Training Exchange | Advanced Techniques on Installation of Iron Based Permeable Reactive Barriers and Non-Iron Based Barrier Treatment Material

Construction techniques for excavation and barrier wall emplacement have improved dramatically, and careful attention to barrier design and construction is critical to long-term performance monitoring. This second ITRC training course on permeable reactive barrier walls responds to requests to provide more detail and describe advances in the science and engineering to design, install, maintain, and monitor reactive barrier systems. The training is designed for state and federal regulators and industry consultants, but this new information will interest site owners and community stakeholders as well.

The curriculum uses case studies describing long-term performance of iron-based systems to train students to design them according to the heterogeneities of the subsurface. The training does not focus on the basic science and engineering of barrier systems but does present up-to-date information from industry and state regulators. The course also describes non-iron barrier systems, the material most commonly used, and the mechanisms encouraging a reduction in contaminant concentrations with in the systems.

Three documents created by ITRC's Permeable Reactive Barriers Team and the Remediation Technologies Development Forum support this course: Regulatory Guidance for Permeable Barrier Walls Designed to Remediate Chlorinated Solvents (2nd ed., PBW-1, 1999), Regulatory Guidance for Permeable Reactive Barriers Designed to Remediate Inorganic and Radionuclide Contamination (PRB-3, 1999), and Design Guidance for Application of Permeable Barriers to Remediate Dissolved Chlorinated Solvents (PBW-2, 2000).