Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 29

PVC sheet piling
for cutoff and
containment barriers
By Brendan Sheppard and Steve Hargrave

P

olyvinyl chloride (PVC) sheet piling (Figure 1) has been used for more
than 25 years in bulkheads throughout the United States and beyond
as a replacement for steel, concrete and timber materials due to the high
corrosion resistance it offers in marine environments. More recently, barrier walls have been constructed for cutoff and containment applications
using PVC sheet piles.
PVC sheet piling's compatibility with hydrocarbons, solvents and
common fuel additives like benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene and
naphthalene [BTEX(N)] along with creosotes and other similar chemicals
is of particular interest to engineers and their clients (OH DOH 2014).
For these pollutants, PVC sheet piling can offer increased chemical
cutoff and containment performance and design life, as well as reduced
costs over conventional solutions. Because standard chemical resistance
tables typically show these chemicals as "incompatible" or "not recommended" with PVC, there has been some hesitancy in the adoption of
PVC sheet piling for chemical cutoff and containment applications. This
article will review real-world levels for commonly contained chemicals
and the resulting predicted permeation of the PVC sheet pilings used
for their containment.
This article will also present cases studies in which PVC sheet piling
has been used to cut off various types of groundwater contaminants,
provide groundwater cutoff to construction areas, and serve as secondary
and primary containment in dams. The article presents four case studies: a
saltwater contamination cutoff wall in Bolsa Chica, Calif.; increasing storage for a fly ash pond near Brilliant, Ohio; remediation for a Superfund

Brendan Sheppard is the director
of engineering of CMI based in
Woodstock, Ga.
Steve Hargrave is the innovation and
engineering director of CMI based in
Woodstock, Ga.
All photographs courtesy of the authors
unless otherwise noted.

www.GeosyntheticsMagazine.com

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Geosynthetics August/September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Geosynthetics August/September 2020

Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - Cover1
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - Cover2
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 1
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 2
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 3
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 4
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 5
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 6
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 7
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 8
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 9
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 10
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 11
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 12
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 13
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 14
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Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 16
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 17
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 18
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 19
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 20
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 21
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 22
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 23
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 24
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 25
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 26
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 27
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 28
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 29
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 30
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 31
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Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 33
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 34
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 35
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 36
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 37
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Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 40
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 41
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 42
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 43
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Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 45
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 46
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 47
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - 48
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - Cover3
Geosynthetics August/September 2020 - Cover4
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