| Buildings
Herefordshire farm invests in a-maize-ing irrigation lagoon Firestone Building Products has supplied 9,000m² of the company’s GeoGard EPDM lining membrane for an irrigation reservoir project at a 1000 hectare farm just outside the Herefordshire town of Leominster. he Herefordshire estate invested in an irrigation lagoon as part of a transition from cultivating potato crops to maize. Hereford-based Agri Management Solutions (AMS), a specialist in irrigation solutions, helped the farm to achieve planning permission for the development and specified Firestone’s hardwearing GeoGard EPDM membrane for the project. Explains director of AMS, Peter Gwynne: “While not all irrigation lagoons require a lining due to the type of soil in the location, where a lining is required Firestone Building Product’s GeoGard EPDM membrane is our preferred system because it is easy to install, is tear and puncture resistant, is UV stable, and is hardwearing enough to offer an extended service life. “A water storage facility of this kind is a major investment and a business critical asset so we never compromise on the quality, performance or longevity of the lining system.”
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AMS excavated the lagoon and compacted the surface, working with lining installation specialist, Turtle Productions, to install the GeoGard EPDM membrane. Turtle Productions began by laying a geotextile fleece directly onto the compacted ground and AMS then lifted the 15.24m x 30.48m rolls of GeoGard EPDM lining into position at the top of the bank using lifting equipment. The installation team was then able to manoeuvre the rolls of membrane into position and unroll the EPDM sheets, covering the whole excavated area with a 150mm lap between sheets. These were then joined together using Firestone’s Quickseam Splice Tape, creating a continuous lining that allowed the lagoon to be filled with water as soon as the last seal was made. Mark Hennell from Turtle Productions continues: “We have eight operatives on the team who have been fully trained by Firestone in the installation of the GeoGard EPDM lining system. We were able to install all 24 large sheets of membrane within a week, creating a
facility with a service life that’s likely to exceed 50 years.” Following installation of the GeoGard EPDM lining membrane, the AMS team backfilled the anchor trench to fix the lining in place, enabling the lagoon to be filled and become fully functional straight away. Andrew Cooper, lining sales manager for Firestone adds: “We’re seeing increasingly high demand for irrigation lagoons in the UK, building on the huge portfolio of projects using the GeoGard EPDM system across Europe, the US and Australia. The large sheets we can offer and the ease of creating robust joints between sheets makes our GeoGard EPDM system faster and simpler to install for large projects like this, and its proven resilience makes it the ideal solution.”
December 2019 | Farming Monthly | 25
