Land & Water Magazine - February 1999
Sylvan Resort Pond Creation with Containment Liners
By Fred Rohe, Environmental Protection, Inc.
SYLVAN Resort, in Gaylord, Michigan, is the home of Treetops, one of Northern Michigan's most beautiful golf courses. When the resort constructed this Robert Trent Jones' designed course, the sandy soil proved to be a problem in areas where ponds were to be located. The course design was specific as to the positioning of ponds in order to enhance the natural beauty of the wooded course. Existing soil conditions however, would not hold water in the areas of these new lakes.
The engineered solution to creating ponds where nature had not provided the necessary conditions was a 20 mil PVC liner, custom fabricated and installed by Environmental Protection, Inc., Mancelona, Michigan. The flexible, lightweight PVC liners for the lagoons were custom designed and fabricated, then shipped to the project site.
Twenty mil PVC was selected for the liner on this project because of its inherent flexibility and durability for use in water containment applications. PVC's high puncture and tear resistance make it the product of choice. It is easily handled and field welded using simple, proven construction methods. In addition, PVC's high elongation (300% minimum) will ensure performance over the extended life of this recreational facility. PVC liner has been performing successfully in irrigation canal linings for over four decades.
EPI's technical department provided the surveying and design of the liner for each of the ponds. The liner was then custom fabricated to each individual pond's curved shape. This fabrication of irregular shaped liner panels saves the customer significant cost over square panels for material and installation labor in the lining of each lagoon. The liner panels were delivered to the project site accordion folded on wooden pallets. Unloading and placement of the liners was accomplished with front end loaders working on the project site.
The individual panels were spotted, unfolded into place manually by an installation team of 10 individuals, and chemically field welded by trained installers. All field seams were tested for weld integrity and all inlet and outlet pipes were sealed to the liner. Complete installation of the four ponds, using approximately 2.5 acres of liner, was completed in one eight-hour day. The sandy soil conditions that necessitated the use of pond liners made the installation of the liners much easier.
The newly installed pond liners were naturalized when in place so that they look like preexisting features of the landscape. To achieve this, a trench was dug around each pond perimeter as excavation work was carried out. Cover and top soil were then brought in to bring the pond boundary to water level and grass was seeded right up to the water's edge.
PVC liners provide a proven, cost effective way to add to the natural beauty of water to any new development.
Treetops Sylvan Resort
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