FGI short course draws 102

“Constructing with fabricated geomembranes:
Advances and current trends for mining”

In a June 6 press release, the Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) described its sixth short course offering, this one in Salt Lake City. The May 21 education event was held at the Multi-Agency State Office Building in cooperation with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ).

The short course was organized by the FGI with assistance from Otis Willoughby, environmental scientist with the UDEQ, and Garrett Dutson, site engineer with Energy Solutions LLC. The course was attended by 102 participants, according to the release. Presentations during the one-day event focused on the use of fabricated geomembranes for coal combustion residuals, oil and gas related activities, and mining applications.

The course covered the design, specification, testing, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, inspection, welding, and field testing of fabricated geomembranes in a variety of applications. Steven Hobbs and Ryan Smith conducted hands-on demonstrations on geomembrane welding procedures.

The course also included two local speakers:

• Joergen Pilz, principal geotechnical advisor with Rio Tinto, who gave the following presentations: (1) use of geosynthetics in mining applications, and (2) four mining related case histories.
• Steven Bartlett, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Utah, spoke on the subjects of geofoam and the use of geomembranes to protect geofoam in a variety of applications.

Ron Frobel introduced FGI’s Geomembrane Selection Matrix. The release said that the matrix is designed to be used to facilitate the selection of a geomembrane polymer type for a particular application.

The FGI is a consortium of manufacturers, fabricators, installers, designers, regulators, and material suppliers of fabricated geomembranes. For more information: www.fabricatedgeomembrane.com.