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A New York economist and consultant, Sean Neill, is advocating a new commercial lease structure that would give building owners incentive to green their properties. The idea is to revise standard leases to share the cost and benefits of upgrades and retrofits. From the New York Times. Learn more here.;

The Secugrid® line of geogrids have developed a strong reputation around the world with both biaxial and uniaxial geogrid constructions (Secugrid® Q and R), as well as a composite...

The Middle East is one of the world’s real growth zones in polymeric materials production right now. The region has been a traditional, key supply point for raw materials, but now a number of manufacturers have made end products, such as geomembranes, their focus. Kangaroo Plastics LLC, based in the United Arab Emirates, is one of these firms. But unlike the many new manufacturers in the region, Kangaroo has been active in polymeric materials production since the mid-1970s. Learn more about the company. Learn more here.;

The Organizing Committee of Cobramseg and the the 7th Brazilian Symposium on Rock Mechanics (SBMR) have assembled a strong short course program. These courses will be held on October...

By Bruno Pedroni – The Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) is one of the most prestigious engineering institute’s in Brazil. The Institute's geosynthetics group (GGGAITA) is celebrating its...

From the arrival of the Romans to the Saxons and Normans clashing upon the shore, and from the Spanish Armada to Napolean and two World Wars, England has a...

ASTM International’s Committee D35 on Geosynthetics held its mid-year committee week 5 – 7 June 2019 in Denver, Colorado. The D35 awards reception served as an inspiring highlight, with multiple honors...

Solmax continues a trend of big moves, this time announcing that industry veteran Eric Blond is the company’s new Global Technical Director. Blond brings nearly 25 years of geotechnical...

In recent years, NAUE has truly staked its claim as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of geosynthetics through a series of high-impact activities. The company has invested significantly...

GeoAmericas 2020 will be the 4th Pan-American Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. The quadrennial event will be held 26 – 29 April 2020 in historic Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The...

Presto Geosystems has served as a leader in the geosynthetics field for nearly 40 years, including being an innovator in the truest sense: the company invented geocellular confinement technology...

Raven Industries boasts a strong track record of manufacturing innovations and especially in regard to multi-layer barrier materials for geotechnical applications. The company has announced another advance in 7-layer extrusion....

The Geosynthetic Institute had a particularly busy 2018 with White Papers, issuing five of them. All of them are worth reading. One that particularly caught our eye, however, was...

Following a few years of significant manufacturing investments around the world, HUESKER has announced major transitions in its international management team. Sven Schröer, who has led an enormous endeavor at...

The largest contracted installer of geosynthetic lining materials in the United States, Environmental Specialties International, has added Ryan Bunch to its team as Project Manager. Bunch brings something quite...

TenCate has grown steadily to become one of the world’s largest geosynthetics companies. While the company’s products are well known, its origin in the industry is seldom noted—but it was certainly an extraordinary beginning and underscores the vital role geosynthetics have come to play in improving modern infrastructures. To mark this 60-year anniversary in the development of the Delta Works flood control solution--one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World--an infographic detailing TenCate’s involvement in the project has been published.

TRI Environmental recently announced CQA Week training events in Perth, Western Australia (March 18-21). The company has now confirmed that it is also holding a 2Q CQA Week in Austin, Texas, 29 April - 3 May. CQA Week is a semi-annual educational event that offers professional development in liner integrity survey/assessment (LISA), CQC/CQA for geosynthetic installation, CQC/CQA with compacted clay liners and geosynthetic clay liners, and an opportunity to sit for the Geosynthetic Institute's Inspector's Certification Program exam. Learn more in the Austin event's brochure (PDF).

ASTM International announced today that it has been accredited by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC). With 1,400 members in Canada and 180 ASTM standards referenced in Canadian federal legislation, SCC accreditation further strengthens ASTM's presence in Canada. Located in Ottawa, Ontario, SCC carries out a variety of functions to ensure the effective and coordinated operation of standardization in Canada. Accreditation signifies that ASTM meets all of the requirements for consensus standards development set by SCC. These requirements mirror the principles of the World Trade Organization: transparency, openness, consensus and relevance. SCC's audit was conducted on 6–8 November 2012, at ASTM headquarters.

The Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) will present a Webinar entitled "Coal Ash Management and Regulations" on Tuesday, 19 February 2013 from 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (EST). Coal accounts for more than a third of electricity generation in the U.S., resulting in over 130 million short tons of coal combustion residuals (CCR) annually. This makes coal ash one of the largest waste streams in the U.S. This webinar provides a primer on CCRs as well as recommendations for their management and characterization in light of these changes. Speakers: John Daniels and Christopher Hardin. Learn more and register.

Tensar International, the leader in geosynthetic soil reinforcement and stabilization, announced the sale of its Endurablend™ Systems assets and business to Pavement Surface Coatings, LLC (PSC). The sale will allow Tensar to re-focus certain assets and resources on its growing portfolio of site development solutions and pavement optimization technologies and was concluded after careful consideration of various options for either growing or divesting the business.

GSE Environmental, a leading global manufacturer and provider of geosynthetic lining products and services, has announced the launch of its Coal Ash Barrier System, which addresses increasing concerns about coal ash containment and the possibility of groundwater contamination. The system was unveiled during GSE's coal ash technical seminar held in Virginia. With power facilities and utility companies realizing the consequences of having insufficient coal ash containment and with new EPA regulations pending, GSE took proactive measures to provide the energy industry with a first of its kind containment system that combines three of the company's proven geosynthetic products that meet or exceed regulatory standards to maximize groundwater protection and minimize both risks and costs.

In Geo-Strata, a publication of the Geo-Institute (G-I) of ASCE, it was announced that Dr. Jorge Zornberg, P.E., M.ASCE, President of the International Geosynthetics Society and a professor of engineering with the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded the Croes Medal. He will receive the award along with John McCartney (Ph.D. 2007). The two co-authored a 2010 paper on "Centrifuge Permeameter for Unsaturated Soils: Theoretical Basis and Experimental Developments." The paper first appeared in the August 2010 issue of the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. The Croes Medal, one of ASCE's most respect honors, is awarded on an annual basis and recognizes technical papers in the area of engineering science. Learn more here.;

Africa continues to generate the buzz in the mining sector and Australia can be a key part of the growth story. One of Australia's largest mining events, the African Down Under (ADU) conference, was held in Perth recently and was focused on Africa's potential to be an economic powerhouse before the end of the century. South Africa's Minister for mining, the Honourable Minister Susan Shabangu likened the boom potential to a new dawn: "that Africa now sits at the dawn of an African Century". Read more from Coffey Mining.

Global professional services consultancy Coffey Geotechnics announces the appointment of Ron Morley as Principal Geotechnical Engineer in Western Australia. Ron, has over 35 years’ geotechnical experience for transportation systems, oil and gas projects, ports and harbours and commercial developments with global expertise gained from projects in the UK, Middle East, Far East, US and Australia.

Tensar Corporation's Geopier Foundation Company subsidiary ("Geopier'), a leader in ground improvement solutions, today announced its acquisition of Slope Reinforcement Technology, LLC ("SRT"). The acquisition allows Geopier to offer slope stabilization solutions while boosting SRT's market reach. Geopier has historically focused on providing vertical ground reinforcement in support of foundations and their structures. SRT has concentrated on slopes that have failed or are potentially unstable.