Containment

The village of Sabina and the Ohio EPA have reached an agreement that’s meant to help the town meet its obligations under the Clean Water Act and eliminate sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) by the summer of 2013. Extensive sewer liner installations have been completed, a small fine will be paid, and various projects have been agreed upon. Since 2006, has used geotextile bags for sludge dewatering. This process has assisted the village significantly in reaching its goals. Learn more here.;

Wayne Farrow, Vice President Geosynthetic Operations for Atlantic Lining Co., Inc. (ALCO), has announced that the company has moved fully into its new offices at 2206 Saylors Pond Road, Jobstown, NJ 08041. Phone: +1 609 723 2400 ext. 304. Fax: +1 609 723 2700. Learn more about ALCO's work at www.atlanticlining.com. Learn more here.;

In Colombia, crews have closed about half of a canal levee breach through which water is flowing at a rate of 1,400 cubic meters per second. Six districts have been inundated with 15 billion cubic meters of water. "The fact that it's still raining and continuing to exacerbate problems in Atlantico and Barranquilla [departments] tells me there will be problems with all infrastructure -- roads and bridges, buildings, drainage, water and wastewater treatment systems and parks and recreation," says Dave Brauner, a private sector consultant. Learn more here.;

MC Endeavors, Inc. has announced that its subsidiary CENTIUUM Holdings, Inc. has signed a Joint Venture agreement with OneSource Company Ltd. of South Korea to support the installation of their underground storm water retention chambers manufactured by StormTech LLC for projects in South Korea. OneSource is the premier outsourcing company in Korea with offices in Seoul and Hong Kong. StormTech LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) which is the world's largest producer of corrugated HDPE pipe.

Geomembrane barriers are essential to many applications and industries, but they do not perform as designed unless their highly-engineered panels are properly welded. Welding requires care and precision, and the longer it takes to secure a barrier, the more expensive the installation becomes. Demtech's latest wedge welder, the Pro-Wedge 3XL, is the most advanced wedge welder on the market, combining exceptional safety and accuracy with what is by far the fastest welding speed available. With its longer wedge and greater heating power, it is 3 times faster, even for the most challenging geomembrane installations. Read more.

The construction industry in Europe has been in decline since 2008, with figures from Euroconstruct showing total spend of 1444 billion euros in 2008, 1316 in 2009 and an anticipated 1264 in 2010. Jon Nash of AMI Consulting reviewed this data in a market paper at the annual AMI conference Waterproof Membranes 2010, which took place in December in Cologne, Germany. Around 50% of construction was new build this year. The situation is expected to improve in 2011 with around 1% growth. Civil engineering has been sustained throughout this time frame by government expenditure.

The Thirteenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium (Sardinia 2011) will be held 3-7 October 2011 in Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia, Italy. Themes include legislation, waste management strategies, decision tools, climate change, wastewater and more. Abstracts are accepted through 15 February 2011.

When gas gets under a geomembrane, operations-impairing bubbles can form. A number of reasons may be responsible, such as installation damage, poor seaming, or a lack of appropriate construction quality assurance (CQA) measures like liner integrity surveys. These bubbles are commonly referred to as "whales," and they can impact wastewater facilities, manure lagoons, ponds and other lined installations. As this photo demonstrates, even 6 in. (150 mm) thick concrete slabs are insufficient ballast to prevent whales due to trapped air and rising groundwater under a geomembrane liner. Read more.

Austria-based geosynthetics and plastic pipe manufacturer Agru has released the fourth and final 2010 issue of the Agru Times. This issue includes a number of interesting developments, such as the expansion of pipe production in China, a flue-gas desulpherization system, large-diameter pipe rehabilitation, and foamed polypropylene sheets. Read the issue today (PDF).

Last month, the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) and National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST) convened the 1st GSI-Asia Geosynthetics Conference. The conference was held in Taichung, Taiwan with the theme "Geosynthetics in Infrastructure." Primary topics included Mechanical Stabilized Earth Structures, Coastal and Hydraulic Engineering, Erosion Control and Sustainable Engineering, and Transportation and Pavement Engineering. Learn more here.;

State regulators have ordered TVA to stop using the gypsum pond and install a new pond liner after a leak was discovered last week at the utility’s Kingston Fossil Plant. The leak was discovered Wednesday, just a week away from the two-year anniversary of TVA’s massive coal ash spill at the same power plant. The order will idle TVA’s new $456 million scrubber that started work last June to cut most of the plant’s emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides. Learn more here.;

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.

