Geotechnical implications in the construction of landfills.

Municipal solid waste landfills (MS!D might be hazardous due to both inappropriate management and unexpected bio-hydromechanical behaviour ofthe stored waste. Since a landfill is a composite construction in which soil, barriers, wasre and fluids interact with each other, the geotechnical approach may be very important, as highlighted by the several landfill failures, with geotechnical implications, occurred all over the world. The aim of this paper is to provide a general overview of the geotechnical conditions leading to ultimate limit states in landfills. Therefore, a retrospective analysis of two Italian landfills is presented with the aim of identifying the inaccuracies in the prediction of the foundation settlements and their evolution over time, which were at the origin of the criticalities occurred in these landfills. Key words: MSW landfill, foundation settlements, case histories.