The City of Ione had a public works project under contract in 2018 with another contractor. The contract was for the re-lining of (5) storage ponds at the Ione Wastewater Treatment Plant. The original material specified was 60mil HDPE. The contract had a time window of 3 months to take the first two ponds offline, install the new liner, and put them back online again. Two weeks into the three month window, the City of Ione was notified by their contractor that 60mil HDPE was in low supply in the market, and would not be available for another 6 months.

We were onsite at another project in the area when we were approached by the City of Ione for any possible solutions. We provided the city with an alternative material, DuraSkrim N45B 45mil Reinforced LLDPE. DuraSkrim N45B was determined to be a physically stronger material in a side-by-side comparison with the 60mil HDPE. DuraSkrim N45B also provided the advantage of factory fabrication, which reduced the overall contract cost by moving a majority of the work into a factory and outside of prevailing wage. However, the greatest advantage provided was the lead time of the material. While HDPE had a lead time of 6 months at the time, DuraSkrim N45B was readily in stock and available. Within three weeks of contract execution, we had the material fabricated and delivered on-site.