Reclamation project of a Brownfield site at Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

Abstract

The paper presents the geotechnical solution proposed for remediation and further redevelopment of a Brownfield site from a bankrupted zinc processing industry. All installations were abandoned without a post closure technical plan, including a 1.2 million cubic meters mineral waste pile inside a 260,000 m2 liquid waste pond. Both structures were settled upon a soft clay deposit contaminated with Zn and Cd. The technical solution proposed involved the complete drainage of the liquid pond, accompanied by on site treatment, a hydraulic barrier of pump & treat wells and the construction of an engineered waste containment facility using the mineral solid waste as compacted earth fill material combined to geosynthetic products.