Discussions and Closures

The flow rate in the soil present in the geomembrane hole is

Discussion of “Leakage through Holes in
expressed as follows using Darcy’s equation:
Geomembranes below Saturated Tailings”
by R. Kerry Rowe, Prabeen Joshi, kV h 2 2
Q¼ πr ð2Þ
R.W.I. Brachman, and H. McLeod tGM
DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001606 where kV = vertical hydraulic conductivity of the soil present in the
geomembrane hole; r = radius of the hole in the geomembrane; and
Kwasi Badu-Tweneboah, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE 1; and tGM = thickness of the geomembrane.
J. P. Giroud, Ph.D., M.ASCE 2 The flow rate in the soil overlying the geomembrane is ex-
1
Principal, Geosyntec Consultants, Inc., 1200 Riverplace Blvd., Suite 710, pressed as follows using Forchheimer’s equation (Forchheimer
1930):
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Jacksonville, FL 32207 (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid

.org/0000-0002-7225-3627. E-mail: kbadu-tweneboah@geosyntec.com
2
Consulting Engineer, JP Giroud, Inc., 34 Ave. Montaigne, 75008 Paris, Q ¼ 4kT h1 r ð3Þ
France. E-mail: jpg@jpgiroud.com
where kT = hydraulic conductivity of the soil overlying the
geomembrane.
The authors should be commended for presenting experimental Eliminating h1 and h2 between Eqs. (1)–(3) gives:
data and numerical modeling of leakage through holes in geomem-
brane liners overlain with saturated tailings. The discussers believe 4kT hr
that it might be useful to compare the experimental data with two Q¼ ð4Þ
1 þ π4 ðkkVT ÞðtGM
r Þ
types of theoretical leakage rate values: (1) values obtained by the
authors using numerical modeling; and (2) values obtained by the
In the special case where kV is assumed to be equal to kT , Eq. (4)
discussers using an analytical equation.
(which is the W-H equation) becomes
The equation used by the discussers was first published by
Wissa and Fuleihan (1992) and is referred to in this dicsussion 4kT hr
as the W-F equation. This equation quantifies the rate of leakage Q¼ ð5Þ
1 þ π4 ðtGM
r Þ
for the case defined as follows: (1) the soil overlying the geomem-
brane is in perfect contact with the geomembrane; (2) the hole in
The hydraulic conductivity of the soil underlying the geomem-
the geomembrane is filled with soil particles; and (3) the soil under-
brane is not a parameter of Eqs. (4) and (5) because the underlying
lying the geomembrane is significantly more permeable than the
soil is assumed to be significantly more permeable than the soil
soil overlying the geomembrane. These conditions are illustrated
overlying the geomembrane.
in Fig. 1. The writers consider that taking into account the presence
Curves obtained using the W-F equation for a 10-mm diameter
of soil particles in the geomembrane hole is consistent with the mi-
hole with kV ¼ kT [i.e., Eq. (5)] are plotted in Fig. 2. These curves
gration of fines from the tailings toward the geomembrane hole in
are related to three values of the hydraulic conductivity of the tail-
the experimental tests mentioned by the authors.
ings, kT ∶ 2.8 × 10−8 m=s, 1.1 × 10−7 m=s, and 1.6 × 10−6 m=s.
The derivation of the W-F equation was not provided in the
The kV ¼ kT assumption can be justified as follows. On one hand
paper by Wissa and Fuleihan (1992). Below is the derivation pro-
kV may tend to be higher than kT because the soil in the geomem-
posed by the discussers.
brane hole may not be as dense as the tailings; on the other hand, kV
The total head loss, h, through the system illustrated in Fig. 1 is
may tend to be lower than kT because the soil in the geomembrane
h ¼ h1 þ h2 ð1Þ hole consists of some of the finest particles from the tailings.

where h1 = head loss in the soil overlying the geomembrane; and

h2 = head loss in the soil present in the geomembrane hole.
The leakage rate, Q, is equal to the flow rate in the soil present in
the geomembrane hole, which is equal to the flow rate in the soil
overlying the geomembrane.

Fig. 2. Comparison of experimental and calculated leakage rates

through a 10-mm diameter hole in a 1-mm thick geomembrane overlain
Fig. 1. Flow through hole in geomembrane with different tailings under different heads above the liner

© ASCE 07018001-1 J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng.

J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2018, 144(4): 07018001

 Also plotted in Fig. 2 are the experimental data points and the
curves from Fig. 9 of the original paper, for the three previous
values of kT and for a hydraulic conductivity of the soil underlying
the geomembrane of 6.9 × 10−7 m=s. The curves of Fig. 9 were
obtained by the authors using numerical modeling.
Fig. 2 shows that the curves obtained using the W-F equation
are in general agreement with the results of the numerical mod-
eling, especially for kT ¼ 1.1 × 10−7 m=s. Fig. 2 also shows that
the experimental values are lower than the theoretical values,
which was already noted by the authors in the paper. In the case
where kT ¼ 1.6 × 10−6 m=s, the values calculated using the W-F
equation far exceed the values obtained using the numerical
modeling and the experimental values because, in this case,
the hydraulic conductivity of the underlying soil (kUL ¼ 6.9 ×
10−7 m=s) is lower than the hydraulic conductivity of the over-
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lying soil. In this case, the beneficial effect of the underlying soil
is taken into account by the numerical modeling, but not by the
W-F equation.
© ASCE 07018001-2
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2018, 144(4): 07018001
In conclusion: (1) both theoretical approaches (numerical mod-
eling and W-F equation) overestimate the experimental values;
(2) when the soil underlying the geomembrane is significantly more
permeable than the soil overlying the geomembrane, the W-F equa-
tion provides a reasonable overestimate of the leakage rate, which
can be used for conservative leakage rate prediction; and (3) when
the soil underlying the geomembrane is less permeable than the soil
overlying the geomembrane, one of the assumptions made to estab-
lish the W-F equation is not met and this equation can only be used to
provide a very conservative upper boundary of the leakage rate.
References
Forchheimer, P. (1930). Hydraulik, 3rd Ed., B.G. Teubner (Leipzig),
Berlin, 596.
Wissa, A. E. Z., and Fuleihan, N. F. (1992). “Design and reclamation of
phosphogypsum disposal sites.” AIChE Spring National Meeting,
Advances in Phosphate Fertilizer Technology, New Orleans, LA, 20.
J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng.