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The 2018 Winter Olympics will be in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the International Olympic Committee just announced from Durban, South Africa. The other finalists were: Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France. Pyeongchang, which has a population of 47,000 and is situated near South Korea's east coast, says it can spread the Olympics to a lucrative new market in Asia and become a hub for winter sports in the region. Learn more here.;

North Georgia Technical College very proudly nominated Tencate Geosynthetics of Habersham County and Caterpillar of Stephens County for the honor of 2011 Manufacturer of the Year in the small business category. Learn more here.;

Bonar Technical Fabrics NV (a Belgium-based producer of woven and nonwoven fabrics for geotextile and agrotextile applications) and and National Petrochemical Industrial Co. (NATPET) have purchased a nonwoven production line from France-based NSC Nonwoven for their fast-tracked joint venture (JV) company in Saudi Arabia. Bonar is a subsidiary of Low and Bonar and NATPET is a producer of polypropylene (PP) resin and a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia-based investment company Alujain Corp.

ASCE News: The Karl Terzaghi Award is presented for outstanding contributions to knowledge in the fields of soil mechanics, subsurface and earthwork engineering, and subsurface and earthwork construction. Nominations due August 15. Awarded in odd years. Learn more here.;

ASCE News: The Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award is presented in recognition of outstanding accomplishments as evidenced by completed works, reports or papers in the field of geotechnical engineering. The award was established to provide professional development opportunities for outstanding young practitioners, researchers and teachers of geotechnical engineering. Nominations due August 15. Learn more here.;

Mammoth Cave, appropriately named, is the longest known cave system in the world. This 365-mile natural underground phenomenon draws more than two million curious visitors each year. In 1984, the National Park Service installed two wastewater stabilization ponds to treat domestic wastewater. Those ponds, lined with Seaman Corporation's XR-5 geomembrane, are still performing well.

A high water table and perpetually weak soils are motivating the town engineer of Munster, Indiana to opt for geogrid reinforcement in this summer's road rebuilds. Learn more here.;

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK33730, "Standard Specification for Rigid Cellular Polystyrene Geofoam." This is a work item revision to existing standard D6817-07. The published rationale for revision notes "Add precision and bias information related to the compressive resistance at 1%, 5%, and 10%." Learn more here.;

At the Chinaplas 2011 event, Borouge, the Middle Eastern-Austrian plastics and chemicals joint venture, touted both its new "all Chinese" management team and a new geomembrane PE grade made using the company's proprietary Borstar technology. Learn more here.;

On Danfoss PolyPower's website, they have profiled the flexible membrane "energy storage membrane" being developed by Denmark-based GO Development. The membrane stores excess wind turbine energy in flexible bladders underground. (Sensors from PolyPower have been used to monitor the strain of the membrane system.) Learn more here.;

The Audubon Charter School in Orleans Parish (New Orleans, Louisiana) will institute geotextile controls to combat unpermissably high lead levels in its play-area soils. The plan calls for dust suppression control and a protective geotextile covering on the site of the modular school buildings and the parking lot. The playground area will be covered with geotextile and new soil. Learn more here.;

Starting with its June/July 2011 issue, Geosynthetics takes an in-depth look at how geosynthetic materials enhance sustainability in myriad applications. The magazine will feature one or two sustainability feature articles in each bimonthly issue. The inaugural article is introductory in nature and is written from a European viewpoint--"Sustainable development using geosynthetics: European perspectives" (now available online). The authors are Russell Jones from Golder Associates-U.K. and Neil Dixon from Loughborough University (U.K.).

In Lansing, Michigan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced more than $76 million in new investments across the country that will redevelop contaminated properties, boost local economies and help create jobs while protecting public health. EPA's brownfields grants are used to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties like deserted gas stations or closed smelters. There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America.

