On-demand Webinar

View Important Policies and System Requirements for this course.

This webinar was co-sponsored by ASCE's Geo-Institute (G-I) and the Utility Engineering and Surveying Institute (UESI) and ASCE Continuing Education

Instructor: 
Antonios Vytiniotis, Ph.D., P.E.
Steven B. MacLean, Ph.D., P.E

Course Length: 1 Hour

Purpose and Background

Buried reservoirs provide a very effective means of detaining storm water below ground, allowing designers of new or existing developments to easily double-use space. One very cost effective type of tanks is buried plastic tanks. The use of these new systems poses challenges to their design, installation, and maintenance. As these tanks are subjected to lateral earth and vertical surcharge pressures, the states of stress in the tanks may be more complex than anticipated in the design guidance. Plastic components, unlike many other building materials, are susceptible to not only load-induced deformations but also to creep under long-term loading. Many contractors have little experience with installation of these systems and in many cases installation guidance is minimal. This webinar provides engineering insight into the design, construction, and performance of buried plastic reservoirs to allow the participants to understand the current gaps and shortcomings of these systems.

Primary Discussion Topics

  • Types of plastic underground detention basins
  • Typical failure modes
  • Typical design guidance
  • Shortcomings in design guidance and construction
  • Material behavior of polymers

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • Acquire design principles of the mechanical behavior of plastic detention basins
  • Identify limitations of their design and construction
  • Provide insights on their failure modes

Webinar Benefits

  • Learn about different types of plastic detention systems
  • Distinguish limitations and advantages between systems
  • Determine how to design plastic detention basins for lateral and vertical soil, water and traffic loads
  • Understand when more advanced finite element analyses may be needed
  • Avoid errors in plastic detention basin design that could lead into failure of a system
  • Gain insights on the possible laboratory tests you need to be doing before you install these systems
  • Discuss how polymer creep can influence their performance

Assessment of Learning Outcomes

Students' achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed via a short post-assessment (true-false, multiple choice and fill in the blank questions).

Intended Audience

  • Architects
  • Civil design engineers
  • Storm water engineers
  • Plastic storm water detention basin manufacturers

Webinar Outline

  • Background
  • Systems and components
    • Fully corrugated pipe systems
  • Possible failure/deformation modes
  • Design of pipe systems
  • Construction of pipe systems
    • Half-pipes/arches systems
  • Possible failure/deformation modes
  • Design of half-pipe systems
  • Construction of half-pipe systems
    • Modular (box-type) systems
  • Possible failure/deformation modes
  • Design of modular systems
  • Construction of modular systems
  • Materials and material properties
    • Materials
    • Material properties
    • Creep of polymers
  • Recommendations

How to Earn your CEUs/PDHs and Receive Your Certificate of Completion

To receive your certificate of completion, you will need to complete a short on-line post-test and receive a passing score of 70% or higher within 1 year of purchasing the course.

How do I convert CEUs to PDHs?

1.0 CEU = 10 PDHs [Example: 0.1 CEU = 1 PDH]