Construction quality assurance and quality control (CQA/CQC) are the essential safety measures on sites using geosynthetics. This may involve installation expertise, liner integrity surveys, and certified inspectors. Engineering firms and contractors who can add these skills to their toolbox can offer much more to their clients. Regulators who obtain deeper knowledge in these areas can greatly improve the quality of geosynthetic utilization in their application sectors through the creation of regulatory guidance with real geosynthetic know-how.
TRI/Environmental will host another CQA Week that offers essential education in these areas during the week of 2 November 2009 at its Austin, Texas campus. Activities will include both classroom and field study (in on-site test pits) of liner integrity surveys–also known as, leak location–with electrical resistivity testing; two days of QA/QC short courses on geosynthetic installation and use of compact clay and geosynthetic clay liners; and the CQA Certification Exam from the Geosynthetic Institute’s (GSI) CQA Inspectors Certification Program.
The line up for the 2-6 November 2009 CQA Week are as follows:
- November 2 and 3: LINER INTEGRITY SURVEYS/ASSESSMENTS (LISA) – Electrical Resistivity Testing
- November 4: Construction QA/QC for Geosynthetic Installations
- November 5: Construction QA/QC for Compacted Clay Liner and GCL
- November 6: Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) – CQA Inspectors Certification Program – CQA CERTIFICATION EXAM
Installation
Special instruction during the week will be provided by Dr. Ian D. Peggs, P.E., P.Eng., of I-CORP International (Ocean Ridge, Florida), who has performed liner surveys and testing on geosynthetics for more than 20 years. Special guest instruction will be provided by Mark Sieracke, P.E., Landfill Design and CQA Consultant; Dr. Robert Gilbert, P.E., Professor, University of Texas at Austin; and Sam Allen, Vice President and Division Manager, TRI/Environmental.
Numerous training weeks have been held at TRI’s campus since 2004, an effort that has helped put more professionals into the field in these vital construction and engineering sectors.
Some road courses, particularly with liner integrity survey training, have also been conducted. These have been conducted in New York State (with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation), in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada), the Philippines, and with a private company in Houston, Texas.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
A PDF brochure of the week’s activity is available here:
https://www.geosynthetica.net/news/pdfs/CQA_TrainingWeek_Nov2009.pdf
Contact Sam Allen for more information.
Profiles of TRI and I-CORP are available here on geosynthetica.
Christopher Kelsey is the editorial director for geosynthetica.net. He can be reached at chris@geosynthetica.net.
Published 18 September 2009.
