Containment

Reuters has reported that nonwovens giant Polymer Group, Inc. (PGI) has gained stronger support from Fiberweb's Board of Directors in PGI's bid to acquire Fiberweb.  Fiberweb is a major...

Mechanically stabilized earth constructions, such as MSE walls, have enabled economical, safe, more vertical constructions. Often, these designs have yielded shorter construction windows, offered vegetated faces, and reduced the...

The White Sulphur Springs Fish Hatchery in West Virginia has been awarded $500,000 for mussel propagation research. Learn more here.;

In the 14 May 2009 Business Week S&P Ratings News, Thomas Nadramia writes on how the drop in construction spending was faster and steeper than anticipated; and how stimulus funds might help the industry's recovery. He notes that original stimulus estimates would be close to $300 billion for infrastructure; but that the actual impact may be closer to $130 billion. A focus on roads and water is apparent. And states like California and Texas are sure to benefit more than others. Learn more here.;

Aquaculture production is up with the installation of pond liners. In some cases, production is dramatically improved (ie, 57 percent better). The Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery in North Dakota is set to receive close to $1 million in support from the federal stimulus funds for the installation of more pond liners. The fish are used throughout the Midwestern United States. Learn more here.;

The 2nd International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Photo Contest has a new deadline: March 1. The inaugural contest was extremely successful and helped establish a collection of high-quality photos of geosynthetics for use in promotion of these technologies and construction practices and in the dissemination of educational material.

Each year we look back at the most-popular reads on Geosynthetica to gauge trends in the field and international reader interests. It also provides us another piece to add...

This year, the Cities of Opportunity report (now in its fourth edition) covers 26 cities and presents in-depth results covering 10 key indicators and 66 variables, examines issues such as transportation and sustainability, and adds insight from major urban thinkers and influencers. Download Cities of Opportunity 2011 (PDF).

After more than five months of closure, the Esquimalt Lagoon bridge in Colwood, British Columbia--on Victoria Island--has been repaired. On the north side of the bridge, the asphalt was removed and fill material excavated out. The area was repacked and the sides reinforced with geotextile to prevent fill material from being drawn out. The repair took less than two weeks. Learn more here.;

Tri-Tech Holding Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIT), a premier Chinese company that engineers, manages and monitors municipal sewer systems, natural waterways and other water resources, announced today that it has established new offices in the United States and India and a new research and development base in Tianjin, China. In the U.S., Tri-Tech has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary Tri-Tech Infrastructure, LLC (Tri-Tech U.S.). The company will focus on developing advanced pollution control equipment, design and engineering and technical service capabilities to support its businesses in China and India. Read more.

The 5th European Conference on Geosynthetics (EuroGeo 5) will be held 16-19 September 2012 in Valencia, Spain. The Spanish Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) will organize it, and the event will be held under the auspices of the IGS. Authors interested in presenting a paper at the Conference must provide an abstract before 31 October 2011, addressed to the Conference Secretariat, through the Conference website. Abstracts received by fax or mail will not be considered. Further instructions to submit abstracts are available in the Conference website http://www.eurogeo5.org The abstracts must be written in English or Spanish. Learn more about the topics (PDF).

The extended abstracts call for the 12th International Conference on Geosynthetics (12 ICG) closes February 28! Be sure to submit your project, research, and application abstracts on time. 12 ICG...

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced a work item for geosynthetic clay liners. The work item, WK32756 ("Standard Test Method for Determining the Internal and Interface Shear Resistance of Geosynthetic Clay Liner by the Direct Shear Method") is a work item revision to existing standard D6243-09. This work involves the addition of an appendix to provide the user with guidelines of what test parameters are required to be specified to obtain the intended shear result. 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.

