Kris Khilnani has over 50 years of broad geotechnical and geoenvironmental experience in investigations, siting, design, and construction monitoring for large public works projects, including earth and rockfill dams, highways and transportation corridors, heavy industrial structures and waste disposal facilities. He has provided project management and technical review on dozens of public works and infrastructure projects in California with a diverse scope of services including geotechnical and hydrogeologic characterization, design support and construction phase services. His past 25 years of experience has been focused on solid waste management projects. He has served as Technical Reviewer or Project Manager of over 150 landfill projects in California including geotechnical and hydrogeologic characterization, cell expansion, composite liner design, preparation of closure and post-closure plans, and CM and CQA services for clay/geosynthetic liners and final covers.
His responsibilities have included providing technical oversight; directing and guiding project and technical staff; maintaining client communication on project performance, schedules and budgets; and preparing and reviewing project technical documents. He has routinely interfaced with regulatory agencies including LA County Public Works, Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCB), Local Enforcement Agencies (LEA), and Department of Water Resources (DWR). Kris has been the continuous provider of project management/technical review services to solid waste clients including L.A. County Sanitation Districts, County of San Bernardino SWMD, OC Waste & Recycling, San Joaquin County Department of Public Works, and Riverside County Waste Management Department for the past 29 years.
Education, Professional Certifications
- M.S., Soil Mechanics/Foundation Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, 1963
- B.Sc., Civil Engineering, Nagpur University, 1962
- Geotechnical Engineer, California, 1993, #2203
- Professional Civil Engineer, California, 1985, #39661
- Geosynthetics Institute
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering
Major Experience
SOLID WASTE PROJECTS
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
- Puente Hills Landfill – geotechnical evaluation and design of 150-acre expansion and CQA services for 4 cell expansions and design and CQA services for side slope evapotranspirative (ET) cover
- Calabasas Landfill – geotechnical Services for cell expansions, hydrogeologic investigations, and design and installation of extraction wells
- Scholl Canyon Landfill – ET cover evaluation and CQA services for GCL cover and design and installation of extraction wells
- Mesquite Regional Landfill – geotechnical studies and CQA services for Cell1 liner
County of Orange, OC Waste & Recycling
- FRB Landfill – geotechnical studies, landslide evaluation, and CM/CQA services for 6 cell expansions
- Olinda Landfill – CM/CQA services for 2 phases of side slope closures involving ET cover
- Santiago Canyon Landfill – CM/CQA services for final closure
San Bernardino County, Solid Waste Management Division
- Colton Sanitary Landfill – CM/CQA for final closure of 90-acre landfill using Closure Turf®
- San Timoteo Sanitary Landfill – design and bid documents for one cell expansion and CM/CQA services for 3 phases of expansion
San Joaquin County Department of Public Works
- North County and Foothill Sanitary Landfills – CQA services for 3 phases of North County Landfill and 2 phases of Foothill Landfill
Kern County Department of Public Works
- Master Plan design and bid documents for Taft, Mojave-Rosamund, and Shafter-Wasco Landfills expansions and landfill infrastructure improvements
Riverside County Waste Management Department
- Geotechnical studies and CQA services for 2 phases of Badlands Landfill and 2 phases of Lamb Canyon Landfill, both regional landfills for the County
OTHER PROJECTS
- State Route 22 and 105 Freeways – geologic and geotechnical investigations and construction observations for widening projects
- Dos Pueblos Dam, Santa Barbara, CA – geotechnical and seismic studies for retrofit design
- Mica Dam and Revelstoke Dam, British Columbia, Canada – Geotechnical Engineer for design of 800-foot-high Mica Dam and Design Engineer and Resident Geotechnical Engineer for 430-foot-high Revelstoke Earthfill Dam on Columbia River
Publications
Shenthan, T., Khilnani, K., and Stark, T.D., 2019, “Case Histories of Multi-Layer Interface Tests for Composite Liners and Comparison to Single Interface Tests,” The Eighth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, Philadelphia, March 24–27, 2019.
Khilnani, K., Stark, T.D., and Bahadori, T.M., 2017, “Comparison of Single and Multi-Layer Interface Strengths for Geosynthetic/Geosynthetic and Soil/Geosynthetic Interfaces,” Geotechnical Frontiers 2017: Waste Containment, Barriers, Remediation, and Sustainable Geoengineering, GSP 276, pp. 42-51.
Somasundaram, S., Khilnani, K., Shenthan, T., and Irvine, J., 2013, “Characterization and Settlement Modeling of Deep Inert Debris Fills,” Proceedings, 18th Intl. Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013.
Somasundaram, S., Khilnani, K.S., and Martin, G., 1992, “Performance History and Seismic Retrofit Analysis of a Homogeneous Earthfill Dam.” Proceedings, ASCE Specialty Conference on Stability of Slopes and Embankments, Berkeley, July 1992.
Somasundaram, S. and Khilnani, K., 1991. “Stability of High Refuse Slopes on Synthetic Lining Systems”, presented at Geosynthetic ‘91 North American Regional Conference, February, 1991.
Khilnani, K.S., Byrne, P. M. and Yeung, K.K., 1982. “Stability of Earthfill Dam Under Seismic Loading”, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, February, 1982.
Khilnani, K.S. and Byrne, P. M., 1981. “Evaluation of Seismic Stability of Foundation Soils Under Revelstoke Earthfill Dam”, Proceedings, International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics, St. Louis, Missouri, 1981.
Khilnani, K.S. and Webster, J.L., 1976. “Mica Dam Drainage System”, Proceedings, 12th International Congress on Large Dams, Mexico City, Mexico, 1976.