design and construction practices. These modern approaches provide greater efficiencies and financial savings, with elegant and often simple solutions to issues that challenge landfills.
This webinar covers the advantages of modern landfill engineering and system design. Today’s modern landfills offset inflation and labor costs through transformative reduction, recycling, and reuse programs while turning methane into renewable energy. Advanced remote monitoring and control technology and data capture provide many efficiencies and insight to landfill operators and owners running increasingly larger collections of plants and facilities. This trend necessitates more landfill design sophistication and master planning to recoup the growing capital investment. In this webinar, Dr. Khatami discusses modern landfill design, focusing on optimizing site layout and maximizing air space – a landfill’s golden egg. [Run time 1:10:03]
Temporary Caps over Landfill Slopes
Dr. Khatami explores the benefits of placing temporary caps over landfill slopes and provides best practices. Advantages include delaying construction of the final cover, allowing additional settlement before final cover (thus increasing capacity), temporarily eliminating percolation of rainwater into waste (thus reducing leachate), improving gas collection, improving odor problems, and improving aesthetics. [Run time 19:08]
Surface Water Swales and Downchutes in Landfill Final Covers
Dr. Khatami explores a surface water management system for landfill final covers that SCS Engineers has used for many facilities. The system is very effective and efficient and is simple to construct. It easily channels water from the slopes to the perimeter ditches without causing erosion or slope problems. Dr. Khatami walks through the components of the system and takes us through the construction step-by-step. [Run time 40:50]
Dr. Ali Khatami is SCS Engineers’ National Expert for Landfill Design, as well as Construction Quality Assurance and Elevated Temperature Landfills. He has over 40 years of research and professional experience in mechanical, structural, and civil engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Florida and a Florida Licensed Environmental Assessor (LEP). As a Vice President and SCS’s National Expert in Landfill Design and Construction Quality Assurance, Dr. Khatami works with our various offices to solve complicated technical matters. He shares his knowledge by advising our technical professionals, presenting at conferences and national webinars, publishing technical papers and blogs, preparing training material for professional staff, and mentoring SCS Young Professionals. Connect with Dr. Khatami on LinkedIn.
