Advanced Wall Technologies, LLCPO Box 4560, Glen Allen, Virginia, United States

EnCAP-IT is dedicated to helping industries manage large volumes of beneficial reuse materials “one cubic yard at a time.”

We offer proven green solutions using leading-edge patented methods for constructing mechanical stabilized earthen (MSE) berms, engineered structural fills, dams, levees and embankment stabilization.

Our innovative approaches give our clients a relatively rapid means to conserve and reclaim land for general and beneficial use. It raises their profile as reliable environmental stewards in the communities they serve.

99.7% of EnCAP-IT systems consist of recycled fill material of all types — from coal combustion residuals (CCRs) and other environmentally controversial substances to common soil, crushed concrete and glass — using a sustainable method of full encapsulation that responsibly reuses the material and keeps it stable and harmless for hundreds of years. EnCAP-IT supports recycling and responsible reuse.

Benefits

In our work with the waste industry, constructing high berms adjacent to landfills extends the landfills’ lifespan by increasing vertical capacity (airspace) without enlarging their geographic footprint. The berms themselves become usable land that can serve other purposes.

In the power industry and others, we provide long-term means to contain waste byproducts so they don’t harm the environment or leach dangerously into surrounding water supplies.

On each project, our strategy includes finding opportunities to coordinate different industries’ environmental challenges for their mutual benefit. For example, the power industry’s coal ash residuals may be fully encapsulated to safely serve as berm construction material at a landfill or an engineered structural fill (99.7%).

It’s a win-win for the industries involved and typically results in significant cost savings — while using the latest and best technology. However, the ultimate beneficiaries are communities and municipalities who find their long-term waste disposal dilemmas resolved.

Some time ago, a client had a difficult challenge. Their landfill was almost out of airspace and leadership was faced with closing the landfill within 18 months at high cost and then forced to incur ongoing long term transportation and disposal fees. These costs would result in the diversion of capital away from many needed initiatives. EnCAP-IT management began considering: How to increase airspace for a landfill that according to existing permits and site limitations (no lateral possibilities) and do it at a reasonable cost and in a very short period of time. EnCAP-IT was created as the result of the solution to this challenge.

To make vertical and lateral expansions more economically feasible, EnCAP-IT developed a patented design for construction of MSE berms with an encapsulated section using backfill materials that are environmentally and regulatory agency acceptable.The EnCAP-IT technology is a less expensive alternative than a lateral expansion because the large capital expenditures for property and infrastructure development are eliminated.

Additionally, the EnCAP-IT technology can be utilized for other embankment scenarios (roads, etc.) in which utilizing materials that are currently not allowable for construction would be beneficial. The innovative and creative solution to the challenge presented to EnCAP-IT resulted in:

• This expansion will occur at the lowest possible cost by off-setting construction cost with backfill material revenue.
• An expansion to the disposal facility that provided 15-20 years of additional life.
• Provides a host fee to an economically depressed community.
• Prevents the community from incurring an anticipated $5M in closure/postclosure costs.
• Free disposal for the community for 15 years.
• Construction began within 8 months of regulatory permit amendment submittal.

Those solutions are the basis of the EnCAP-IT method; Proven, Rapid, Reliable and Sustainable.

Strategic Relationships

Our market is primarily fragmented, in which a market leader has not come forward to provide a turnkey solution to an increasingly difficult disposal market. EnCAP-IT has established a Vision in order to become that overall solution. The path to realizing our Vision is based on fundamental drivers, instrumental in achieving our goals in part rely on establishing strategic relationships in order to meet the demands of this high growth platform. Our strategic relationships were established based upon mutually beneficial skill sets and business models. Our business scope includes a wide variety of markets and we will continue to create strong value added relationships in key markets going forward.

Memberships

EnCAP-IT’s memberships in industry associations offers numerous benefits and will keep us on top of important, ever-changing issues, trends and legislation within our marketplace. However, we believe the greatest benefit of being a member in an association is the networking and camaraderie that goes on among members. EnCAP-IT holds these memberships in the highest regards; and considers them a vital component of our success.