The May 2011 issue of the International Journal of Digital Content Technology and Its Applications includes a short article from Guan Shao-Peng on "Grounding Resistance of Electrode for Electrical Landfill Leakage Detection." Guan's research was supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China and the Natural Science Foundation. Read the paper here (PDF).

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is actively soliciting its industry's input on the proposed permit modifications to construction site stormwater management by the US Environmental Protection Agency. AGC invites all chapters and members to participate in a free members-only webinar on June 1, 1:00 to 3:00 pm (EDT), to discuss the real-world, practical implications of the proposed permit modifications and to gather information from construction professionals. Learn more here.;

Chesapeake Containment Systems, Inc. is a growing geosynthetics installation company seeking a qualified, experienced geosynthetics installation superintendent. Work areas include the Mid-Atlantic, Mid-West, and Southeast US. Must be experienced in multiple material types and installation, safety and quality focused, have a positive teamwork attitude, and out of town travel is a must. Benefits include: Salary of $50,000+ (based on experience), safety and safe driver bonuses, year-end performance bonus, cell phone, computer, company truck, vacation and 401k program.

Kuraray's EVAL™ group today dedicated its new Davis-Standard 7-layer cast coextrusion film and sheet lab line with a Cloeren NanoLayer™ feedblock and die at its Kuraray Research and Technical Center in Pasadena, Texas. The lab line provides leaders and innovators in industries as diverse as food and medical packaging, agricultural films, and building and construction with access to pilot scale lines as they seek ever-higher performance and cost efficiencies through the use of specialty materials.

On April 18 and 19, Geosynthetica's Elizabeth Peggs attended the official ribbon-cutting ceremony and associated technical sessions for Kuraray Americas' new 21-layer cast film and sheet pilot line in Pasadena, Texas. What she found intrigued her. What does EVOH mean for geosynthetics? Peggs writes, "EVOH is potentially very important to waste containment applications and ultimately the environment." Read more.

Edited by R Fangueiro and published by Woodhead, the book "Fibrous and composite materials for civil engineering applications" explores the development of fibrous materials in civil engineering, both as structural reinforcement and in non-structural applications such as geotextiles. Published April 2011. Learn more. Learn more here.;

Researchers from North Carolina State University claim to have identified the microbe that responsible for the build up of large quantities of methane in landfill sites. It is hoped that these findings can be used to accelerate methane production for power generation. "The research community can use our findings to explore ways of accelerating the methane-generation process," said one of the researchers, "creating methane more quickly for power generation, and making additional room in the landfill for waste disposal." Learn more here.;

American Environmental Group, LTD. (www.agel.net) has announced the opening of a new office in Houston, Texas. The office, headed up by industry veteran Ron Zunker, offers specialization for all three major AEGL divisions: geosynthetic materials installation, comprehensive construction of landfill gas (LFG) collection and control systems, and LFG system operation and maintenance services. Located near Bush International Airport, it is strategically located to provide top-quality support to AEGL's work in the South, Southwest and Southeast.

Geocomp Corporation, a leading geo-engineering firm headquartered in Acton, Massachusetts, is proud to announce and welcome Cynthia Cogan, P.E., as a Group Manager of Consulting Services overseeing Massachusetts and California operations. She will have profit and loss responsibility for these groups and, as a senior technical leader, will oversee a growing professional practice.

Translator Alan Johnson has announced the English-translation release of the revised "Recommendations for Design and Analysis of Earth Structures using Geosynthetic Reinforcements - EBGEO" from Germany. Wiley is the publisher. The completely revised and extended Recommendations deal with all questions relevant to the planning and dimensioning of geosynthetics-reinforced earth structures--now including geotextile-encased columns, bridge subsidence, and more. Learn more. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetica's ASTM page charts relevant standards and work item announcements from ASTM International's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics and other relevant committees impacting specficiation and standardization today.

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32975, "Standard Specification for Rigid Cellular Polystyrene Geofoam." This is a work item revision to existing standard D6817-07. Learn more here.;