PROJECT: Prairie State Generating Company Cells 1 & 2 Closure
LOCATION: Marissa, IL
PROJECT SUMMARY
Prairie State Energy Campus is a 1,600-megawatt coal-fired, electrical power station and coal mine located near Marissa,
Illinois. As part of the energy campus’ ash management program, Bloomsdale Excavating was contracted to close two separate ash pond cells totaling 51 acres. The project included managing a geomem-brane contractor, installing terrace drains, rock let-downs and seeding.
Cell 1:
• Covered and closed 12 acres of landfill
• Hauled and placed 20,000 cubic yards of soil layer over existing temporary ash cover
• Hauled and placed 60,000 cubic yards of protective soil cover and one foot of vegetative layer over the geomembrane.
A distinct challenge on the Cell 1 closure was placing material on a 3:1 slope which required hauling uphill with 120’ of elevation change. Bloomsdale had to construct haul roads along the slope for the trucks and pans to dump fill and then push it out with low ground pressure dozers. This project was the first closure project performed at PSGC. A detailed project management log tracked the processes and quantities performed in conjunction with the design engineers to determine closure analysis for future projects
Cell 2: 
• Covered 39 acres
• Hauled and placed 51,000 cubic yards of soil layer over existing temporary ash cover
• Managed the geomembrane liner subcontractor
• Hauled and placed 103,000 cubic yards of 2 feet protective soil cover
• Hauled and placed 51,000 cubic yards of one foot vegetative layer over the geomembrane. Installed terrace drains, rock let downs and seeded.
Due to haul constraints, long distances and wetter material, Bloomsdale used an excavator to load 40-ton trucks and dumped off the top of the slope, pushing downhill to place material. While the slope still remained at 3:1 on this project, Bloomsdale cut the distance in half by hauling the material through the ash landfill and dumping the soil cover off the top of the slope and pushing down the slope with dozers.