Containment

Egypt plans to build a $1 billion tunnel under the Suez Canal at Port Said and will begin seeking finance as soon as the designs are completed. The tunnel, to be built 19 km (12 miles) south of the Canal's northern entrance, will have 3 passageways, one for rail and two for cars. Learn more here.;

NEIKER-Tecnalia, en colaboración con Sergal, Uaga y Consejo Vasco de Agricultura y Alimentación Ecologica (ENEEK), ha puesto en marcha un estudio para combinar tecnologías y procesos de cara a convertir las excretas ganaderas en un sustrato garantizado y fiable para su empleo en la agricultura ecológica. Actualmente, los insumos necesarios para este sector, uno de los más dinámicos de la agricultura vasca, son difíciles de encontrar y proceden en muchas ocasiones de zonas alejadas de las explotaciones, algo que va en contra de la propia filosofía de este tipo de producción.

After a series of well-received engineering webinars in September and October on canal lining, international geosynthetics manufacturer HUESKER is enhancing its education schedule with three free webinars in December....

Abu Dhabi's Royal Falcon Mining, a wholly owned subsidiary of PAL Group, has announced it has confirmed the presence of very high-grade gold and broad zones of gold-copper-bismuth mineralisation near the Swedish capital, Stockholm. The drilling operation started during August this year near the historical mining centre of Falun, which was first mined in around 700 AD, before closing in 1992 after operating for more than 1,400 years. Learn more here.;

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced that D7748, 12e1 Standard Test Method for Flexural Rigidity of Geogrids, Geotextiles and Related Products has been editorially changed. This test method covers the measurement of stiffness properties of geogrids, geotextiles and geogrid-geotextile composites all of which are referred to as geosynthetics within this standard. Bending length is measured and flexural rigidity is calculated through use of the cantilever test procedure. Learn more here.;

19 May 2014 – Brussels, Belgium – EDANA, the international association serving the nonwovens and related industries, today launched the first two in a series infographics.  These images are drawn from...

A Carlsbad, New Mexico landfill has received a $1.3 million fine from the New Mexico Environment Department for accepting improper waste. The facility, which attempted to ban NMED staff from inspection, has accepted (and failed to properly cover) asbestos and hazardous waste, in violation of its permit. Learn more here.;

Four years ago, GSE Environmental formally announced the development of polyethylene geomembranes for use in applications with prolonged exposure to temperatures above 60°C (140°F). Now, the company has been...

Kirra Point along Australia's Gold Coast lost much of its surfing strength in the 1990s, according to locals, when a long groyne at the site was shortened by about 30m. Now, a mayoral candidate has proposed re-extending the groyne, at least temporarily, with geotextile bags to evaluate if the groyne's structural changes were the cause of surf issues in the Kirra Point area. Learn more here.;

The effort to permanently protect public assets at Kingscliff, NSW, Australia from the encroaching sea is expected to cost about $500,000. Erosion scarp will be battered and backfilled with sand. It will then be covered with a high-grade geotextile material, secured at the bottom with a combination of concrete blocks and sand-filled geotextile bags. Learn more here.;

During EuroGeo 6, Dr. Ian D. Peggs, P.E., P.Eng chaired a special panel discussion on geomembrane wrinkles, bridging, uplift, and ballasting.  We publish here, with permission of the EuroGeo...

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the IGS Secretariat role. The Secretariat will perform duties and provide deliverables as specified by the IGS Secretary and IGS Officers as required. Proposals should be prepared by interested parties and submitted to the undersigned by 20 June 2010. A decision is expected to be made by 30 June 2010. For information regarding the details, please see the RFP here (in PDF). Learn more here.;

The inaugural Geo-U gathering has been announced with Austin, Texas selected as the destination. With Geo-U 2020, four high-level, two-day geosynthetics short courses will be held currently. One the...

Year-over-year earnings reports show how far the global plastics industry has come since the start of 2009, with plastics titans Dow, ExxonMobil Chemical, and BASF showing double-digit gains in sales and volumes, even in Western economies that had heretofore lagged. Read more at Plastics Today. Learn more here.;

W. CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., October 23, 2013— L. David Suits, executive director of the North American Geosynthetics Society, Albany, N.Y., has received the A. Ivan Johnson Outstanding Achievement Award from ASTM International Committee...

