WATERPROOF MEMBRANES | MATERIALS
Waterproof membranes have recently found use in a new waste management site, a gold mine and in various roofing projects – including many sustainable ‘green’ roofs
Barrier layer: latest in waterproof membranes
While the largest waterproof membranes are put to use on the landscape – in structures including reservoirs and waste facilities – they are also critical in roofing, such as modern ‘green’ roofs that promise to improve sustainability. Canada-based Solmax says that its GSE-brand- ed geomembranes have been used in a variety of applications – including gold mining and waste management. When rapid growth in the Pilbara region of
Western Australia put significant pressure on waste infrastructure and services, the local authority built a new waste-management facility near the town of Onslow. The site is the only facility of its kind in Pilbara.
The Class IV landfill in accordance with Western Australia EPA accepts both Class III and Class IV waste, including that from the mining, industrial and oil and gas sectors across the wider region. Solmax supplied 90,000 m² of textured and
www.filmandsheet.com
conductive-textured HDPE geomembrane to line the landfill – of which 50,000m² was textured GSE HD and 40,000m² textured conductive GSE HX geomembrane. The facility is the first in Australia to use a conductive-backed geomembrane liner to allow electrical leak location-testing of the as-built containment system. The installation of conductive geomembrane
requires special care in terms of welding and weld crossing. The double composite-liner system incorporated seven different geosynthetic layers, which made concurrent installation more complex than a single composite lining system.
Gold standard Separately, in Côte d’Ivoire, Endeavour Mining Corporation’s ITY gold mine used them as the lining material for a tailings storage facility (TSF) project. The TSFs are built using the downstream method, using good water management practices
May 2025 | FILM & SHEET EXTRUSION 29
Main image: Solmax supplied 90,000 m² of HDPE geomembrane to line an Australian landfill site
IMAGE: SOLMAX
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
