Ground Improvement

The week opens with two work item announcements from ASTM International. Both items are revision proposals from Committee D18 on Soil and Rock and are related to rolled erosion control products: WK24125, Revision of D6459-07 Standard Test Method for Determination of Rolled Erosion Control Product (RECP) Performance in Protecting Hillslopes from Rainfall-Induced Erosion; and WK24126, Revision of D6460-07 Standard Test Method for Determination of Rolled Erosion Control Product (RECP) Performance in Protecting Earthen Channels from Stormwater-Induced Erosion. Track the latest on our ASTM Update page.

SKZ, with scientific committee support from Cemagref and the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI), announces the 3rd International Symposium on Geosynthetic Clay Liners, to be held at the Fortress Marienberg in Würzburg, Germany 15-16 September 2010. Abstract and papers for oral or poster presentations are invited on the following topics: Application / case studies (Landfills, Canals, Reservoirs / Dams, Transportation Infrastructure) • Durability / Lifetime • Laboratory testing • Performance (Cation exchange, Desiccation, Experience from excavation • Regulations / Approvals. Abstracts must be submitted via e-mail to: gbr-c2k10@skz.de no later than 30 September 2009. View the flyer in PDF.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) has announced a worldwide call for requests-for-proposals (RFPs) focusing on "innovative" geosynthetics research and development projects. This will be the second class of awardees in the GSI Fellowship series, the having been awarded in 2008. Multiple awards of up to $10,000 per year will be given. Each is renewable, pending an annual written report, to a total amount of $25,000 per student. Read the call from Jamie Koerner and Robert Koerner.

Approximately 50 people from North America, the United Kingdom, Austria, Spain and Norway, attended Applied Market Information's (AMI) "Plastics in Underground Pipe 2009" conference in Orlando, Florida on 6 and 7 May. Pipe conferences are invariably good events to learn about the performance characteristics of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) for extension to geomembranes and other geosynthetics. This conference was no exception. Read Ian Peggs' review.

France-based Cemagref's Hydraulic Structures team has been using a new experimental platform since 2006 to test leak-detection systems in levees. The platform, financed by the Carnot fund, acts as a stimulus for a number of partnership research projects on structure monitoring. The platform was originally used for the Hydrodetect partnership-research project. TenCate helped coordinate the work, which has been assessing the capacity of a geotextile fabric equipped with fiber optic detection technology. Paul Royet of Cemagref writes on the latest experimental installations and how this new technology may be the future of hydraulic structure leak detection systems. Read the article here.

Terrafix Geosynthetics is among the five finalists for this year's Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) Mind to Market award, with the winner to be announced during events on May 11 and 12 events. OCE's release singles out Terrafix for "making the world's landfills safer with its geosynthetic clay liner." Read the full release here.

International Water Power and Dam Construction has published an article from Rachel Wright on the important roll pumped storage will play in future renewable energy technologies. In example, she writes on the North Eden hydroelectric project in Utah--a rare display of intensive green engineering for the state. Reservoir construction at the site will utilize EPDM geomembrane. Read the article here. Learn more here.;

The 185-mile-long, historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal--more familiarly known as the C&O Canal--was compeleted in 1850 and served as a major transport corridor for goods such as lumber and grain. Today, it is a national park surrounded by more than 12,000 acres of land. Not long ago, a towpath began to fail when drainage pipe broke. The saturated slope gave way and exposed a main water line for Arlington County, Virginia. Repair of the slope was key both for the preservation of this historic canal and for the safety of Arlington's water supply. Maccaferri's Green Terramesh® system was selected to provide slope stability and vegetation for the natural look park patrons and officials seek along the C&O. Construction was quick, economical and effective. Read Pino Cignarella's case study.

The France-based public research institute Cemagref has redesigned its logo as part of its new 2020 Strategic Plan. Gone is the old hexagon with its furrows and three colors. In its place, Cemagref’s logo uses a simpler, more modern design. The new oval, Cemagref reports, symbolizes the Earth and its cycles. Blue and green colors reflect nature. And further reinforcing these themes, the words “water and land management” have been added to stress the institute’s environmental-oriented, multi-discipline work. 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.

Sally Humphreys of Applied Market Information (AMI) has announced a call for papers for PVC Formulation 2010. She invites you to take part in the 2nd international conference on PVC Formulation, which will take place 16-18 March 2010 at the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany. There will be a drinks reception and registration on the first day, followed by a 2-day technical programme. Read more about the event and the topics sought for presentations.

The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) has experienced dramatic membership growth since the kick-off meeting held on 26 February 2009 in Salt Lake City. (The meeting was held in conjunction with the Geosynthetics 2009 conference.) Andrew Mills has headed the membership recruitment efforts for FGI. As a result of Mr. Mills' efforts, 15 companies have joined at the manufacturing membership level; six companies have joined at the fabricator/installer membership level; and five companies have joined at the associate level membership. Read more in the release.

