Short Course Review

PGI’s west coast short courses were well received and attended by regulatory and industry professionals.
The PVC Geomembrane Institute (PGI) offered its popular short course, “Constructing with GCLs and PVC Geomembranes,” on Oct. 26, 2006 in Sacramento, Calif., and Oct. 27, 2006 in Riverside, Calif. Hosted by the California Water Board, the courses were presented by Timothy D. Stark, Sam Allen, John Heap, Stuart Lange, and Chris Athanassopoulos, P.E.
“The short courses generated outstanding attendance in both northern and southern California,” said Stark, a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
More than 100 professionals from various disciplines within the industry including those involved with the regulation, design, construction, operation and closure of landfills, lagoons, ponds, decorative applications, and corrective action activities at closed sites, attend the course. In addition to obtaining 0.8 CEUs from the University of Illinois, participants gained a broad knowledge of what is required to properly design, specify and construct liner and/or cover systems with GCLs and PVC geomembranes.
This course included discussion of the latest information on PVC geomembranes including current research at the University of Illinois, manufacturing, formulation, fabrication, shipping, installation, long-term performance, interface strengths and slope stability, wedge welding, air channel testing of field PVC seams, and updated ASTM testing of PVC geomembranes. The course also presented the latest information GCLs including panel separation, hydraulic equivalence, specifications, testing, and installation. The PGI 1104 Specification and the associated ASTM Specification were discussed for testing and certification of PVC geomembranes in a variety of environmental applications.
PGI and its membership, dedicated to advancing the use of PVC geomembranes, aids engineers in specifying PVC for environmental applications. For additional information about future course offerings, visit www.pvcgeomembrane.com or contact Frank Konvalinka, PGI, at +1-217-333-3929.