Containment

Schemes proposed by 15 councils in the United Kingdom to combat flooding and coastal erosion are being backed by £11 million of Government grants. Projects range from creating new sand dunes to buying land to rebuild properties at risk. Erosion affects 30% of the coastline while other areas are at risk of flooding. Learn more here.;

The 3rd Pan-American Conference on Geosynthetics (GeoAmericas 2016) convenes in Miami, Florida April 10 – 13 at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel. This is the first time the event...

Renowned geotechnical engineering professor Kerry Rowe (Queen’s University, Canada) has been selected to deliver the prestigious Croce Lecture at the Italian Geotechnical Society (Associazione Geotecnica Italiana - AGI) annual...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), coal seam gas, containment ponds, and access road stability are just a few of the oil and gas issues profiled in the latest issue of...

The first Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS) is nearly upon us. The event will take place 7-10 September 2008 in Copper Mountain, Colorado. The event organizers have announced their final schedule. For those attending, be sure to reserve lodging soon. Rooms have filled quickly for this event. Read more about the schedule in the release.

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) has published its first issue of IGS News for 2012. Issue 28.1 includes a lead editorial from IGS President Jorge Zornberg on IGS's student and young member initiatives, a call for IGS Council member candidates, reports from key technical committees (Soil Reinforcement, Barrier Systems, Filtration), late 2011 event reports, news of international chapter activities, corporate member news, and much more. Read the issue here (PDF).

From 8-10 June 2010, the American Public Works Association (APWA) will host a conference on sustainability in public works. The event will take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota (site of the 2005 APWA annual conference). And exhibit hall will be available at the conference hotel (the Hilton Minneapolis) and education sessions will focus on key issues such as low-impact development, measuring sustainable return on investment (ROI), selling sustainability politically, success stories, best practices, and much more. Learn more here.;

Through a partnership with Rock Armour LLC, Solmax is furthering its presence in the oil and gas market. The company has unveiled an innovative rockshield pipeline protection solution for...

On Thursday, March 13, specialists in climate change and infrastructure will gather at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for a one-day event, "Adapting Community Infrastructure to Climate Change: Solutions for stormwater management and community forests." Stormwater, erosion control and water resource management are a few of the major topics. Download the event PDF here. Learn more here.;

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that Northern Arizona University's Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals received a $1.75 million grant to support a steering committee of tribal co-regulators to work with EPA on solid and hazardous waste cleanup issues. EPA is also releasing a tribal strategy to advance the protection and restoration of land in Indian country. The new strategy provides a detailed plan of how EPA will strengthen its partnership with tribes to advance the shared goal of protecting public health and land resources in Indian country. Read more.

The Geosynthetics Interest Group of South Africa (GIGSA) invites its members to a tour of the multi-layered, geosynthetic-reinforced embankment at Snake Valley for the Gauteng Rapid Rail Link. The tour will be held on 22 July 2009 at 13:00. Bombela JV has been the contractor for this intriguing project and materials have been supplied by Kaytech. Interested attendees shoulod contact Jo-Ann Hechter, (011) 8798400, or e-mail adminjhb@kaytech.co.za, and ask for a map to the site office. GIGSA is the host chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) for the forthcoming GeoAfrica 2009 conference (2-5 September 2009, Cape Town). Learn more here.;

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has honored Samuel R. Allen, vice president of TRI/Environmental Inc. in Austin, Texas, with the ASTM Award of Merit and honorary title of fellow. The Award of Merit is the highest ASTM honor for distinguished service and outstanding participation in committee activities. Read more about this well-deserved award.

LyondellBasell (NYSE: LYB) today announced that Bhavesh V. (Bob) Patel has been named senior vice president, Olefins & Polyolefins-Europe, Asia and International (EAI), with additional responsibilities for licensing and catalyst sales, effective immediately. Patel will succeed Anton de Vries who has departed from the company. Read more.

