Abstract: The reutilization of the capped and aged municipal landfills becomes more and more urgent due to the limited land resource. Due to its highly heterogeneous in nature, the aged municipal landfills is a special soil with high variable compressibility. The bearing capacity characterization of the aged municipal landfill soils was evaluated through the field plate loading tests as well as the numerical analysis. The results indicate that, when the loading level is low, a high compressibility was demonstrated. When the loading level is higher, the fibrous components in the landfill served as reinforcement, a lower compressibility could be obtained. The entire stress strain curve can be divided into four different stages and it can be fitted using the the curves suggested by Konder.

Key words: Aged Municipal Landfills, Field Plate Loading Tests, Numerical Simulation, Bearing Behavior