From IAGI's "Dear Dr. Weld" Column in the October/November Newsletter

DEAR DR. WELD: I’m the QA inspector on a landfill job and I’m a little concerned about what I’ve been seeing. I’ve been monitoring the air pressure testing of all field seams, but for the last five days, every test has been held perfect at thirty-five pounds. All seams are the same length, but the funny thing is, sometimes it takes twenty pumps to get there, sometimes only three. The crew says this is normal atmospheric variation, but yesterday I thought I saw the gauge stay at thirty-five pounds after it was pulled from the seam. Am I seeing things? – Blurry-eyed in Indiana. DEAR BLURRY-EYED: No, you’re not seeing things. You probably should have a check-up though, just to see if you’re too stupid to be employed as a QA inspector. The manometer gauge you’re using is frozen at thirty-five pounds. YOU could pressure test your sneaker laces and get a passing test with that gauge. Here’s what you can do: Once the seam has been sealed and inflated to the proper pressure for your spec, have the liner guy go to the far end of the seam while you stay with the gauge. When the proper amount of time has elapsed (again, check your spec), you then give the signal to the liner guy at the far end of the seam to release the air. He can then use his hook blade to slice the air channel (hopefully in some harmless space , like the anchor trench) while you watch for a corresponding drop in pressure. That way you not only ensure a functioning gauge, you also demonstrate that the air channel test was contiguous over the length of the seam, and everybody goes home happy. By the way, your shoelaces are untied.