Hypalon reservoir liner picked to store water for Pebble Beach golf courses
MONTEREY, CA, Aug. 25, 2006 -- Since May 2006, seven of California's famous golf courses on the spectacular Monterey Peninsula -- including Cypress Point and U.S. PGA Tour venues Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Poppy Hills -- are being supplied recycled water from the newly commissioned Forest Lake Reservoir, rehabilitated by the installation of a long-service liner of DuPont Performance Elastomers Hypalon® chlorosulfonated polyethylene.
The high-performance liner material, consisting of three layers of Hypalon and two layers of woven fabric scrim, meets stringent leakproofing, soil stabilizing and environmental demands and is expected to have a service life of at least 25 years. It was manufactured by Burke Industries, San Jose, California, then prefabricated into panels totaling nearly 1 million square feet (approximately 93,000 square meters) by Layfield Plastics Inc., and installed on site by Layfield Environmental Systems Corporation., San Diego, California. The general contractor was Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction, and consulting engineers E2 Inc.
Forest Lake Reservoir was originally constructed in 1887, and had operated as an unlined reservoir until the early 1990s. The rehabilitation project was commissioned by the Pebble Beach Community Services District (PBCSD), in line with new operating permit requirements of the California Department of Water Resources Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD).
Stability concerns
"The DSOD was concerned that if water saturated the reservoir embankments, the stability of the embankments could be affected in an earthquake. Hypalon was used for a similar reservoir rehabilitation project in the Los Angeles area and DSOD approved the 5-ply, 65 mil (1.65 mm) liner of Hypalon and woven fabric scrim. The new liner and leak detection system is designed to keep any stored water from entering the embankments," says Mike Niccum, district engineer at PBCSD.
The newly commissioned reservoir covers an area of some 23 acres (approx 9.3 hectares), and has a permitted water storage capacity of approximately 105 million gallons (397 million litres). It is a key part of the recycled water distribution system that provides irrigation water to seven top golf courses in the area, and several additional recreation areas in the Del Monte Forest.
Why Hypalon?
"Burke Industries has been manufacturing reservoir liners and floating covers of Hypalon since 1967, that's nearly 40 years of experience with chlorosulfonated polyethylene. We believe it's the most durable pond liner material yet developed, with an expected service life of at least 25 years. As an example, the liner of Hypalon we supplied for the 168 acre reservoir in Perry Florida in 1971 is still watertight and in good condition 35 years later," says Steve Roades, vice president of Burke Industries.
"Such extended performance is partly due to its excellent tear and puncture strength, and dimensional stability. With Hypalon„µ, additional cross-linking develops after installation producing an even tougher and more weatherable liner. It is also much more colorable than materials like high-density polyethylene, polypropylene and thermoplastic olefins. For Forest Lake we produced the liner material in an attractive custom color to blend with the environment. We call it 'Pebble Beach Tan'."
Onsite installation
Jon Feenstra, project manager of Layfield Environmental Systems, and the site supervisor responsible for onsite field installation, describes his company's involvement in the Forest Lake Reservoir project.
"Layfield Plastics Inc., part of the Layfield Group, fabricated the roll stock of Hypalon, supplied by Burke Industries, into approximately 175 larger panels, the largest being 34ft wide by 200ft long (10.36m x 61m), for field installation. This is where the Layfield Environmental Systems team took over, installing the panels over the graded and re-excavated site, using a hot wedge welding system and cross-seaming with adhesive patches of Hypalon."
Meeting regulations with Hypalon
Flexible geomembrane liners and covers for raw and potable water storage, produced from DuPont Performance Elastomers Hypalon, fulfill the latest demands of municipal reservoir engineers, and meet or exceed US federal regulations such as ANSI/NSF Standard 61, and the American Water Works Association (AWWA) standard D 130-96.
"Liners and covers of Hypalon have been weathered outdoors for many years with minimal fading and discoloration. They resist ultraviolet radiation, ozone and water treatment chemicals, " says Paul DiAntonio, business development manager, DuPont Performance Elastomers. "The material has a very low thermal expansion coefficient and remains stable yet flexible at high and low temperatures. Repeated freezing and thawing cycles do not cause mechanical damage, and its elasticity allows liners to accommodate limited earth movement."
Cost-effective alternative to concrete and steel
"On-site seaming with chemical fusion or hot-air welding produces a strong seam and is simple, fast and cost-effective. Liners and covers of Hypalon also offer an economically attractive alternative to concrete, steel and other rigid construction materials. The flexible option offers low initial capital cost, low maintenance and operating cost, and also reduced chlorine costs through prevention of chlorine depletion," DiAntonio adds.
Proven performance, and the golfing greats
With over 40 years of proven performance in reservoir liners and covers, it is little surprise that Hypalon was the material of choice for the newly operational Forest Lake Reservoir. Now, the continued top class conditioning of courses like Pebble Beach -- a golfing treasure famous as the scene of Jack Nicklaus' memorable U.S Open Championships win in 1972, and the most talked about shot in golf, Tom Watson's chip-in at the 17th en route to winning the 1982 U.S. Open -- is assured.
DuPont Performance Elastomers (www.dupontelastomers.com), a global supplier of specialty elastomers with headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, USA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont. The company is an industry leader in chloroelastomers and fluorinated elastomers, serving the automotive, chemical, petrochemical, semiconductor, food and pharmaceutical processing, construction, general rubber and wire and cable industries.
Burke Industries (www.Burkeindustries.com), of San Jose, California, has over 50 years experience of manufacturing rubber products for the construction industry. The company comprises Burke Mercer Flooring Products, Burkeline® Roofing Systems, Burke Environmental Products and Burke Custom Process. Burke developed flexible membranes for pollution control beginning in 1969. Currently, over 200 million sq.ft. (about 15.5 million m2) are installed in applications from liners for decorative ponds and wastewater treatment lagoons to floating covers for potable water and methane gas collection systems. Burke is a leading manufacturer of floating covers of Hypalon, and can produce liner panels up to 30,000 sq ft (2,787 sq.m) to minimize seaming on site.
Layfield Group (www.layfieldgroup.com) is a private North American company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, with operations in Canada and USA, comprising Layfield Geosynthetics and Industrial Fabrics Ltd., Layfield Poly Films Ltd., Layfield Plastics Inc., and Layfield Environmental Systems Corporation. The group companies manufacture plastic-based sheet and proprietary geosynthetic liner products, reservoir liner panel, tarpaulins and other environmental construction materials, and handle on-site field installation.
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