The Charleston Gazette out of West Virginia has posted a new entry in its sustainability and environmental watch blog. This time around, the blog includes notes on changes expected to be made in pit fluid storage rules. Changes include: requiring all pits used to store contaminated water from drilling to have synthetic liners; forcing operators to remove all solid wastes, including liners, during reclamation of pits and impoundments; new design and construction standards for these pits; and requiring inspection of the pits by a registered professional engineer. Learn more here.;

On February 27, durin the International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) Environmnental Connection 2012 (EC12), East Coast Erosion Control is sponsoring the General Session and Awards Ceremony. One of the highlights of the session, and of the conference itself, will be the keynote address by Greg Schaner, an Attorney Adviser for the U.S. EPA Office of Wastewater Management. Schaner will discuss changes and updates to the key Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELGs). EC12 will be held 26-29 February 2012 at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Learn more here.;

The much-maligned Union-Go Dairy in Indiana has finally received approval for its solution to whales in its lined manure lagoon. It's April Fool's Day, but this is no joke: they're going to pop the methane-filled geomembrane "bubbles" today. Attempts will be made to control the release. Learn more here.;

As part of its strategic focus, Trelleborg has entered an agreement to divest its roofing operations, which is included in the Trelleborg Engineered Systems business area. The operations will be taken over by Axcel, a Nordic private equity fund with offices in both Copenhagen and Stockholm. "This divestment is a further step in our strategy to focus on selected segments," says Peter Nilsson, President and CEO of Trelleborg.

Though the global economy has battered construction and construction services companies, Aspect Environmental Lining Ltd of Frankton, Hamilton, New Zealand is a welcomed exception. The fledgling firm--just 16 months old--is run by Craig McMillan and Greg Terrill. They began with only one installer but now employ six. The decorative and agricultural liner markets have largely gone away, but larger, more complicated installations, such as for landfills, remain strong. Read about their success in Nikki Preston's article for the Waikato Times. Learn more here.;

CETCO Lining Technologies has published a paper from Christos Athanassopoulos, P.E., CETCO, and Richard J. Vamos, Ph.D, P.E., DAI Environmental, Inc., on "Carbon Footprint Comparison of GCLs and Compacted Clay Liners." Geosynthetic clay liners can have a significant impact carbon footprint reduction in construction when measured against the thickness of compacted clay required to equal GCL performance. The reduction in truckload traffic alone (550 for CCL, 3.5 for GCL in this analysis) represents a significant carbon footprint savings. Athanassopoulos and Vamos's work includes excellent comparative tables of the carbon footprint aspects of site work and two appendixes demonstrating the full methodolgy used to reveal these project savings.

The 6th AMI international conference, Waterproof Membranes 2012, will take place at the Hotel Nikko in Düsseldorf, Germany from 11-13 December 2012. On the first evening there will be a welcome reception and registration, followed by a 2-day programme of presentations. A specialist exhibition will run alongside the conference. The construction and civil engineering industry is responding to the drive for green building and greater sustainability. Extra demands are being placed on waterproofing as functions are added to the membrane, such as warming and cooling, energy generation (particularly solar), chemical resistance in landfill, and horticultural resources on roofs and also facades. Read more.

The State of Brunei, on Southeast Asia's island of Borneo, is investing B$7 million (USD$5 million) in the construction of new aquaculture park, which it aims to generate more than B$40 million per year through. The indoor facility at the Eco Aquaculture Park in Tutong District will be the most advanced construction in this sector for Brunei. The vast Asian aquaculture industry has been undergoing dramatic changes with modernization of facilities, production techniques, and government monitoring of exports. Learn more here.;

Cleaning up the ash dump at the old Medfield State Hospital near Needham, Massachusetts, were tabled following protests and a need for professional engineering reviews. ADS Environmental Engineering, LLC. ADS warned against the 12-inch soil cap plan, recommending instead that a geotextile fabric be placed in between the clean soil cap and contaminated soil, to provide a temporary and long-term erosion barrier, in the event that erosion of the cap isn’t immediately noticed, and to provide a visual signal that erosion of the cap is occurring. Learn more here.;

Though it will not be held until 2012, a website has already been launched for EuroGeo 5--the Fifth European Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. The host chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) will be IGS Spain. Valencia will serve as the conference location. As of now, the dates for the event will be 16-19 September 2012. Learn more about IGS Spain at the event website. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetica's Portuguese-language publication, Geosynthetica.net.br, has organized the 2nd Brazil Workshop on Quality in Geosynthetics Installation. The event will be held April 18 – 19 at the Engineering Institute in São...