SECTION 2: INITIAL INVESTIGATION WORKS

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2.1

SURVEY WORKS

A surveying consultant from Saudi Arabia (Senol Yetis, Surveying Engineer Mobile
+966558733920) was appointed to carry out the topographical survey of Southern
Makkah landfill according to the following specifications:
2.1.1 SPECIFICATIONS FOR SURVEYING WORKS AT SOUTHERN MAKKAH
LANDFILL
2.1.1 (a) Background
Southern Makkah Landfill is situated in Halal area and its location is around N 21o15
36.6; E039o 048 33.9. Currently all the solid wastes from Al-Haram are disposed at this
landfill. Everyday there are waste disposal trucks and related vehicles in operation at the
landfill. The landfill is also faced with the problems of odour which arises from the
dumping of waste materials.
2.1.1 (b) Appointment of Surveyor
The surveyor to carry out the work shall be a licence surveyor who is registered with the
authority in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The surveyor must be able to communicate
proficiently in English besides Arabic. The workers onsite shall have relevant experience
doing contouring survey prior to this job and their names shall be approved by the
superintendent officer of this project.
The surveyor has to realise that Southern Makkah Landfill is under operation stage.
There will be on-going vehicles dumping of wastes and other activities on-site. The
surveyor has to cope with any forms of distraction from vehicles, odour, animals and
birds on-site.
2.1.1 (c) Equipment
The surveyor has to use levelling instrument to transfer the elevations and bearings from
the existing Bench Marks (BM) approved by the relevant authority in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia to the temporary bench mark (TBM) located at Southern Makkah Landfill.
The surveyor shall use total station for carrying surveying works within the Southern
Makkah Landfill site. The surveyor shall use high resolution GPS instrument or Real
Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS to develop base line or control points of 3 stations so that the
coordinates and bearings for each point can be realised.

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2.1.1 (d) Duties of Surveyor

The surveyor shall carry out the following task accordingly and the scopes of works are
listed below:
1. To develop two sets of control points at Southern Makkah Landfill. The first set of
control points will be placed at the entrance of the landfill while the second set will
be located at the furthest end of the landfill.
2. To develop a traverse system within the whole area of the landfill. The traverse
must be closed by focussing from the last station to the first station, reading must
be tabulated and errors must be corrected accordingly. After completion of
traversing work, the surveyor could proceed with topographical survey (contour
survey) by using appropriate stations from the traversing works.
3. To carry our contour survey for the whole of Southern Makkah Landfill. Spot levels
to be taken at 30m grid interval for areas with slope less than 10 degrees. If there
are sudden changes in level or slopes, the surveyor has to capture in details of
those areas. For sloping areas more than 10 degrees the surveyor has to take
details at the peak of the slope, at the middle of the sloping plane and at the foot of
the slopes. Readings for levels and coordinates for every suitable point on the foot
of the hills and at the slopes of the hills should be taken so that the difference of
elevation could be recorded and drawn.
4. The surveyor should make a preliminary drawing while surveying works proceed.
This is to check whether important details have been taken or incorporated during
surveying works and any discrepancies could be corrected before completion of the
surveying works. Thus preventing to do the surveying works again after completion
of the works. Preliminary drawing implies entering the surveying data into
AutoCad so that the spot levels and contour lines could be visualised.
5. The USM team representative will be on-site for a few days to advise the surveyor
on the details of the data to be captured. This is important as USM team has to
make necessary observations on-site to determine the appropriateness of the data
to be taken with respect to landfill design in terms of drainage, leachate collection,
usage of site, etc. Developing contour lines for landfill system involved different
concept compare to spot level survey for building construction.
6. If the surveyor is in doubt on the appropriate details to be captured, he has to make
necessary arrangement and discuss with USM team. The client of the project has
to finance every cost incur for making any meeting or discussion between the
surveyor and USM team.

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7. After completion of surveying works, the surveyor has to produce complete contour
map of Southern Makkah Landfill using AutoCad software. The drawings may
split into different layers based on details captured on-site. The drawings should
also have cross-sections and longitudinal sections of landfill site with appropriate
reduced levels.
8. The surveyor has to estimate the volume of waste that had been disposed by
incorporating drawings from geophysics.
9. The surveyor has to incorporate the topographical map that is produced by Fairey
Surveys Ltd., under the supervision of Aerial Survey Department, Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia into the contour map of Southern Makkah Landfill so that details of the
surrounding areas could be integrated.
2.1.2 INPUT WORKS BY THE SURVEYOR
From the report given by the surveyor, the appointment was made on 19th April 2010 and
the work was carried out on site immediately on 20 th April 2010. The surveying work was
completed on 3rd May 2010. Data acquisition was made using Leica Total station. Two
temporary bench marks (TBMs) were established on the first day probably using levelling
equipment. These temporary bench marks were made without referencing to any
existing permanent bench mark or any form of reduced level acquired from satellite
communication system such as using Garmin etc. Several temporary bench marks were
established as the work progressed with the basic aim to act as control points from
where other readings were acquired based on those control points (levels). The traverse
was not closed so errors were unable to be detected. All captured data from total station
were transferred into a computer on the 11th day and on day 12 plans and contour maps
were prepared using surveying software called Netcad and also Autocad.
2.1.3 INPUT BY USM TEAM
When the prepared topographical map delivered to USM team, validation was made to
ensure the levels drawn were reliable. Random check using Google Earth indicated
that there were some discrepancies. During the visit from 21st February 2011 to 6th March
2011, these discrepancies had been corrected. The surveyor was called on site to
explain and locate the TBMs for USM team to recalculate the levels.

