Special issue on GCLs
Numéro spécial sur les GSB
Résumé
Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) were initially developed in the mid 1980s in the USA and were extended in Germany in the late 1980s. Nowadays, GCLs are manufactured all over the world. In 2000 a new termwas proposed for standardization in international usage and since 2005 the term “Clay Geosynthetic Barrier (GBR-C)” has been suggested to replace the term GCL. In practice, however, both terms (GCL and GBR-C) are used interchangeably. The papers in the Special Issue were selected from the Proceedings of the third International Symposium on GCLs and subsequently expanded, as well as successfully reviewed for this publication. They cover a wide range of questions regarding the hydration of GCLs depending on the environment, the chemical compatibility of the bentonite in GCLs with the surrounding environment and liquids in contact, the mechanical resistance of GCLs. They also discuss applications like the use in landfill covers and the conditions of application, together with the modeling of transport in composite liners including GCLs.