This project for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) was designed to analyze potential closure of uncapped New Jersey landfills using dredge material from existing confined disposal facilities (CDF).

Periodic dredging of channels and marinas is of significant importance to New Jersey’s recreational and commercial marine transportation.The NJDOT has identified many CDFs that are at or near capacity. Opening new CDFs has been deemed improbable, thus the most efficient solution to this problem is reusing dredged materials to increase the longevity of existing CDFs.

This project included updating the existing New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection landfill database; developing a rating system to identify sites with the highest potential to successfully be closed with dredged material (beneficial reuse); and identifying and doing preliminary investigation of the top-five candidate landfills based on this rating system. Of the five candidate landfills, information developed during study showed only four were considered suitable for closure and investigated further.

The results of this project can be used by NJDOT to facilitate efficient closure of select landfills, beneficial reuse of materials from CDFs, continued use of the state’s CDFs, and dredging activities.