LAUSR

Disposal of solid wastes has become a common problem for public administrations due to the high population growth rates and the unavailability of land in large cities. Besides, the increase of long-term rainfalls combined with poor runoff water collection systems in sanitary landfills causes greater production of leachate at the disposal sites. This paper examines the impact of solid wastes leachates on a tropical soil throughout the geotechnical characterization of two samples of residual soil, both sharing the same origin, one of them exposed to the effect of solid wastes leachates for over 15 years and the other one in natural soil conditions (uncontaminated). For this purpose, various laboratory tests were carried out to determinate the physical, chemical, structural, mechanical and mineralogical properties of soil samplings. The results suggest that the exposition of the contaminated sample to leachates modify significantly their physical, chemical, structural, hydro-mechanical and mineralogical properties, showing a degradation of the geotechnical behavior of soils exposed to contaminants. These should serve to raise awareness in environmental authorities about the inadequate disposal of solid wastes and other contaminants thrown directly into the soil.