Containment

The Third Symposium on Current and Future Practices for the Testing of Multi-Component Geosynthetic Clay Liners will be held June 27 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina in San Diego, Calif. Sponsored by ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics, the symposium will be held in conjunction with the June standards development meetings of the committees. Learn more about this event.

Located throughout the United States and in six world regions, the International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) Chapters provide integral networking and professional development opportunities in the erosion and sediment control community. They organize field days, workshops, websites, newsletters and much more. At IECA's 2012 annual conference, IECA recognized the work of their chapters during an awards ceremony. Read about the winners.

The 2013 Geo-Congress from ASCE's Geo-Institute be held 3-7 March 2013 in San Diego, California. The broad theme of the 2013 Geo-Congress has been announced as the "Stability and Performance of Slopes and Embankments," a theme that encompasses all aspects of the geo-profession--and one that certainly utilizes geosynthetics. Learn more about the conference and submit your abstract by 17 April 2012. Learn more here.;

Effective 30 March 2012, GSE Holding, Inc., a leading global manufacturer and provider of geosynthetic lining products and services, joined the Russell 2000 Index, the most common benchmark for small cap mutual funds. "We believe that this will broaden our market exposure and bring long-term value to our shareholders," said Mark Arnold, GSE President anCEO.

Terrafix Geosynthetics, Inc. offers Triton® Stormwater Chamber Solutions, a high-strength, lightweight, comprehensive underground stormwater chamber management solution that effectively addresses the maintenance issues associated with underground systems. The potential LEEDs credits that can be achieved from using the Triton chamber system include: Sustainable sites (5 credits), Water efficiency (5 credits), Materials and resources (4 credits), Innovation and design process (4 credits), and Carbon neutrality (3 credits). Learn more here.;

A storage system was required to retain 91 cubic metres of stormwater runoff for a parking lot. Due to space restrictions at this Mount Albert, Ontario site, a stormwater management pond was not feasible. The solution? A total of 73 Triton S-29 chambers were supplied by Terrafix and installed in less than a day with overall installation (excavation, stone placement, chamber installation, backfilling) taking less than a week to complete. Learn more here.;

Terrafix Geosynthetics has a team of experts readily available to discuss your site challenges and product needs. Got a question about geomembranes? Geogrids? Geotextiles? Soil retention? Stormwater management? Or some other construction and engineering issue? Ask our experts. Learn more here.;

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.

Last Friday, HUESKER Synthetic GmbH welcomed guests to the official opening of its new office space. The new structure preserves the existing historical facade of the company's main office while the interior has been modernized. This reflects the company's story well, as HUESKER is celebrating its 150+ years of operation while continuing to innovate and develop new materials to meet the needs of the changing construction, engineering and sustainability landscapes. Wolfgang Huesker, the international company's Manageing Director, was on hand for the opening.

The 2nd Annual Solid Waste Management Forum will be held 22-24 May 2012 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Amsterdam is the perfect center for this gathering, as Green City Index has named it "the most successful city in Europe at municipal waste management" according to the Index's top 10 cities. Speakers from those top 10 cities will be central to the Forum, with keynotes from participants based in Amsterdam (No.1), Helsinki (No. 3), Copenhagen (No. 7) and Stockholm (No. 8).

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Propex will shift its corporate focus to erosion control. In addition to civil and environmental engineering solutions like erosion control blankets and mats and geotextiles, the company has a long history of producing products such as carpet backing. But Propex, like many companies, suffered during the economic recession, and its carpet backing business has recovered to only about one-third of its previous height as that industry completely changed. Today, Propex's civil engineering solutions are growing and returning the company to strength. Learn more here.;

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.

TenCate Geosynthetics and AGT International have signed a letter of intent for collaboration on the installation of TenCate GeoDetect® technology in a dike body at the Yellow River in Dayulan (Zhengzhou) in the Henan province in China. TenCate GeoDetect® is a monitoring system based on geotextiles with interwoven fibre optics, which registers changes in embankments and dikes. The system will be used in the AGT Flood Early Warning System.

Houston-based international geosynthetics manufacturer GSE Environmental has announced the purchase, by one of its subsidiaries, of certain manufacturing equipment from Poly-America, L.P. and Poly-Flex, Inc., for $7.5 million. "We believe this equipment purchase will contribute toward achieving our growth objectives and remove competitive capacity from our North American market," said Mark Arnold, GSE President and CEO.

On 30 April 2012, ASTM International (ASTM) will host a free online forum to discuss the coordination of standards activity relative to commercial scale hydraulic fracturing. The forum is open to the public. Stakeholders at all levels of commercial hydraulic fracturing applications are encouraged to attend. Registration for the online session is available at www.astm.org/hydraulicfracturing.

