29 March 2011 – More than 1920 participants attended Geo-Frontiers 2011 in Dallas, a conference featuring advances in geotechnical engineering, among other highlights. The event was co-organized by the Geosynthetics Materials Association (GMA), the Geo-Institute (G-I) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), and held under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS).
The exhibit hall was the scene of a celebratory opening night reception that filled the aisles of the hall Monday evening. Exhibitors were happy with record-setting attendance and stayed busy through selected open hours on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The event featured six full-day short courses, four plenary session lectures, more than 450 papers presented in 89 technical sessions (many with standing-room only), student activities and competitions, ample time for networking, in addition to the busy exhibit hall.
The short courses kicked off the conference, offering specialized content for beginners to advanced attendees:
- Advanced Principles of Slope Stability Analysis
- Augured Cast-In-Place (ACIP) Piles: Design, Construction, Load Test, and Case Studies
- Design and Construction of Bottom Liner and Cover Systems
- Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil
- Geosynthetic Test Procedures and Material Specifications
- Recent Trends in Ground Improvement
Each course offered attendees seven professional development hours.
The four plenary sessions included:
- H. Bolton Seed Lecture, “Risk and Reward – Geotechnical Engineering and the Alberta Oil Sands” by Norbert Morgenstern
- Peck Lecture, “Seismic Design of Underground Structures: Lessons from the Failure of the Daikai Station” by Antonio Bobet
- Terzaghi Lecture, “Seismic Measurements and Geotechnical Engineering” by Kenneth Stokoe
- Mercer Lecture, “Use of Geosynthetics to Improve Seismic Performance of Earth Structures” by Junichi Koseki
The Geosynthetic Research Institute’s annual conference (GRI-24) took place all day March 16, featuring 20 papers on the meeting’s theme, “Optimizing Sustainability Using Geosynthetics.”
The exhibit hall was also the location for the popular Geo-Challenge Student Competition on Monday night. Students took advantage of education sessions and students from the University of Texas at Arlington, under the leadership of Professor Anand Puppala, volunteered throughout the entire conference.