2.2

GEOLOGIC SETTING

Makkah, including the area of concern is located within the southern part of Hijaz region
on the west-central part of the Arabian Shield, which is dominated by different types of
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igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks of Precambrian and lower Palaeozoic era
(Greenwood et al., 1976, Abdulaziz Al Solami et al., 2006)). Generally, the area is
covered by Precambrian intrusive rocks. Intermediate rocks, ranging in composition from
diorite to Tonalite, predominate the Makkah batholiths and are assigned to the Kamil
suite. The dominant structural trends in the northeast to north-northeast direction and
reflects three major phases of Precambrian deformations and Tertiary faulting.
Geologic factors which are not always obvious without extensive study may hamper later
landfill performance. Therefore, the geological investigation for this project was mainly
carried out for identification, description, and classification with emphasis to provide
information on engineering geology and characteristics of the site. The resulting
information will be useful for the technical design and construction particularly for the
construction of slope and excavation of Advanced Cell 1 and Advanced Cell 2.
The new proposed site is an east-west oriented zone confined in a valley, the WadiUranah. The surrounding rocky terrain is predominated by complex intrusions of igneous
rock. They are mainly consisted of coarse grained, greenish-white, hornblende,
granodiorite, biotite monzogranite, and sills of various size and orientation, in various
places. The intrusions are normally by fine-grained dolerite and other ulramafic rocks
(gabbro), as well as by less than 10cm thick milky white quartz vein. Occasional and
isolated, grey, granitic schist is found exposed at the lowest part of the valley (BH-1).
The site is considered as an upper part of the Wadi-Uranah-Aidiyah (SGS geological
map) system. The floor of this valley, at BH-1 and BH-2, indicates a thick sequence of
wadi alluvium, comprises of unconsolidated sand and gravel of about 20m thick,
underlying the centre part of the wadi. This alluvium generally consists of loose, subangular to subrounded, brownish grey, sand and rock fragments, originated from
surrounding hill, eroded and later transported by water during raining period. Very recent
form of erosions by water can also be seen through collapsed banks surrounding the
depression of partially excavated Advanced Cell 1.
2.2.1

Soil and rock properties

Table 2.1 gives the classification of typical soils around Makkah from geotechnical
investigations as compiled by Abdulaziz Al Solami et al. (2006). The associated sources
have come from SGS of various locations and also supplied by construction companies
in Makkah (Abdulaziz Al Solami et al., 2006). About 50 percent of the samples fall under
Well graded (SW) category and the rest under poorly sorted (SP) category in accordance
with Unified Soil Classification System (USCS).
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As observed in the field and from boreholes (BH-1 and BH-2), the unconsolidated wadi
alluvial of the site can be categorised as SW type well graded sands, gravely sand,
little or no fine, and can be graded as loose to medium dense (SPTN-value of 4-10).
Table 2.1: Makkah soil classes according to USCS (Abdulaziz Al Solami et al., 2006).
Number of
Samples
1
10
9
7
4
4
1
1
1

Soil Class
Description
Sandy silt
Poorly graded sand
Silty sand
Poorly graded sand with silt
Well graded sand with silt
Silty sand with gravel
Poorly graded sand with sand
Poorly graded sand with gravel
Well graded sand

Symbol
MS
SP
SM
SP-SM
SW-SM
SM
GP
SP
SW

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2.2.2

Rock Mass properties

The rock mass quality of the site is variable with the types of rock, rate/degree of
weathering and alteration experienced by the outcrops, including distribution pattern of
joint sets, fractures, faults, bedding planes, and surface roughness.
There are many classifications that assign numerical values to properties of rocks.
Among them is the Rock Mass Rating (RMR) system proposed by Bieniaswski (1989)
which has been extensively applied in evaluating rock mass quality for different
engineering purposes.
The RMR system was the most suitable rock mass classification systems for engineering
purpose in the arid environments such as of Saudi Arabia (Al-Harthi, 1993). RMR is a
composite property of rock taking into account several other properties such as:
(a) Strength of intact rock mineral represented by Uniaxial Compressive Strength (UCS)
and Point Load strength index,
(b) Rock Quality Designation (RQD),
(c) Spacing of discontinuities,
(d) Condition of discontinuities or degree of weathering and
(e) Groundwater (Bieniaswaki 1989) dry
The rock mass (RMR) is then defined as very good rock (100-81), good rock (80-61), fair
rock (60-41), poor rock (40-21) and very poor rock (<20) respectively as shown in Table
2.2. The rocks listed in the table can be found in the project area thus the values indicate
certain properties of the materials.
2.2.3

