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Train Trash

Spring 2012

In the late 1980s, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality established new regulations that required all municipal solid waste landfills be lined. Among the many landfills affected statewide was the facility serving residents of Roanoke County, an unlined site forced to close as a result of the new mandate. To comply, representatives from the founding entities - the City and County of Roanoke and the Town of Vinton, Va. - established a team composed of board members and several prominent citizens to review the Valley's long-range disposal system. The result is one of the most unique landfill operations in the nation. Operations manager Steve Barger explains.

"It is never easy to site a landfill," Barger says. "It's that whole ‘not-in-my-backyard' mentality. Getting the public involved early is critical, as doing so allowed them take ownership of the decision-making process. Their cooperative efforts resulted in establishing the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority (RVRA), an environmentally controlled waste disposal facility that is the first totally rail-haul disposal system in the nation. Waste Line Express began transporting from our transfer station to the landfill in 1994, and remains one of the most unique and efficient waste disposal facilities in the nation today."

Railroad ties

After completing an in-depth evaluation of current and projected facility needs, the RVRA exploration team selected a low-visibility, 1,200-acre parcel of land known as Smith Gap. Located approximately 33 miles from the site of the transfer station - accessible only by a series of narrow and winding roads that are not well-suited for traditional waste collection vehicles - residents voiced initial concerns about increased truck traffic and safety as well as additional complaints.

To address traffic and road safety concerns, RVRA planning officials explored what has become among the most non-traditional transportation approaches in the industry to date after the committee was able to strike a deal with the Norfolk & Southern Railroad to haul waste from the transfer station to the landfill.

"Norfolk & Southern Railroad was headquartered in Roanoke at one time and still had a strong presence here," Barger says. "There were 28 miles of existing track so it was a matter of building five additional miles of rail specifically to connect to our facilities. The outcome is a regional public-private partnership that is the first project in the United States to use rail as the sole transportation link between a solid waste transfer station and a landfill. It was a very innovative solution that resolved a number of concerns."

Residents living along the route and near the proposed landfill site were also unsure about how the landfill would affect both water quality and property values. So to resolve these two major issues, RVRA established a property protection policy that provides anyone who owns property within 5,000 feet of the border of the landfill or 1,000 feet of the transfer station to have their property value protected. If an owner can prove a loss in property value due to the locations of either the transfer station or the landfill, he or she will be reimbursed for that loss.

A groundwater protection program was also established for residents near the landfill to protect property owners within 1,000 feet of the landfill border. Baseline water samples were taken and tested at the expense of the RVRA and ongoing monitoring continues quarterly. Initially, wells had to pass all health standards, including chemical and bacterial tests. If tests indicate contamination, water will be provided unless the RVRA can prove the contamination originated by a source other than the landfill.

From bucket loader to boxcar

Once final plans were approved, construction for a transfer station - designed to resemble a 1900s-style Norfolk & Southern Railroad building - commenced near Roanoke, along with construction of the five additional miles of track needed to connect the transfer station on one end and the landfill on the other. Waste is picked up daily from residences and businesses using normal procedures (i.e., trucks) and transported to the transfer station where RVRA staff use a Doosan DX225LC excavator to fill rail cars. Every month, more than 14,000 tons of trash make the 33-mile journey aboard the Waste Line Express from Tinker Creek Collection Station to Smith Gap Landfill via rail; with each of the 12 cars capable of holding approximately 65 tons of solid waste.

Upon arrival at the landfill, individual cars are emptied via the world's largest indoor rotary dumper, a contraption that lifts each rail car, turns it upside down and empties it onto an indoor receiving floor where the waste is pushed into a 35-ton off-road hauling truck for the final one-mile trip up the side of Smith Gap Mountain. Of the nearly 175,000 tons of waste (on average) the facility receives annually, close to 10 percent is recycled, including 469 tons of metal, 15,000-plus tons of waste wood and more than 800 tons of tires.

The remainder - close to 159,000 tons - is buried in Smith Gap Sanitary Landfill using Doosan excavators. Doosan equipment dealer H&E Equipment in nearby Jessup, Md., was awarded the equipment sale and delivered Doosan DX225LC and DX190W excavators in early June 2010.

"The bid specifications specify that the store or branch of equipment providers be located within 25 miles of the facility," Barger says. "While we have some backup equipment, we cannot afford to have an extra piece of equipment sitting on the lot, so it's imperative for the efficiency of the operation to have qualified mechanics and service technicians in close proximity to our facility. We are fortunate to have several dealers in the Roanoke area that represent a variety of equipment manufacturers, and we try to provide all of them the opportunity to bid."

The DX225LC excavator is used primarily to load railcars (gondolas). Since RVRA compensates the railroad based on the number of gondolas versus the ton, according to Barger, it is important that as much waste as possible is loaded into each unit, hence reducing transportation costs. He remains pleased with the performance of the DX225LC and applicable attachments that enhance the loading efficiencies and capabilities of the facility's Doosan excavators.

"The excavators are equipped with a trash-packing attachment in lieu of a traditional bucket," Barger explains. "The attachment allows our operators to pick out recyclables or other non-acceptable waste such as metals and tires. Since we have had the new machines equipped with the trash-packing attachment, our average tonnage per gondola has gone up three to four tons per car, which is a significant savings. If we average an additional two tons per car over the course of a year, the savings equates to more than $70,000 in reduced transportation costs alone."

Feeding a hungry grinder

The RVRA has a separate area for grinding and recycling of clean waste wood to minimize the amount of waste shipped and buried in the landfill. Due to safety concerns, Barger made the move from a standard tub grinder to a horizontal-type, but the equipment switch necessitated the purchase of another piece of equipment capable of keeping the hungry horizontal model fed ... a role reserved primarily for the Doosan DX190W excavator.

"Horizontal grinders don't have a knuckle-boom loader to feed the machine," Barger says. "The wheeled DX190W Doosan model has certainly fit the bill. It's efficient, easy to operate and durable. Loading wood waste can take its toll on equipment, but the DX190W is tough and extremely durable. Our operators also like the Doosan equipment. I continually hear how they enjoy operating the excavators and how easy they are to perform daily, general maintenance. All these things speak to productivity and efficiency. And our dealer is great to work with."