Seismic Response Analysis of Municipal Solid Waste Landfill in Developed Urban Areas: A Case Study in Mashhad (Iran)

Many cities in the world are developed in areas that had been municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills before. Seismic response analysis of these developed urban areas are so important and this paper presents a case study in Mashhad (IRAN). The studied site is an old landfill which is partly covered by solid waste. As Mashhad is a populated city and it has situated in a seismic hazard zone, expansion of these landfills and their seismic behavior should be investigated. In this paper by considering the dynamic properties of solid waste landfills and based on shear wave velocity data of field tests in the site, a seismic response analysis has been performed by equivalent linear analyses method. The results of this case study demonstrate, the solid waste layer in the site has caused amplification in the ground motions. The comparison of site response spectra with Iranian seismic code standard’s design spectra, doesn’t indicate a suitable agreement and it reveals that Seismic Response Analysis of MSW Landfills needs more investigation.

Keywords:

Solid waste , Landfill , Seismic Response , Mashhad , Iran.