Geomembranes have played a key role in keeping railroads compliant with environmental regulations for a number of years, most prevalently in the role of spill containment in rail yards.

Containing fuel spills and chemical discharges is mandated by parts of the Clean Water Act—specifically the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulation.

In a previous blog post, I discussed the benefits of using EPS geofoam for highway construction. Geofoam has many benefits in the transportation market and has found itself in many well-placed areas. In this blog I’ll review what geofoam is and how to install it.

The state of California recently announced a massive infrastructure spending plan. This is likely to be the start of a national trend as politicians on both sides of the aisle recognize critical infrastructure improvements are needed from coast to coast.

Increasingly, geomembranes have helped make infrastructure projects more durable and cost-effective. Geomembranes have been used in a variety of applications for decades, but within the last 20 years they have become important elements to transportation infrastructure projects.

Recent studies have demonstrated heavy metals and other toxins seep from unlined ponds into groundwater,  causing environmental damage and posing health risks. Now, dozens of companies in industries like power generation involving coal ash are scrambling to quickly and effectively place geomembrane liners in their ponds to protect groundwater. 

Design and industrial engineers rely on geomembranes to withstand the harshest conditions in a broad range of applications.  They must be made of durable and chemically resistant materials to be able to optimally function as pond liners, floating covers, wastewater baffles and secondary containment—or to be used in other applications that require a long-lasting and impenetrable, yet flexible barrier.

Geomembranes are the superior choice for containing valued substances (drinking water, petrochemical products, etc.) and for protecting the environment from harmful substances (wastewater, petrochemicals, etc.). But how do you protect your geomembrane liner?

There are many misconceptions across the geomembrane industry about what constitutes an optimally manufactured geomembrane. One of the most prominent relates to their required thickness, which often leads to a common topic of deliberation among geomembrane experts and engineers: “Is a thicker membrane actually better?”

One of the toughest measures of the stability for a geomembrane seam is Dead Load Testing, which is found in the Standard Test Methods for Coated Fabrics (ASTM D751 Section 80-83).This ASTM standard applies to coated fabrics only, not reinforced laminates, extruded, or blown film geomembranes. Why is this testing only applicable to coated fabrics? The answer is simple: only a heavily reinforced material will perform in a dead load situation.

When looking for the best way to test your geomembranes, there are many official standards to consider.  Material specifications for geomembrane sheets are set by manufacturers, who are also responsible for selecting standards best suited to test the geomembrane and indicate any potential way in which it may fail in the field.