Royal Ten Cate announces that the number of dividend rights that grant entitlement to 1 new share has been fixed at 33 dividend rights of an ordinary share with a par value of EUR 2.50. With reference to the press release dated 9 April 2009 in relation to the payment of dividend for the financial year 2008, Royal Ten Cate announces that with regard to the stock dividend and the optional dividend the number of dividend rights that grant entitlement to 1 new share has been fixed at 33 dividend rights of an ordinary share with a par value of EUR 2.50.

In Columbia, Missouri, the 74-acre Crosscreek development has angered city council representatives who believe that the past two years worth of erosion at the site--which features steepened slopes--is unacceptable. One council member believes that the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) standards are not strong enough. In this part of Missouri, for example, they are intended to guard against an inch of rain in 24 hours; but the site in question just suffered a two-inch rain event in a 24-hour period. This actually occurred twice in one week. Learn more here.;

Because of a political union between the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the United States, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel from Region 9 help monitor issues such as environmental contamination and erosion and provide or propose programs for implementation within the CNMI. Officials from the EPA are currently conducting a mid-year review of CNMI Division of Environmental Quality (DEQ) programs for erosion control, wastewater management, brownfields, and more.

In 2008, Oregon-based BTL moved into a cavernous new facility--one that can finally meet its project demands. This is the second facility expansion move for BTL in only a few years. One project that underscores the advantages of the new headquarters is the 105,000 sq. ft. single-panel of 20-mil geomembrane that the company fabricated for a pond liner project in Wisconsin. Read the case study here.

Chattanooga-based Propex Holding LLC has named Stan Brant, Jr., as President, Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Mr. Brant is a proven leader with experience as a chief executive, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Propex, Inc., responsible for directing all of the company’s geosynthetic, concrete, furnishing and industrial fabrics and fiber manufacturing activities. Prior to joining Propex, Brant spent 17 years with Duracell, where he held several key manufacturing and engineering leadership roles and ultimately served as Vice President of Engineering for Duracell Batteries.

Propex Inc. announced today the sale of substantially all of its assets to Propex Holding, LLC, an entity owned by a fund managed by Wayzata Investment Partners, a Minneapolis based private equity firm. Bankruptcy Judge John C. Cook approved Wayzata’s bid for Propex’s assets on 30 March 2009. (Continued.)

Ian Peggs writes on the four criteria of performing a successful geoelectric integrity survey on a double-liner system, and ways in which designs may hinder or prevent a proper leak location survey.

The massive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is having a considerable (and beneficial) impact on construction markets and the environment. Few projects are so ready to be tackled than those on the National Priorities List (NPL)—aka, Superfund projects—and more proactive environmental management designs. The effect of this is certainly being felt in the geosynthetics industry, which provides many of the vital containment, reinforcement and erosion control technologies that these environmentally sensitive and environmentally damaged sites need. (Continued.)

The Tennessee state legislature may be very close to the ratification of a new bill to require the installation of geosynthetic liners in all new or future expansions to coal ash storage facilities. Kingston, Tennessee, readers will recall, was the site of a massive coal ash pond breach in December 2008. That facility’s failure released 5.4 million cubic yards of contaminated ash across 275 acres. The estimated cleanup cost, announced in mid-February, will be $525-$825 million. Tennessee’s House of Representatives has signed off on the bill (SB1559), but changes in the bill’s language means it must revert to the state senate for an approval vote or further amendments. (Continued.)

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (generally known as the Recovery Act or the economic stimulus package) has led to significantly more open discussion about infrastructure needs in the United States. American infrastructure really is in disrepair, so the discussion and wide-scale funding are welcomed. One interesting result of all this attention is how it has thrown light upon projects and segments of the country that have long been overlooked. Take, for example, American Indian reservations. (Continued.)

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has announced that Lee Johnson, CPESC will assume the role of Administrative Vice President of the Board of Directors effective immediately. The position of Administrative Vice President has been vacant since the resignation of Becky Gauthier from the Board of Directors in March of this year. Johnson is an erosion control specialist with Bowman Construction Supply. Read more in the release.

We have a few deadlines to remind you of this week: the early-bird registration deadline for Waterproof Membranes 2009; the abstracts deadline for the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) 2009 conference; and the Industrial Fabrics Association International's (IFAI) annual International Achievement Awards (IAA) competition entry deadline. Read about these opportunities in the weekly column.

On the northern end of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, the world's largest natural gas conversion facility is being constructed. Many challenges present themselves at this site, however: the high temperatures of the environment, the high temperature of environmentally aggressive liquids that must be contained on site, the sandy substrate, and much more. On the geosynthetic side of things, engineers have been challenged by the selection of geomembranes that will survive in the environment and meet the project's overall environmental sustainability goals. The found their answer in ethylene interpolymer alloy (EIA)-enhanced geomembranes. The expertise of Solmax International and LG Chem have combined to make the site a success. Roughly 160,000 sq. m of geomembrane have been installed by Arabian Environmental Construction (AEC). Work will be on-going through 2009.