During the week of 10 May 2009 the T-CLIC liner integrity survey and assessment (LISA) course was taken on the road to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Nine people from Atlantic Lining, Elliot Construction, and Jaques-Whitford (now Stantec) attended the one-day classroom session, a one-day hands-on session in three test cells, two days of “production surveys,” and a 90-minute written test presented by Dr. Ian D. Peggs.
Yes, a general contractor (usually the missing link) did attend, and even organized the course! That was fortunate, because on arrival at the site there was the required test pond with sloping exposed sections, but no soil cell! Not a problem—being a contractor, the soil cell was built by Scott (contractor) and Dale (liner) Haverstock and their guys within two hours! I could almost have done an IAGI Certified Welder Technician (CWT) certification at the same time!
During the hands-on session, teams of three worked in turns on the soil cell, the water cell, and the sloping exposed cell (GCL and conductive geotextile under). Calibration runs were performed and three unmarked holes had to be found. Additional holes were found in the soil cell due to its hasty construction! Two days were then spent with teams of two doing simulated production surveys with several new holes on the two basic cells—soil covered, and water with exposed slopes. The T-CLIC 3G smart survey equipment was used throughout the course.
Leaks included 2 to 19 mm diameter holes, "H" cuts about 20 mm high and 6 mm wide, a 25 mm long cut, several 6mm cuts, several 8 mm "L" cuts. Smaller leaks in the corner of the soil cell within 750 mm of a 25 mm stone puncture hole were identified by most attendees.
Most people took advantage of the full 90 minutes for the written test but one person finished in 1 hour.
This was the fourth on-the-road LISA course after GSE (Houston, Texas), Albany (New York), and Manila (the Philippines). One private custom course has been held at TRI for two people from Chile. Approximately 250 people have attended the 13 two-day courses to date.
There is no date scheduled for the next course but it will likely be in fall 2009.
Ian D. Peggs is president of I-CORP International, Ocean Ridge, Florida. He can be reached at +1 561 369 0795, icorp@geosynthetic.com.