Rock excavate-ability

The excavate-ability of rock depends on the geotechnical properties of the material,

method of working, and type and size of excavation equipment used. It is generally
accepted that discontinuity spacing and the strength of intact rock as particularly
important rock properties. The aperture, infilling and the wall strength of the
discontinuities are also important factors. The main excavation methods are blasting,
ripping and digging. Table 2.3 summarizes the classes of excavate-ability of various rock
types. Thus excavate-ability of rock in Makkah area is a function of RQD, UCS and
discontinuity spacing. Table 2.3 combines these three parameters and divides rock types

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into five classes I, II, III, IV and V, and four excavation methods (i) Blast to fracture (ii)
Blast to loosen (iii) Rip and (iv) Dig
Table 2.2: Rock types and RMR classification
Rock Type

Number of Stations
Very

RMR
Diorite
Quartz-Diorite
Tonalite
Granodiorite
Amphibolite
Gabbro
Meta Basalt
Chlorite
Phyllite

Good
1
5
1
1

Good
13
47

Fair
4
15
1

11
4
1
2

Poor

Very poor

2
1
1

Table 2.3: Excavate-ability classes of various rock types

Rock Type
Diorite
Quartz-Diorite
Tonalite
Granodiorite
Amphibolite
Gabbro
Meta Basalt
Chlorite
Phyllite
2.2.4

Class
III-II
III-II-I
II-I
II-I
IV-III-II
III-II
II-II
II-I
V

Conclusion

The rock mass categories in the proposed landfill generally fall into Class II to Class V on
the excavate-ability rating. This classification is mainly based on the density of joints set
(blocky). The rocks of the area are easy to excavated or ripped as indicated in Table 2.2.
The valley/wadi floor are overlain by thick sequence of silty sand to gravely sand which
can easily be removed by scraping machine (bulldozer). The underlying bedrock at the
centre of wadi seemed undulating in places. They seemed to be underlain by
granodiorite/quart diorite and of schist such as at BH-2.

2.3

2-D RESISTIVITY SURVEYS

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The purpose of the surveys was to map the resistivity of the subsurface of the landfill
area mainly for leachate detection and estimates of depths to the bedrock.

The

resistivity measurements were made along two 2-D electrical imaging survey lines
(Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1: Map showing location of survey lines

2.3.1

Field procedures

Electrical Imaging System is now mainly carried out with a multi-electrode resistivity
meter system (Figure 2.2). Such surveys use a number (usually 25 to 100) of electrodes
laid out in a straight line with a constant spacing. A computer-controlled system is then
used to automatically select the active electrodes for each measure. Throughout the
survey conducted in the proposed site, the Pole-dipole array was used with the ABEM
SAS4000 system. The data collected in the survey is then processed using RES2DINV
software. The survey carried out in Southern Makkah has generally followed the given
procedures.

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Station 3
C1

P1

3a

P2

3a

Laptop
computer

C2

3a

Resistivity meter

Station 2
C1

2a

P1

2a

P2

C2

2a

Station 1
Data
level
n=1
n=2
n=3
n=4
n=5
n=6

Electrodes

C1 P1 P2 C2
a a a

..

..

..
.

..
.

..
.

..
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

.
.

Figure 2.2: The arrangement of electrodes for a 2-D electrical survey and the sequence
of measurement used to build up a pseudo section
The resistivity method basically measures the resistivity distribution of the subsurface
materials. Table 2.4 shows the resistivity and conductivity values of some of the typical
rocks and soil materials that are normally associated with landfills.

Table 2.4: Resistivity of some common rocks, soil minerals, and chemicals in the area
Material

Resistivity

Leachate (plume)
Saturated fractured zone with leachate
Groundwater (fresh)
Unsaturated fractured zone
Bedrock Granite
2.3.2

(ohm-m)
0 to 5
< 10
10 to 100
200
> 4000

Results and discussion

A total of 2 survey lines were conducted at the site. Line L1 traversed along N-S direction
while Line L2 traversed along E-W direction. The locations of the survey lines are shown
in Figures 2.3 and 2.4. A spacing of 5 meters using the pole-dipole array of ABEM LUND
SYSTEM was used on the survey. The maximum depth of investigations for the surveys
varies from 70 to 80 meters. The total length of the survey lines was 200 m. Generally,
the subsurface is made up of low resistivity zones of below 10 ohm-m which appear to
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be zones fully saturated with leachate. Bedrock can be divided into unsaturated fractured
zones with resistivity of more than 200 ohm-m and granites of more than 800 ohm-m.