Exceed Geotextile was part of a seven-company, mid-March industrial delegation from Abu Dhabi that visited the Qatari capital Doha, Emirates News Agency reports. Under the leadership of the Department of Economic Development in Abu Dhabi (DED) and in cooperation with Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Higher Corporation of Specialized Economic Zones, the companies evaluated current investment and trade opportunities as well as the infrastructure projects that will be part of Qatar's preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Members of the International Association of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI) recently voted to fill four seats on IAGI's Board of Directors. Candidates were nominated by the industry and those elected will serve on the IAGI Board of Directors during 2012–2013. The IAGI members elected include: John Heap, Colorado Lining International, USA; Max Brady, DDT Liners, Australia; Bill Shehane, Seaman Corporation, USA; and Nicky Araujo, Servicios de Ingenieria Geosintetica, S.A., Costa Rica. Each director will serve for two years. New officers for the IAGI Board of Directors were elected at a recent Board of Directors meeting. Todd Harman was elected to serve as IAGI's President. David McLaury was elected First Vice President and Nicky Araujo was elected Second Vice President. Finally, Chris Eichelberger was elected Treasurer. Brian McKeown will serve the Board as Immediate Past President. All officers will serve two year terms.

The International Association of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI) has published its first newsletter of 2012. This issue includes a welcome note from new IAGI President Todd Harman, an article on the Certified Welding Technician (CWT) "Renewal Process 2.0," an update to the IAGI Buyer's Guide, industry news, a call for entries for IAGI's awards, and an article from Elizabeth Peggs on the beta testing of Geosindex.com. Read the newsletter here (PDF)

In an interview with Calcutta's Telegraph newspaper, A.B. Joshi, a commissioner from the Ministry of Textiles, is quoted as saying "We are going all out for promotion of geotextiles in the Northeast in a big way. Geotextiles [have] been accepted worldwide for enhancing the quality and longevity of roads, but [their] use in India has been minimal." This follows the presentation of the 2012-2013 budget. Included in the Twelfth Plan is a Rs 500 crore (USD $100 million) pilot scheme for the promotion and application of geotextiles in the Northeast. Weaving centers have been planned.

A consortium of innovative Dutch companies, led by Witteveen+Bos and TenCate Geosynthetics, has developed through constructive collaboration the Smart Tailings concept, which aims at managing remnants of pulverized rocks from metal, oil or coal extraction. This waste concerns one of the largest environmental problems in the world. The Smart Tailings concept answers the challenges of large scale rehabilitation assignments with an effective integral remediation design based on enhanced site survey and monitoring techniques. Read more.

The International Association of Dredging Companies presented its Best Paper Award for a Young Author at the PIANC COPEDEC held at the IIT Madras, Chennai, India, on 24 February 2012, to Darshana T. Dassanayake for his paper, "Important Engineering Properties of Geotextile Sand Containers and their Effect on the Hydraulic Stability of GSC Structures." Dassanayake's work has been based on the view that there are not enough guidelines to support this fast-growing application, and his work is an attempt to better define the properties that will make product and system selection stronger, particularly for those who do not have a strong background in hydraulic stability design.

The International Erosion Control Association's charitable fund, Save Our International Land (SOIL), raised more than $1,500 at Environmental Connection 2012 through its third annual SOIL Fund Silent Auction. The auction, which was held on Tuesday, February 28th, featured items collected from countries around the world which were generously donated by SOIL Fund Committee members and active supporters.

The University of Texas - Austin's fracking report, "Fact-Based Regulation for Environmental Protection in Shale Gas Development," has added to the fracking debate by documenting details on the environmental problems actually found at sites. Most of them seem to have resulted from handling, particularly of wastewater, on site rather than from the fracking process. These accidents point to a gap in understanding on both the regulatory and fracking well operator level to understand and utilize containment technologies. A general synopsis of state-by-state liner regulations is found in Table 10a of the draft report (p. 109). Regulations include compacted clay, mention of a generic synthetic liner, specificity of thickness (e.g., 30-mil, 60-mil), specificity of liner type (LLDPE, HDPE, etc.), and so forth.

On Monday, 27 February 2012, at the annual conference and expo of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), the presentation ceremony for the Awards of Environmental Excellence was held. For the past 21 years, IECA has recognized the industry's best by awarding persons and projects epitomizing the principles of environmental excellence.

After a very successful 2012 conference in Las Vegas, the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is keeping its motor running and turning attention to 2013. Environmental Connection, the association's annual gathering, will next take place 10-13 February 2013 in San Diego, California. Are you interested in presenting at EC13? Abstract submittals are due 31 May 2012. Details will be posted to IECA's website soon, so stay tuned or call the Education Department at +1 800 455 4322 or +1 303 640 7554. Learn more here.;