Ground Improvement

Textile World reports that Summerville, South Carolina-based Thrace-Linq Inc. has commissioned a state-of-the-art needlepunched nonwoven manufacturing line from NSC Nonwoven. Greece-based Thrace Plastics Co. S.A. manufactures woven and nonwoven geotextiles. The company acquired Linq in mid-2007 to form Thrace-Linq. Learn more here.;

The Associated Press reports that another round of billions from the federal stimulus package in the United States will be released to the states over the summer. Among the many projects targeted, approximately 200 projects in rural waste and water systems will be performed by the US Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will expedite cleanup at 20 Superfund sites. US Vice President Joe Biden has added to the discussion that the stimulus work in the coming months will add roughly 600,000 jobs. A significant portion of those jobs will be part of the 1500 road projects aided by the next round of stimulus. Learn more here.;

As of 1 June 2009, Axter Coletanche, makers of bituminous geomembranes, has discontinued its main distributor relationship in Quebec and is heading up its own distribution of the Coletanche bituminous liner in Canada. Bertrand Bruel is leading this effort from his office in Montreal. He reports hightened interest in the use of bituminous geomembranes in global dam construction after the company's recent visit to the ICOLD conference in Brazil. Learn more here.;

Oasis State Park in New Mexico is a popular fishing spot in Portales along the eastern border of the state. The lake was recently restocked with catfish and reopened to the public. The man-made lake was restored after two failures of clay liners--the first of which (February 2008) was a failure after 20 years of use, and the second after about two weeks when a company attempted to rehabilitate the old clay. A geosynthetic lining system was acquired and now promises renewed, long-term use. Learn more here.;

In Cumberland County, Tennessee, a company has proposed using coal ash in the reclamation and beneficial reuse of a 300-acre former mining site on Smith Mountain. A public hearing has taken place during which residents expressed considerable concerns. Tennessee, as many readers know, is where more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled when a Kingston-based facility's ash pond failed last December. The proposed project on Smith Mountain would use liners, samples of which were shown at the hearing. More is expected from the County Commission after its June 15 meeting. Learn more here.;

ProcessingTalk has published a recap of the 6-7 May 2009 event "Plastics in Underground Pipes 2009," which was held in Orlando, Florida. The conference was orchestrated by Applied Market Information (AMI), organizers of numberous global plastics events such as the forthcoming Waterproof Membranes 2009 event in Germany. Read ProcessingTalk's recap. Learn more here.;

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was in charge of the unlined, Kingston, Tennessee coal ash storage facility when it broke in December 2008 and released more than 5 million cubic yards of coal ash across a couple hundred acres. Cleanup is expected to cost well more than $600 million. Currently, TVA is construction a gypsum storage pond, but the plans call for only a clay liner. Local officials are pushing for a geosynthetic lining system. Learn more here.;

The Industrial Fabrics Association International's (IFAI) annual International Achievement Awards (IAA) competition is accepting submissions through 15 June 2009. Among the 28 entry categories, you'll find "Geosynthetics." One change to this year's competition is an entry fee, but it is a nominal fee. We encourage you to look into this event and share your projects and experience with the larger industry. Need help with preparing your submission or writing about your project? Contact the writers and editors at geosynthetica.net. Download the competition PDF. Learn more here.;

The Quality Data Oversight and Review (QDOR) program is accepting rolled erosion control products for review during the August 2009 meeting of the Erosion Control Technology Council. All products received by 3 July 2009 will be eligible for review. Anything submitted after that would be reviewed during the December 2009 meetings. Read more in the release.

The government of India and INDA, a nonwovens industry association, are teaming up to organize nonwovens and geotextile workshops. The aim is to improve the technical textile knowledge base in the country. Learn more here.;

Byron Bay lies along Australia's Gold Coast. Storms have caused considerable erosion problems. One homeowner, John Vaughan, is going to court over injunctions against hard armor solutions. Softer solutions, such as geotextile tubes, are preferred. Vaughan has lost thousands of cubic meters of land to erosion. In the meantime, he's pushing to at least be allowed to make repairs to geotextile bags that are defending his land. Even that work seems tenuous given the area's "retreat" policy in regards to erosion. Learn more here.;

More stringent environmental regulations have been coming to American Indian reservations, with some tribal nations creating or debating the creation of environmental cleanup programs similar to the US federal government's Superfund. The Cherokee Nation has been upgrading landfill quality, such as with the installation of leachate pond liners in the Cherry Tree, Oklahoma area and the construction of a new cell. Learn more here.;

In the 1980s, an accident at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick Labs) along Lake Cochituate in Massachusetts released a considerable amount of PCBs. Natick officials and engineers have now drafted a plan to finally clean up the site, which has been studied since the early 1990s. Geotextile tubes will be used. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics is as a supplier involved in projects in both Nigeria and the United States, in which TenCate Geotube® technology is being deployed. In Nigeria, TenCate Geotube® is being used to strengthen and protect river banks in the Niger delta. In the US, TenCate Geosynthetics is working with the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the rehabilitation and protection of the coastal strip of Grand Isle in New Orleans (Louisiana). (CONTINUED.)

