Montreal-based McGill University is home to one of Canada’s top geotechnical engineering programs. Titan Environmental Containment has long partnered with different engineering schools on materials development projects. Now, Titan is increasing its involvement with the McGill University Geo-Group, courtesy of a new three-year research project: Improving the Performance of Ground-Supported Slabs Subject to Extreme Environmental Conditions by Using Rigid High-Resistance Fiberglass Geogrids.
Titan is providing in-kind financial support, testing materials, and technical support to the initiative, which also has secured a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
GEOGRIDS FOR THE MCGILL GEO-GROUP
McGill University’s Geo-Group, led by Prof. Mohamed Meguid, is a geotechnical research group that recruits graduate students, research fellows, and technical and academic staff to explore new experimental and numerical techniques and investigate the behavior of different geo-systems. Prof. Meguid has a strong background in geosynthetics.
This new reinforcement project enhances other cold regions engineering endeavors in the Geo-Group, such as the use of geosynthetics in cold region railway embankments.
“I’m excited to collaborate with McGill University’s Geo-Group on this groundbreaking study,” says Sam Bhat, Titan’s CTO of Geosynthetics, in a 23 June 2021 release. “[The research] is projected to result in long-term solutions with a significant reduction in carbon emissions.”
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Titan’s ConForce Grid will be utilized in the research. The ConForce line is one of numerous R&D innovations from Bhat and his Titan colleagues in recent years. The reinforcement product was originally designed as a high-strength polymer geogrid alternative to conventional steel for the reinforcement of concrete. Areas of use targeted in the product’s development included floating and ground-supported slabs, concrete piles, bridge beams, and more. The City of Calgary even used it in a study of cold region sidewalk engineering. The pilot project projected to save 12% in material costs, extend the life cycle of sidewalks, and reduce the maintenance costs associated with freeze-thaw cracking in concrete by using the geosynthetic reinforcement.
The research at McGill will “reduce maintenance costs and extend the service life of concrete structures exposed to harsh environmental conditions and cold climates in Canada,” Bhat says.
Learn more about Titan’s geosynthetics and engineering expertise at www.titanenviro.com.
