Steps to Make an Oil Containment Boom

Two Popular Designs:

Whether you make a Tri-Boom or Bi-Boom Containment system, you need the following components:

a) Plastic liner material. High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) or Polypropylene (PP) are the two most popular materials for oil containment. Most experts recommend using 20-30 mil thickness sheets. HDPE is rather stiff and cumbersome to work with when compared to the more flexible PP material. When purchasing plastic materials, select a manufacturer closest to your location to reduce shipping costs. US sources for these materials include:

• Agru America Inc. (HDPE) - 800-373-2478 (Georgetown, South Carolina)
  
• Carlisle Syntec (PP) - 800-479-6832 (Carlisle, Pennsylvania)
  
• Cooley Engineered Membranes (PP) - 401-724-9000 (Pawtucket, Rhode Island)
• Firestone Building Products (PP) - 317-575-7232 (Indianapolis, Indiana)
  
• GSE Lining Technology Inc. (HDPE) - 281-443-8564 (Houston, Texas)
  
• In-Line Plastics (HDPE) - 281-272-1660 (Houston, Texas)
  
• Layfield Geosynthetics (PP) - 619-562-1200 (Santee, California)
  
• Poly-Flex Inc. (HDPE) - 972-337-7269 (Grand Praire, Texas)
  
• Raven (PP) - 605-335-0174 (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

b) Heat Sealing Equipment. For field sealing, the best method is wedge welding. There are two basic types of wedge welders ... hand-held and self-propelled. Hand-held wedge welders cost less, approximately $3,500 or as little as $100 per day to rent. Self-propelled wedge welders cost considerably more, approximately $10,000, and, although seem more convenient to use, tend to jam more frequently. To fabricate many of the intricate containment booms, hand-held wedge welding is usually more dependable and easier to use. US sources for field wedge welding equipment include:

• Concord (Powerwedge Self-Propelled) - 603-868-6060 (Durham, New Hampshire)
  
• Demtech Services (Pro-Wedge Self-Propelled) - 530-621-3200 (Diamond Springs, California)
  
• Novaseal Corporation (GT-100 Hand-Held Wedge Welder) - 561-470-3267 (Boca Raton, Florida) Novaseal is the original manufacturer of wedge welders.
  
• PWT (Wedge-It Self-Propelled) - 530-676-3050 (Cameron Park, California)

Try to avoid using hot air welders or hot air powered wedge welders. Electrically powered wedge welders use cartridge heaters and provide the best welded joints on HDPE and PP materials. Some companies such as Novaseal provide innovative products including an under water wedge welding system.

We also recommend hiring a qualified civil engineer to approve designs and help manage design and implementation of an Oil Containment Boom.

If you prefer to subcontract the entire process, consider contacting full service oil spill containment companies including: EnviroMet (Vancouver, WA), Chemtex (Cumberland, RI), American Boom & Barrier (Cape Canaveral, FL), New Pig Corp (Tipton, PA), Applied Fabric Technologies (Orchard Park, NY), Becker (Lombard, IL), Brockton Equipment (Brockton, MA), and AbsorbentsOnline (Chino Hills, CA).

However if saving money for your city and preserving the beauty of your beaches is of utmost concern, it isn't that hard to do it yourself.