The first Erosion Control issue of 2011 is available. The issue's cleaner, more interactive digital edition makes a nice impact, and an expansive cover story on geosynthetics (in flood control, slope stabilization and dewatering) is included. Other stories focus on TRMs and blankets, silt fence and wattles, retaining walls and other issues. Read it online today. Learn more here.;

Rio Alto Mining Limited has provided an update on activities at the La Arena Gold Oxide Project located in Peru. Construction activities began at La Arena in August 2010. To date, 100 percent of the earthworks related to the construction of the 9 ha run of mine (ROM) Pad 1A have been completed and 70 percent of the pad has been lined with geomembrane. Also, 100 percent of the earthworks related to the 60,000 m3 PLS (Pregnant Liquor Storage) Pond has been completed and sub-drainage installation has commenced.

During the recent CQA Week events at TRI/Environmental's campus in Austin, Texas, two days were given to the T-CLIC geoelectric Liner Integrity Survey and Assessment (LISA) course, which combines both classroom and practical, hands-on field training in on-site test cells. The course saw a very eclectic, enthusiastic, and international group learn about locating leaks in geomembrane lining systems. Participants came from South Africa (2), Portugal, and Peru, as well as North America. Installers, engineers, and construction quality assurance (CQA) firms were represented. In a new development for the course, instructor Ian D. Peggs (I-CORP INTERNATIONAL) was supported by Abigail Beck of Ausenco Vector. Ms. Beck presented segments on development of LISA as a business, liner design considerations, case histories and defects found, and future directions. Rich Lacey (TRI) presented the segment on Electricity 101. Read more.

Solmax International Inc., a worldwide manufacturer of Polyethylene geomembrane, announces that from now on, its Malaysian plant will manufacture 8-meter-wide geomembrane rolls. In our ongoing continuous improvement process and in an effort to offer our clients products that better meet their needs, we have made certain modifications to our equipment allowing us to produce 8-meter-wide rolls. This change applies to all our products in the "9000" Series, which are manufactured in our Malaysian plant.

The Geo-Frontiers 2011 event includes 8 short courses, 90 sessions within 10 technical tracks, student programs, networking events, award programs, the GRI-24 annual conference and will feature 4 highly regarded plenary sessions: H. Bolton Seed Lecture, Peck Lecture, Terzaghi Lecture, and the Mercer Lecture. In addition to the educational component of Geo-Frontiers the event will feature an exhibit hall with over 120 geotechnical products and services. Read more.

Lack of fresh water is a concern for countries with growing populations and poor water infrastructure, such as India, Egypt and Ethiopia. Water withdrawals over the next 15 years ill increase by 50% in developing countries and 18% in developed countries, according to the Global Environment Outlook. More than 1 billion people worldwide do not have access to fresh water. Learn more here.;

The December 2010 issue of NAUE News is perhaps the company's most ambitious to date, in terms of content range. The introductory article addresses the departure of long-time managing director Prof.-Ing. Dr. Georg Heerten, who is retiring from his primary day-to-day operations with NAUE. Project stories in the issue look at countering the danger posed to a community by the sudden appearance of a sinkhole; high-speed railway improvement; foundation protection; landfill sealing; dam restoration; and much more. These projects are set in Australia, Germany, Romania, Burkina Faso, and elsewhere.

Trelleborg, through its Trelleborg Engineered Systems business area, has signed an agreement to acquire PPL Polyurethane Products Ltd., which has annual sales of approximately SEK 90 M and about 90 employees. PPL Polyurethane Products is based in the UK and develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of polyurethane-based solutions and products, with a focus on the offshore oil/gas and infrastructure segments.

Philadelphia has released a $1.6 billion proposal for building a sustainable stormwater-management system across the city over the next 20 years. The program will build stormwater-mitigation structures fashioned to imitate the natural process of absorbing and treating runoff. The plan needs approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Learn more here.;

Trelleborg has signed an agreement with the European Investment Bank in respect of a long term loan totaling EUR 80 M. The loan is intended to finance a part of Trelleborg's expenditures for selected research and development projects in number of European countries extending out into 2012. These research and development projects focus on the further development of advanced polymer technology and related products to seal, damp and protect in demanding environments.

In Fenton, Michigan, city officials are debating whether to spend $50,000-$70,000 to encapsulate arsenic-contaminated soil across seven acres of the as-yet-unfinished Orchard Hills housing development. The site was previously an orchard, and pesticides once used there contained arsenic. The city is ambivalent about this extra cost and hopes to get an environmental assessment first. If approved, the contaminated soil would be capped with geotextile and covered in 12 inches of clean soil. Unfinished Orchard Hills housing development. But, since seven acres has arsenic in the soil from pesticides used on old orchards, they would like to get an environmental assessment done, first Learn more here.;

After four years and four hurricanes, Grand Isle, Louisiana is rebuilding with a focus on tourism. It's all being enabled with the help of geosynthetic tubes. To protect the island from future storms, the state and federal governments are spending millions on new drainage pumps and 30-feet-in-circumference geosynthetic tubes within and along the 6.5-mile levee system. The tubes are filled with compacted tubes and designed to keep the levees weighted down enough to survive future storms. 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.