The EnCAP-IT Approach

EnCAP-IT has patented methods for MSE berm construction and embankment stabilization that realize far greater return on investment than traditional means. With little capital expenditure, our clients are able to expand their business’s usable airspace without increasing their physical footprint. 

The EnCAP-IT Method

• Because no two sites are the same, our solutions are individually tailored to each client from over 150 designs we have developed.
• Our berm systems are GREEN because 99.7% of their construction is done with recycled fill materials, which classifies as “beneficial reuse.”
• We license our methods site-by-site with approved engineers and construction partners who are well-versed in our concepts and designs.
• We guide our clients in deploying these methods and stand ready to assist with other components that are vital to project success, such as:
  • Technology licensing and delivery
  • Regulatory liaison and permitting
  • Materials procurement
  • Construction
• Our clients are often paid for recycling the fill material going into their berm or embankment by a company needing to safely dispose of such material. This income is used to offset construction costs.
• Under our “Share Program,” our clients do not pay for our services, but instead share their cost savings with EnCAP-IT.

What Makes the EnCAP-IT Method Superior?

Its safety is unparalleled

This berm is 55′ high, constructed of coal combustion residuals (CCRs) and contaminated soil. In 2011, the vertical expansion berm withstood a 5.8 – 6.0 (Richter Scale) earthquake in Virginia. Three days later, it withstood the fury of Hurricane Irene, dumping 7-8″ of rain in 12 hours, with 65 mph wind gusts and 45 mph sustained winds. Follow-up inspections revealed NO damage to the berm from either event, thanks to:

• Proper design, construction quality control (CQC) and construction quality assurance (CQA).
• Internal and external drainage controls using an EnCAP-IT-patented proactive internal drainage system.
• Liquid/pore pressure management. No liquids = No liquefaction.
• Encapsulation to eliminate moisture, with a uniaxial geogrid for added stability.
• Berms constructed with unencapsulated, noncohesive CCRs or other materials do not have this important protection.

It’s the cheapest solution

Because EnCAP-IT’s technology beneficially reuses certain materials in construction, it dramatically decreases or eliminates construction costs.

With municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill expansions, levees or dams, the third-party entity generating the usable fill material pays the landfill a gate fee to dispose of it. In most cases, this additional revenue to the landfill pays for construction.

Utility plants decrease their costs for wall construction or berm stabilization by using as their fill material the CCRs they create themselves in the power-generation process.

It saves time

In lateral expansions, there’s typically a lengthy timeline involved in permitting, land acquisition, design and construction. With EnCAP-IT methods, the existing permit needs only an amendment, and these are far easier and quicker to obtain. As a bonus, because no huge disruption of the status quo is involved, the potential for nearby residents to launch NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) objections is reduced during the permitting process.

It’s the most logical way to go

EnCAP-IT methods shrink the footprint of expansions or conversions, decreasing future costs and reducing regulatory and political pressures.

A reduced overall footprint frees up property, maximizes operational efficiencies and, most importantly, reduces the amount of future leachate that would otherwise need expensive treatment to be rendered safe for the environment. Compared to a new landfill, only a third to half the water needs to be managed and treated as leachate under proposed new regulations.

EnCAP-IT has invested heavily in protecting its intellectual property by obtaining patents on its designs, with further patent applications pending. We also own several registered trademarks and other intellectual property.

We claim exclusive copyright to all text, presentations, illustrations and linked documents available on this site, and they may not be reproduced anywhere, in any form, without express written permission from EnCAP-IT.

We’re proud to be a market leader with state-of-the art design techniques that are efficient, cost-effective and environmentally sound. We’re pleased to share our methods with you to help you in making informed decisions about working with us. We simply ask all visitors to this site to respect our ownership of the material found here.