Figure 2.3: Resistivity sections of Line L1 and L2 showing leachate and depth of
bedrock

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Figure 2.4: Map showing locations and results of resistivity survey lines and estimated
flow of leachate

2.4

SUB-SURFACE DESCRIPTION IN SOUTHERN MAKKAH LANDFILL

2.4.1

Site Investigation Results

The aim of doing site investigation in Southern Makkah Landfill was to aid in the design
of cells particularly in determining maximum depths of cell excavation. BH1, drilled and
completed on March 2nd, 2011, is located within the area of future Cell 2, and not very far
from the existing dump. BH2 drilled and completed on March 3 rd, 2011, is located within
the area of future Cell 1, and further away from the existing dump as compared to the
location of BH1. Figure 2.5 shows the borehole locations. Figures 2.6 and 2.7 show the
interpreted profiles for BH1 and BH2 respectively. Figure 2.8 BH1 and BH2 put
together in a subsurface profile across Southern Makkah Landfill.
BH1 was drilled on original ground while BH2 was drilled inside an excavated depression
of about 7 m lower than surrounding area. Both boreholes are 1 foot in diameter and
were cased down to about 3 m from surface. Water samples taken from boreholes
indicate that the level of contamination at BH1 is more severe than at BH2, as evidenced
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by relative darkness of the samples. The water sample from BH2 was clean and
appeared to have not been affected by the leachate of the dump.

2.4.2

Excavation Limits

For BH1, the water level was recorded as 63 feet (19.2 m) below ground surface. In this
location, the plan to prepare for Cell 2 was to excavate the area 20 m deep. However,
since water level was found at 19.2 m, in order to avoid reaching ground water, the
deepest possible excavation would be only to a depth of about 18 m.
For BH2, the water level was recorded as 33 feet (10 m) below ground surface. Note that
since BH2 is located inside a depression, the ground surface is already 7 m below
surrounding area. In this location, the plan to prepare for Cell 1 was to excavate the area
a further 13 m so that the total depth would be 20 m. However, since water level was
found at 10 m, in order to avoid reaching ground water, the deepest possible excavation
would be to a depth of about 8 m, making total depth to about 15 m instead of the
planned 20 m.
Figure 2.8 also shows the limits of excavation for BH1 (Cell 1) and BH2 (Cell 2) put
together in a cross sectional profile.

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BH2

BH1
Existing
Dump

Note: BH1, drilled and completed on March 2 nd, 2011, is located within the area of future Cell 2,
and not very far from the existing dump. BH2 drilled and completed on March 3 rd, 2011, is located
within the area of future Advanced Cell 1, and further away from the existing dump as compared
to the location of BH1. BH1 was drilled on original ground while BH2 was drilled inside an
excavated depression of about 7 m lower than surrounding area. Both boreholes are 1 foot in
diameter and were cased down to about 3 m from surface. Water samples taken from boreholes
indicate that the level of contamination at BH1 is more severe than at BH2, as evidenced by
relative darkness of the samples. The water sample from BH2 was clean and probably has not
been affected by the leachate of the existing dump.

Figure 2.5: Locations of BH1 and BH2 in Southern Makkah landfill

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Note: BH1, drilled and completed on March 2nd, 2011, is located within the area of proposed
Advanced Cell 2. The water level was recorded as 63 feet (19.2 m) below ground surface. Water
sample collected from this borehole has indicated contamination by leachate. In this location, the
plan to prepare for Advanced Cell 2 was to excavate the area 20 m deep. However, since water
level was found at 19.2 m, in order to avoid reaching ground water, the deepest possible
excavation would be only to a depth of about 18 m.

Figure 2.6: Interpreted profile at BH1, Southern Makkah landfill

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Note: BH2, drilled and completed on March 3 rd, 2011, is located within the area of proposed
Advanced Cell 1. The water level was recorded as 33 feet (10 m) below ground surface. Water
sample collected from this borehole had indicated that it might still be free of leachate. In this
location, the plan to prepare for Advanced Cell 1 was to excavate the area a further 13 m so that
the total depth would be 20 m. However, since water level was found at 10 m, in order to avoid
reaching ground water, the deepest possible excavation would be to a depth of about 9 m, making
total depth to about 16 m instead of the planned 20 m.

Figure 2.7: Interpreted profile at BH2, Southern Makkah, inside existing depression

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BH1

BH2

Limits of excavation

Figure 2.8: BH1 and BH2 put together in subsurface profile of Southern Makkah landfill

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