Solid Waste Design

Walker Road Solid Waste Transfer Station

GreenPoint Engineering performed the planning, data collection and analysis and design of a new solid waste transfer station at adjacent to a closed landfill site. The new Walker Road Solid Waste Transfer Station is designed to serve four distinct functions:

• a location for receiving solid waste collected parish-wide, further compaction of solid waste, and transfer to larger trucks for transport to the landfill,
• a centralized facility for residents and local businesses to deliver solid waste for disposal, including hazardous waste, electronics, used oil, recyclables, and white goods,
• administrative offices for Solid Waste Department staff,
• maintenance facilities for solid waste trucks and equipment.

Aerial Photogrammetry and 3D Survey

To aid in the site design, GreenPoint performed aerial photogrammetry by drone to capture site topography. In addition to confirming the site’s natural drainage, the aerial survey provided insight into the areas of the site most impacted by past use for composting vegetative storm debris as well as solid waste disposal and transfer.

Architectural Programming and Design

Our teaming partner Perez, APC prepared the architectural design of the combined administrative offices and maintenance garage. The administrative offices provided workspace for the Parish’s solid waste department staff, as well a guard shack and check-in area for heavy solid waste compactor and transport vehicles as well as residents entering the site to drop off solid waste. The vehicle maintenance area provided three bays allowing for repair of the parish’s solid waste trucks.

Specialized Geotechnical Design

The site’s natural soil conditions as well as its past use for composting, solid waste disposal and transfer provided poor conditions for the elevated structures for solid waste transfer and compaction that would support 80,000-lb axle-weight solid waste vehicles. To address this, GreenPoint’s teaming partner PSI-Intertek considered traditional soil preparation techniques such as pre-loading, soil stabilization and the use of light-weight geofoam blocks. PSI-Intertek determined that geofoam would provide the best value, by reducing the total weight of the structure thereby minimizing settlement, and minimizing lateral loads on the exterior walls.

Specialized Wastewater Treatment Design

Because the Walker Road site is isolated from any existing wastewater infrastructure, the project required design of an on-site wastewater treatment unit. In addition to treating sanitary flows, the unit was designed to accommodate occasional peaks of high-strength washdown water from the solid waste transfer areas. This required a specialize collection system that could isolate washdown water and route it to treatment, while allowing for normal stormwater to flow to the site’s drainage system.