Containment

The World Bank has released its African Development Indicators 2007. The report finds that the continent has grown on pace with the rest of the world - 4.5 percent. Much of Africa, it seems, is turning the corner. Sustaining growth is key. That will require investment in infrastructure, environment, agriculture and more. Download the report in PDF here. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has launched a new career center aimed improving connections between the erosion, sediment control and stormwater management industries and the specialized workforce required to fill job openings in this field. By teaming with JobTarget, an industry leader in job board development and management, IECA has expanded from basic classified listings to a full service career center offering advanced services for both job seekers and employers. The center offers free resume postings for all job seekers. An anonymous resume feature enables them to list their experience and qualifications in a protected environment. By giving both active and passive job seekers the ability to anonymously post their resumes, the IECA career center allows job seekers to stay connected to the employment market while maintaining full control of their confidential information. Another new feature is the job alert system which provides e-mail notification of new job opportunities based on selected search criteria. Currently, nearly 100 positions have been posted to the new IECA career center. Positions titles range from Grading, Erosion and Sediment Control (GESC) Inspector to Auto CAD Designer-Stream Restoration/LID to Staff Civil/Water Resources Engineer. Positions in the academic field as well as internships for students also have been posted. “There is a wide range of employers seeking candidates with the specialized skill set that IECA members possess,” said Becky Milot-Bradford, association development director for IECA. “We are fulfilling our member’s requests for a quality career center while answering the needs of the industry.” Employers are able to connect to this qualified pool of candidates risk free by searching the bank of resumes and paying only when they find a candidate who is interested in the position they have available. “It’s a winning situation for both employers and job candidates,” said Milot-Bradford. To view the new IECA career center, post a resume or a job, visit the link below. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society North American Chapter (IGS North America) will host a webinar on December 19: Understanding the Role of Minimum Average Roll Values (MARV) in Geosynthetic Specifications....

Combining the efforts of two industry leaders in remediation technologies promises to provide increased value to the environmental remediation industry. CETCO Remediation Technologies proudly announces a signed agreement with Tensar International Corporation (TIC) granting exclusive distribution rights to the Triton® Marine Mattress System in the United States and Canada for subaqueous treatment of contaminated sediments. Read more in the release.

The American Public Works Association (APWA) has spent the last few years with hands firmly on the reins of sustainability issues in the public works profession. Two key outreach efforts have come about as of this work between APWA's membership and leadership committees: the launch of the APWA Center for Sustainability and the APWA Sustainability in Public Works conference series. The opening eve of the conference, which is being held at the Hilton Minneapolis, gave us an excellent opportunity to say hello to one another. A registration and welcome reception was held in the exhibit hall.

HOUSTON — GSE Holdings, Inc. ("GSE" or the "Company"), the leading global provider of highly engineered geosynthetic containment solutions for environmental protection and confinement applications, today announced that Robert...

The France-based public research institute Cemagref has redesigned its logo as part of its new 2020 Strategic Plan. Gone is the old hexagon with its furrows and three colors. In its place, Cemagref’s logo uses a simpler, more modern design. The new oval, Cemagref reports, symbolizes the Earth and its cycles. Blue and green colors reflect nature. And further reinforcing these themes, the words “water and land management” have been added to stress the institute’s environmental-oriented, multi-discipline work. Learn more here.;

After three successful years at the helm, NAUE America Inc.'s President Carsten Lesny has announced his intention to leave the company and return to Germany, where he will continue to work in the geotechnics field. We would like to thank Carsten for all his hard work and effort over the last three years. Everyone at NAUE would like to wish him and his family every success upon their return. Read more.

The benefits of performing geoelectric leak location or liner integrity surveys (LIS) as the final stage of geomembrane liner construction quality assurance are well established. In fact, the NYS DEC, Division of Solid & Hazardous Materials is proposing regulatory changes to their solid waste management regulations that will apply the practice to the floor secondary (lower) liner of new landfill cells as well as to the primary (upper) liner. Read more about this growing movement.