The Michigan Messenger reports that the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) approach to cleaning up the Hudson River is vastly different than how the Saginaw River is being approach, despite similar dioxin-contaminated sediment concerns. The Hudson has been declared a Superfund site; the Saginaw has not. The Hudson's dredged material will be disposed of in lined landfills; Saginaw's is scheduled for unlined pits (by US Army Corps of Engineers plans). The Hudson River project uses silt curtains to contain sediment; Saginaw's does not. Learn more here.;

The Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) most recent newsletter focuses almost exclusively on the Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC), the 2009 edition of which was held in Orlando, Florida in late February. Read about the issues that influenced this conference on sustainability and read the earliest promotions for GPEC 2010, which will be held 9-10 March 2010 in Orlando. Read the newsletter online in PDF. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetics magazine editor Ron Bygness has passed along a photo from his recent visit to Korea, where he visited companies, testing laboratories, and university classes. He promises a more detailed outline of the trip will be published in the next issue of Geosynthetics. Read a summary of the soon-to-be-published issue and view the photo in full size. Also, geosynthetica invites you to share your work site and travel images with our readers. Contact chris@geosynthetica.net for more information.

Writing for NJ Biz, Shankar P. analyzes the role lobbyists are playing in influencing the spending of federal stimulus funds. Shankar's article includes mention of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) and the company's manufacturing facility in New Jersey. Learn more here.;

Like most segments of our global economies, professional associations and societies have suffered during the current downturn. Civil engineering and affiliated professional associations have certainly not been spared. But the work they do is important to our collective work. We encourage you to take a moment to check on the status of your memberships and to renew them if you find they've lapsed. (Continued.)

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is offering a new benefit for members: Expert Chats. The first offering of this online-hosted, interactive event will be held 29 May 2009 from 2:00-3:00 pm (MDT). Phil Handley, REM, CPESC, of the San Antonio Water System will serve as the first expert in the informal chat series. (Continued.)

Don't forget to submit your abstracts to the International Erosion Control Association's (IECA) next Environmental Connection event. EC10 will be held in Dallas, Texas 14-17 Februrary 2010. Abstracts will be accepted through 29 May 2009. "Hot Topics" for 2010 are LEED for new construction, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. Learn more here.;

The Institute of Engineers (India) is co-organizing a one-day national workshop on 29 May 2009 for "New Technology and Prospects of Its Commercialisation for Rural Development." Among the many technologies to be discussed: geotextiles for infrastructure. The Indian market must grow quickly to meet the needs of the nation's large population and rapidly expanding economy. Geosynthetics and affiliated technologies are currently underutilized in the overall infrastructure. Learn more here.;

Plastics Information Direct (PID) is a division of Applied Market Information (AMI) LLC. Three interesting titles are now available: "Industry Guide to Polymer Nanocomposites"; "Energy Management in Plastic Processing: Strategies, Targets, Techniques and Tools"; and "Cost Management in Plastic Processing (2007)." Learn more about these books.

The chair of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Thailand Chapter, Dennes Bergado, has issued a call for abstracts for December's International Symposium on "Geotechnical Engineering, Ground Improvement, and Geosynthetics for Sustainable Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change including Global Warming. The event will be held 3-4 December 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. A draft copy of the brochure is available here in PDF. The conference welcomes your abstracts and any interested speaker suggestions.

A large fire destroyed a facility owned by Martek Inc., Burlington, Ontario, Canada. Among the many products carried by Martek are erosion control blankets and geotextiles. Fire officials noted that the size and intensity of the fire was in part fed by the straw and coconut fibers in the ECBs. The polypropylene fibers in some geotextile products also proved to burn quickly. Investigators are still determining what started the blaze. The type of materials stored, however, may indicate that spontaneous combustion played a role. The natural materials present in the construction products mirror those found in barns that experience the same type of sudden fires. Learn more here.;