FRY CANYON

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Fry Canyon Reactive Barrier Installation

Three reactive chemical barriers were emplaced at the Fry Canyon demonstration site during August/September 1997 using simple, inexpensive, and well-established construction methods. Many small active and abandoned mine and mill sites throughout the Western United States are suitable for using these methods.

The three barriers consist of (1) Cercona Bone Char Phosphate (PO4), (2) Cercona foamed zero valent iron (ZVI) pellets, and (3) amorphous ferric oxide (AFO). Each barrier is heavily instrumented to assess and compare barrier performance during the demonstration project. Four transducers, one water-quality minimonitor (measuring temperature, pH, specific conductance, oxidation reduction potential, and dissolved oxygen), and a flow sensor are deployed in each barrier. Data from the transducers and minimonitor are recorded hourly. Flow direction and velocity are measured monthly. In addition, each barrier has a total of 20 monitoring points for the collection of water-quality samples. Four monitoring points are located downgradient of the barriers in the colluvial aquifer.

Initial excavation of the barrier trench. The metal trench box protects workers during installation of the reactive chemical barrier>:

Reactive material (Cercona Bone Char Phosphate) being dumped into the gate structure of the reactive chemical barrier:

Reactive chemical barrier gate structures and monitoring ports prior to backfilling with native material:

Reactive chemical barriers after backfilling:

Phosphate reactive chemical barrier and associated monitoring points after reaching final grade. Each of the green irrigation covers contains eight 0.6-centimeter diameter monitoring points in the reactive barrier material:

Approximate location of the reactive chemical barriers. Barrier thickness is exaggerated to show location. No-flow barriers were constructed of bentonite and located on both ends of the reactive gate structure:

Approximate location of the reactive chemical barriers. Barrier thickness is exaggerated to show location. No-flow barriers were constructed of bentonite and located on both ends of the reactive gate structure:

Schematic diagram of monitoring points in the PO4 reactive chemical barrier. The monitoring design in the ZVI and AFO barriers is the same.: