Automation of Large-Scale Geotextile and Geomembrane Fabrication

The fabrication of geotextiles and geomembranes offers advantages in deployment speed and quality over field-installed materials. Traditional fabrication methods have joined one strip of material at a time to create extended panels. Recently, the authors have completed the development of a new fabrication machine that joins five strips of material at a time to create fabricated panels for large projects. The new machine is capable of both welding geomembranes and sewing of high strength geotextiles. This machine was specifically designed to address the problems of scale that need to be dealt with in oil sands tailings ponds. This paper will outline the development of this unique machine and present two case histories; one using high strength sewn geotextile, and one using welded geomembrane. The paper also highlights some exciting new equipment technology and innovation developed specifically for meeting the containment needs of larger scale projects.