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The Flexible/Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) has expanded its mandate to include providing industry education, support, and technology transfer on the use of flexible geomembranes that can be factory fabricated into large panels. Case in point is the unveiling of its new Factory Fabrication Guideline that presents a minimum quality control (QC) system for factory fabrication, testing, inspection, packaging, handling, and shipping of flexible geomembrane panels.
Timothy D. Stark, professor of civil engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and also chair of the FGI Subcommittee that created the guideline, tells me the FGI had created a guideline on testing frequency of factory welded seams but not a minimum QC system for factory fabrication, testing, inspection, packaging, handling, and shipping of flexible geomembrane panels, which resulted in variability in panels being shipped to project sites. In particular, the testing frequency of factory welded seams guideline, which is now ASTM D7982, addressed confusion that had developed over the frequency of testing factory welded seams for fabricating large geomembrane panels, so it is not confused with the frequency testing of field welded seams, e.g., one destructive sample every 500 lineal feet (~150 m).
“The new guideline is intended for industry fabricators, installers, design engineers, inspectors, and owners to understand factory fabrication of geomembrane panels and to improve the quality and reduce variability of factory fabricated panels that are shipped to project sites.” Stark says. “This guideline captures the main flexible geomembrane types including reinforced and non-reinforced materials. It provides the minimum verification and testing of manufactured roll stocks prior to fabrication, updated test methods for verification of manufactured goods, factory seam testing, patching, repairs, and cross seam welding and testing. It also includes best practices for identification, folding, rolling, and packages of factory fabricated geomembranes, some of which are included in ASTM D7865.”
The main objective of this new guideline is to improve quality and reduce variability in factory fabricated panels being shipped to project sites. The ability to factory fabricate geomembrane panels provides many substantial benefits over geomembranes that must be seamed in the field, such as higher quality and consistent seams, reduced installation time and cost, better visual inspection of the materials before installation, and less potential for construction induced damage. I believe you’ll find a great presentation of a minimum QC system for factory fabrication, testing, inspection, packaging, and testing of flexible geomembranes useful in your practice.