No Time to Waste

The Trans-Jordan Landfill strives to serve its community responsibly. One way it accomplishes this is by operating a green waste recycling facility at the landfill. From this, it sells green waste products, such as certified compost and woodchips to give back to their community. The landfill also serves as a household hazardous waste drop-off facility for community members to safely dispose of waste without worrying about causing harm to the environment or themselves.

The Trans-Jordan Landfill harvests methane gas from the previously covered trash at the site. Partnered with Energy Developments Limited (EDL) and the City of Murray, the harvested methane is stored and used to power three Cat^® generator sets. Three of these sets produce five megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power around 5,000 homes.

“We have an active gas collection system. So once a cell is full, we drill the wells, put the liner on and connect the piping,” says Trans-Jordan project manager Jason Turville.

Trans-Jordan operates a fleet consisting of Cat^® compactors, excavators, dozers and dump trucks to run the landfill efficiently. When waste is brought in, an 836K landfill compactor performs initial compaction, while a second compactor goes behind it to get the trash to the correct density. 

“I would say that we’re a textbook example of how you can achieve the best possible compaction,” says Turville.

When it's time to cover the landfill cell with dirt, a 349 hydraulic excavator loads up 740 and 745 articulated trucks to haul the dirt to the compacted waste. A D9 dozer will then top all the waste with 18 inches of dirt to be graded with a Cat D6 XE dozer.

“We’re in the business of taking the greatest amount of trash and tightly packing it into the smallest space that we can, so it’s very important to achieve a uniform compaction density that helps prevent uneven density and voids down the line,” Turville says. “Ultimately, this extends the life of the landfill."

Under the Resource and Recovery Act (RCRA), Trans-Jordan is classified as a Subtitle D landfill, meaning all landfill cells need to be lined with double-composite liners. Trans-Jordan has six of these cells, which will last until the landfill closes 10 years from now. Also, Trans-Jordan is required by law to cover the trash brought to the landfill nightly with dirt from a large stockpile on the property.

“We’re a Title 1 facility, meaning we’re a lined landfill,” says Turville. “We’re required to line the landfill underneath, and then as we fill it up and finish a cell, we cover it and place a liner on top. Essentially, it’s like a burrito or a cocoon and then that seals off any problems.”

Cat VisionLink^® 3D Project Monitoring gives Trans-Jordan a detailed analysis of their machines to improve efficiency, as well as monitoring and managing operations at the landfill.

“The operators monitor a color scheme on an in-cab screen that shows them when they’ve completed the optimal number of passes based on elevation changes and the machine’s location,” Turville says. “They also have designs that show them the height of the lift they’re building.” 

The Trans-Jordan Landfill participates in a parts kit program with its local Cat dealer, Wheeler Cat. Wheeler supplies a kit comprised of all the filters and materials required for servicing their machines. It is nice to be able to call Wheeler Cat for anything that arises with a machine.

“For me to be able to get an experienced field service technician from Wheeler out here to promptly fix something that we can’t handle is very, very important to us because the solid waste never stops coming. And we have a really good history of support from Caterpillar and our local dealer.”