The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected 65 new members and nine foreign associates. Included among them you'll find Dr. Jean-Pierre Groud of J.P. Giroud Inc. Dr. Giroud was elected based upon "pioneering research in geosynthetics engineering and its practical application in civil/geotechnical engineering." Dr. Giroud, in fact, coined the term "geosynthetics." Congratulations are certainly due. See the other new members here. Learn more here.;

This year, Oregon-based BTL moved into a cavernous new facility--one that can finally meet its project demands. This is the second facility expansion move for BTL in only a few years. One project that underscores the advantages of the new headquarters is the 105,000 sq. ft. single-panel of 20-mil geomembrane that the company fabricated for a pond liner project in Wisconsin. Read the case study here.

Can nonwoven geotextiles prevent the suffocating damage of eutrophication in waterways? That is a question Titan Environmental Containment's Sam Bhat, M. Eng., is helping answer in a collaborative project...

TenCate Geosynthetics Americas has developed a seven-minute video clip "TenCate at Work Around the Globe" that features several innovative TenCate projects around the globe. These projects illustrate several possibilities and applications using geotextile materials, such as dewatering, steep slope reinforcement, soft soil coverage, and much more.

Education at the International Construction and Utility Equipment Exposition (ICUEE 2011) will feature new "industry keynote" presentations, new workshop and certification programs and expanded input from leading industry associations. New this year, the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) will be conducting some sessions at the event. ICUEE will be held 4-6 October 2011 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Trelleborg, through its business area Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, has signed an agreement to acquire the US company Lutz Sales Inc., a privately owned distributor. Lutz has yearly sales of approximately SEK 100 M and approximately 50 employees. Lutz Sales has it's headquarter and warehouse in the Chicago area. The company is a distributor of a broad range of precisions seals and customer specific rubber components into the North American market.

Nickel comes in two types: laterites and sulphides. The latter is deeper in the earth but easier to process. The former is the dominant sort in today's mining, but not by choice. It seems to be the lionshare of accessible deposits right now. Laterite mining is near the surface, but the nickel requires acid leaching, high temperatures and more stringent environmental controls. Learn more here.;

In Italy, expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks--also known as geofoam--have been used in some of the newest "eco" architecture. Take for example architect Giulio Ceppi's design for Autogrill near Ravenna, Italy. The strucutre uses geofoam blocks have been built up to create an insulating layer upon which soil and ivy has been placed to create a green roof. Learn more here.;

An amended release on the 2008-2009 GSI Fellowships awards is now posted. One of the research topics was incorrectly listed in the original release.

Word is starting to get out about GeoAfrica 2009. The event will be held in Cape Town, South Africa 2-4 September 2009. This will be the first conference to be held under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) in the region. The first call has been issued. Updates are forthcoming. Keep an eye on geosynthetica.net and the IGS' South African chapter website for more. Learn more here.;

CETCO is proud to announce the promotion of Scott Solotorovsky to the position of Western Regional Manager for the Building Materials Group. Scott, who has been with CETCO for 6 years, joined the Building Materials Group as a Field Services Project Coordinator, has held the position of Market Development Manager based in Mumbai, India, and most recently was the Technical Sales Manager for Northern California.

The US Army Corp of Engineers and the City of New Orleans are progressing on plans to remediate the safe water level in multiple canals. The work will allow the city's sewage department to manage stormwater but pumping more it into canals without fear of surpassing canal safety levels. Allow another two to three feet of water into the canals' safety level will require berm reconstruction, levee raising, deep soil mixing and other methods. Some canals are sited atop sand layers and will require much more work to stabilize against higher water levels. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society is dedicated to promoting the awareness and proper utilization of geosynthetic technologies in infrastructure. In support of its mission and backed by its 4000+ global...

Geosynthetics veteran Ian Peggs was in Abu Dhabi, UAE in November for the annual Geosynthetics Middle East conference. He writes of the fifth installment of the conference, "One day was devoted to geotextiles, geogrids, and geocells, while another was devoted to geomembranes. Approximately 350 people registered and represented 30 countries including Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UK, USA, Germany, Switzerland, India, Iran, China, Slovakia, and Poland. There were more than 30 exhibitors. The conference is organized by SKZ (Germany) with the assistance of BMC-Gulf." Read more.

The 6th European Conference on Geosynthetics (EuroGeo 6) will be held 25 – 28 September 2016 in Istanbul. With multiple IGS events having important deadlines in near proximity and other...

Waterproof Membranes 2018 will be held 5 – 7 November 2018 at the Maritim Hotel in Düsseldorf, Germany. Geosynthetics veteran Boyd Ramsey has been added to the program as the...