Containment

Only days away, the 6th Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics (Geosynthetics Asia 2016) has had to make a venue change due to unresolvable logistical contraints with the original site....

As April 2009 opened, waste management corporation Republic Services unveiled its impressive combination of solar cell on an exposed landfill cap outside San Antonio, Texas. Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL visited the site a week before the ceremony that marked this innovative addition to waste management practice. Peggs has provided geosynthetica with a write-up about the visit, the technology he found there, and the promise of this application in other applications and around the world.

During the International Geosynthetics Society's (IGS) quadrennial GeoAfrica event (November 2013, Ghana), Geosynthetica's Elizabeth Peggs sat down with Peter Assinder and Prof. Neil Dixon to discuss an important sustainability...

Tri-Tech Holding Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIT), a leading total solutions provider to China's water resources, municipal wastewater and industrial pollution control markets, said today that Mr. Phil Fan, President, will present at the Brean Murray, Carret & Co. 2010 Global Resources & Infrastructure Conference to be held on Monday, 14 June 2010 at The Park Hyatt Hotel Zurich in Switzerland.

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32895, "Standard Test Method for Evaluation of Stress Crack Resistance of Polyolefin Geomembranes Using Notched Constant Tensile Load Test." This is a work item revision to existing standard D5397-07. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics Asia has secured an order at Huntsman Tioxide in Teluk Kalong (Malaysia) for the supply of 105 TenCate Geotube® systems. These systems will be used in Malaysia as an environmentally-friendly solution for the dewatering and storage of calcium sulfate. The TenCate Geotube® containers will be produced by Ten Cate Industrial Zhuhai (China) and supplied through Ashland, a company that is involved in among other things the field of waste water treatment. Deliveries started in October and will continue for nine months.

David Albers of Bakersfield, California runs a 2,600-head dairy that uses a geosynthetic cover on its anaerobic manure digester. The methane is harvested and coverted into power. What's interesting about Albers, however, is not simply his use of the system but that he's the founder of BioEnergy Solutions. His company is using the geosynthetic systems to make large farms more environmentally valuable. Geosynthetica readers have previously seen information on BioEnergy's work with electricity company PG&E. Learn more here.;

In the 1980s, an accident at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick Labs) along Lake Cochituate in Massachusetts released a considerable amount of PCBs. Natick officials and engineers have now drafted a plan to finally clean up the site, which has been studied since the early 1990s. Geotextile tubes will be used. Learn more here.;

Earlier this month, geosynthetica's role as a media partner to Penton Media's Global Waste Management Symposium was completed as the event unfolded in Copper Mountain, Colorado. It was a marvelous event that touched upon current and future practice through a shrewd mix of presentations from active engineering practices, on-going research, and academia. Also, the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) arranged two fine session on the design, installation and monitoring of engineered berms--a much-needed and much-appreciated dialogue. Read more about the event in Chris Kelsey's review.

This year's StocExpo was the biggest yet, with nearly 70 different countries represented. The three-day conference and exhibition, now in its sixth year, was held in Antwerp, Belgium. A strong mix of attendees from all aspects of port operations, construction and clients were represented. See statistics from StocExpo 2010, and learn the newly released details on StocExpo 2011.

Excerpt from Joint News Conference, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, 30 September 2010, Marshall, Michigan. Read comments from Enbridge Inc.'s president and CEO Patrick Daniel and executive vice president (liquids pipelines) Steve Wuori. They report that the spilled oil and sediment is being pumped into large geotextile tubes on shore. The water will be drained and treated and the sediment will be allowed to dry and then will be hauled away to an appropriate waste facility.

RemTech Expo 2012, the most specialized event in Italy dedicated to remediation technologies and territory requalification, takes place at the Ferrara Exhibition and Conferences Centre from 19 to 21 September 2012. The conference has regularly incorporated geosynthetics in its discussions, and this year's event features a prominent role for former International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) president Daniele Cazzuffi. Mr. Cazzuffi (who was recently named chair of CEN TC 189 on Geosynthetics) is serving as the Scientific Committee coordinator. Learn more about RemTech 2012.

The American Public Works Association (APWA) 2011 Sustainability in Public Works Conference and exhibition is accepting presentation proposals through 30 September 2010. The event location and dates have yet to be announced, but 2010's event in Minneapolis was a great success. APWA's sustainability initiatives include not just this event series but a new APWA Center for Sustainability. Learn more here.;

In Cleveland, Tennessee, an expensive drainage ditch and retention pond project that was built during a drought is now suffering erosion strong erosion in non-drought conditions. An unknown water source is entering the pond and turning it into a constant stream. Officials are now debating whether riprap could be used in the ditches. If the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation does not approve the plan, a geosynthetic liner will most likely be needed in the pond to sustain the flow rate. Learn more here.;

For this installment of "Recommended Reading," we asked Richard Bathurst, Ph.D., FCAE, FEIC, P.Eng., what others in the geosynthetics and affiliated engineering sectors might learn from or like to...

Download the Pro-X4 Extrusion Welder Brochure here.

Though the current global economic slowdown is cause for concern, it is giving country's pause to discover the environmental degradation of so many boom years. In India, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has been studying the Meghalaya region and the degradation it has suffered due to poor mining controls. The Times of India reports. Learn more here.;

The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has announced Long Beach, California as the next site for the long-running, bienniel Geosynthetics conference. This event will be co-located with the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) annual Southwest Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Additionally, the Geosynthetic Institute's (GSI) 25th Geosynthetic Research Institute conference (GRI–25) will be included. Learn more here.;

The Journal of Environmental Quality's (JEQ) most recent issue includes "Can Urban Tree Roots Improve Infiltration through Compacted Subsoils for Stormwater Management?" The researchers who produced the article examined the effects of root penetrations on water infiltration and examined water detention system using special soil arrangements and geotextile separation fabrics. “Manipulating root penetration through these separation geotextiles could potentially play a large role in bioretention system function and design," says the project lead, Susan Day of Virginia Tech. Learn more here.;

Waste Management of Hawaii has completed the first of three phases repairs at the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, but the landfill remains only partially open. The company reported that it has repaired the eastern side of cell E6, which was damaged by a January 13 storm. Also damaged in that storm was a point at which the liner edge meets the gulch wall. Falling rock was to blame. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society has published its latest issue of IGS News (Volume 33, Issue #2), and with the email announcement of the PDF issue’s availability is word of...

geosynthetica is proud to announce that it has cleared the application process to begin supplying original content to Google News. This platform will help extend the reach of geosynthetic engineering information to users, potential users, journalists, and many others. For information on how your work could be part of a story, contact Chris Kelsey.

Though the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment has authority over a proposed large animal operation in St. Joseph County, Michigan, local commissioners and citizens are debating whether the project should be allowed. The farm's operator has tried to assuage concerns by promoting the site's planned geomembrane liner for waste containment. Learn more here.;

The 11th International Conference on Geosynthetics (11ICG) will be held 16 – 21 September 2018 at the COEX in Seoul, Korea. The program will feature 1,000 geotechnical engineering experts...

Halloween brought an unexpected scare to Oak Creek, Wisconsin: a coal ash slide along the shore of Lake Michigan. The We Energies’ site has stored coal ash since the 1960s. It’s too early to know what precipitated the bluff’s collapse, but a nearby retaining pond is being drained as a precaution. Waste from the hillside’s collapse has entered Lake Michigan. The exact mix of waste released has not been fully described, but a spokeswoman for We Energies has noted that coal ash was most likely part of it. The decades-old ash had been stored in an unlined system, like much of the coal ash in the United States.