9. Use

From the point of view of geomembrane use, the main points of comparison between geomembranes are as follows.

• The dates of some of the first field installations are as follows:

  • test boards with PVC and polyethylene films (1940s) ;

  • bitumen sprayed on the ground (1947), then small canals ;

  • small sheets of bituminous membranes factory-made to very narrow widths (45 cm) and used on test boards (1950);

  • butyl geomembrane (1957) ;

  • bitumen sprayed on glass cloth in channels (1962) ;

  • EPDM roofing membrane (1965) ;

  • EPDM geomembrane (late 1960s) ;

  • sprayed bitumen on nonwoven...