About 25 miles west of Yuma, across the Colorado River in California's sand-dunes country, construction crews work day and night on two gaping basins that will, inside of a year, add another piece to Arizona's increasingly complex water future. Learn more here.;

Yesterday, March 20, was not only the first official day of spring but National Agriculture Day. Woods Houghton's guest column in the Current Argus newspaper, published in New Mexico, offers some interesting statistics on the United States agriculture industry. For example, farmers manage 1.3 million acres of water conveyance ditches. Learn more here.;

Prof. Robert M. Koerner has come out with the Sixth Edition of Designing With Geosynthetics. As with prior volumes, it comes with helpful test questions after each chapter with answers provided at the end of the book. Currently, Koerner is professor emeritus of Drexel University.

Iryna Popova, Director of EcoInform, has announced that a draft program is now available for the 6th Cooperation for Waste Issues conference, which will take place 8-9 April 2009 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Key topics at the event include municipal and industrial waste, radioactive waste, environmental compliance, biomass, energy generation, and much more. View the program today. Geosynthetica.net is a cooperating organization to the event. Learn more here.;

I-CORP International's Dr. Ian D. Peggs, P.E., P.Eng has shared a survey on extra-wide geomembranes. Your participation is invited. Responses are sought from manufacturers, distributors, installers, construction/contracting firms, design...

SKZ's Geosynthetics Middle East 2013 (6 GEOME) will be held under the patronage of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City. The conference takes place 29 - 30 October 2013 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Conference Delegates will have...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is making information publicly available from electric utilities on the management of coal combustion residuals contained in surface impoundments and similar management units. Following the coal ash spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility in Kingston, Tenn., EPA requested the information from electric utilities to inform an assessment of the structural integrity of the surface impoundments. The responses from electric utilities cover 584 units from 219 facilities.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) will hold the First International GSI-Asia Geosynthetics Conference at the Windsor Hotel Taichung in Taichung, Taiwan from 16-18 November 2010. The conference themes is "Geosynthetics in Infrastructure Applications." GSI's Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI) annually holds an international event in North America. That event is nearing its 25th anniversary. The launch of an international forum serving the Asia region is exciting news. Read more.

In South Africa, the "Dustbowl" traders along a much-needed lagoon access-road reinforcement project are suffering. Jo-Ann Bekker's story notes the significant decline in cheese sales during construction. But the upgrades are vital: gabion support on the embankments to protect against slip failure. Turbidity curtains have also been installed to contain disturbed clay that is mixing into the lagoon. With any luck, the dustbowl trading station will be free of obstructions soon and normal sales will resume. Learn more here.;

Bateman Engineering has commenced the engineering and procurement (EP) on the Maxi phase of the innovative greenfields Trekkopje project in the heart of Namibia's Namib Desert, some 65 km north-east of the coastal town of Swakopmund. The French nuclear giant AREVA, through its subsidiary AREVA Resources Namibia and AREVA Processing Namibia Pty (Ltd), is developing the world's first uranium mine to utilise an alkaline heap leach process. The heap leach pad will comprise 30 cells in total, of which about 22 will be active at any given time, while the remainder will be in various stages of construction (stacking), demolition (reclaiming), or maintenance per the OOHLP (On-Off Heap Leach Pad) method.

Royal Ten Cate has released its financial results for the first half of 2011. Overall, the company is performing well, despite rising raw material costs--posting a 69% increase in profit over the same period last year. The company foresees growth for the geosynthetics division in Asia and South America currently and going forward. Read select highlights, comments and a review of the Geosynthetics and Grass Division performance here.

It's Valentine's Day, so we encourage you to take precautions and avoid failures--geosynthetic failures, that is. Canadian Environmental Protection's first issue of 2008 includes an article on failure prevention (and liability protection). The issue also contains a prefabricated vertical drain (PVD) project, Strata's 18-ft.-wide geogrids, and prefab drainage in the Vancouver Olympics infrastructure upgrades. Learn more here.;