When first introduced over a decade ago, Tendrain Triplanar geonets revolutionized the geosynthetic industry with their unique, void maintaining structure. The advanced performance provided by the patented triplanar technology gave designers the confidence to realize performance levels not available in conventional biplanar geonets so prevalent at the time. The demand for greater confidence in cutting edge designs forced manufactures to respond with higher performing geonets. While manufactures of biplanar geonets responded by simply increasing the thickness of their geonets, an entire line of triplanar geonets evolved. SynTec Tendrain, Tenflow, Tenseal and Roadrain are all unique triplanar structures developed around specific applications.

The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) held its first course on "Constructing with Fabricated Geomembranes" on 23 October 2009. "The attendance exceeded our expectations for this course," stated Tim Stark. The short course was attended by 66 people and covered the design, specification, testing, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, inspection and field testing of fabricated geomembranes in a variety of applications. The course was moderated by Tim Stark and 16 other speakers presented various components to the course. One goal of the course was to give attendees a wide range of experts from which to draw from.

GMA Geomembrane Task Group held its third meeting, the following companies being represented - GSE, Cooley, Colas, Serrot, I-CORP. GMA is in contact with EPA to clarify the needs for geosynthetics in waste containment at animal farms (chicken/cattle/pigs). GMA will review geosynthetic user industry conferences (erg AWWA) at which they can exhibit and promote GMA members, thus reducing the costs for members. The water industry has been identified as the next major user of geomembranes. It is likely that large volume consumers such as the waste industry will now have to be replaced by many smaller volume applications. GMA will stay in contact with state regulators to identify potential shifts in regulations that may influence the geomembrane market. It was suggested that local regulators be invited to participate in the various GMA geomembrane group meetings. The influence of the trend to bioreactors on the geomembrane and other geosynthetics markets was discussed. A modified version of the market survey form was presented to better reflect the markets for the different geomembrane materials. Some attempt to evaluate future markets will be initiated. Such market information is available only to those who provide input.

Saving money by spending it may sound like the punch line of a joke, Bristol, Virginia city leaders are dead serious that $1 million worth of improvements to the city landfill has already created substantial savings. A new, wider access road down into the large, city-owned waste facility was made by city workers using waste from the old landfill. The new road allows large trucks to drive down into the site to dump refuse, rather than have city crews transfer the trash into smaller trucks for dumping. The design change should save almost $500,000 per year while increasing waste acceptance traffic. Learn more here.;

Santa Fe Gold Corporation has announced that the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer has issued a permit required to proceed with construction of the tailings dam impoundment at the Banner Mill located near Lordsburg, New Mexico. The company expects to complete construction of the tailings impoundment during the current quarter and to begin processing operations shortly thereafter. This includes the installation of geomembrane.

During the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) Region 1 annual conference and exhibition, Geosynthetica’s director Elizabeth Peggs sat down with Laura Clark, marketing manager for IECA. Clark comments on...

The Geosynthetic Institute will host a webinar on “Wave (or Wrinkle) Management for Proper Deployment of Geomembranes” on February 14 from 11:30 am – 1:00 pm EST. GSI Webinars offer...

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson released EPA's fiscal year 2010 budget blueprint, which takes significant strides to ensure that our air, land, and water are safe and clean. Expanding on the investments of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, this $10.5 billion budget allows EPA to provide real solutions to our economic crisis. It significantly improves accountability and transparency, ensuring fiscal responsibility at a time when every dollar counts.

Supertex, Inc., a diverse manufacturer of erosion control, geosynthetic, and environmental protection materials (such as absorbent oil booms), is Geosynthetica's latest silver sponsor. Learn more about the company's extensive experience and material capabilities at http://www.supertex-inc.com. Learn more here.;

This is a quick reminder that the deadline for offering a paper at PVC Formulation 2010 is not far away at 18 September. If your company has new developments or an overview of PVC compounding and you would like to give a 25 minute PowerPoint presentation, please send a short summary to me before 18 September 2009. The 2nd international conference on PVC Formulation takes place 16-18 March 2010 at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany.