Ground Improvement

Hemp fibers will begin making their way into erosion control products in Manitoba, Canada. The provincial government has awarded a $1 million grant to create useful products from 10,000 acres of locally grown hemp. Learn more here.;

geosynthetica.net has launched a mining study. The report will gauge future mining needs and ways these needs are expected to be met by geosynthetics (in tailings ponds, access road construction, leach pads, etc.). Geosynthetics in the Global Mining Industry is already in motion and will be released 31 March 2009. Companies interested in pre-purchasing the study (at a significant discount) and learning how they can be part of the survey oversight board should contact Elizabeth Peggs for information and a brochure.

The latest issue of Geosynthetics International is now available. The current issue--volume 15, number 5--contains the following: "Best Geosynthetics International Paper for 2007"; "Performance of geosynthetic-reinforced alternative sub-ballast material in a railway track" by Fernandes, Palmeira and Gomes; " Liquefaction resistance of sand reinforced with geosynthetics" by Altun, Göktepe and Lav; "Seismic stability of reinforced slopes: failure mechanisms and displacements" by Huang, Horng and Charng; "Reinforcement design for construction of cover soil over soft sludge" by Espinoza and Sabatini; "Comparative study on performance and index tests simulating abrasion damage of a woven geotextile" by Huang; "Electrokinetic improvement of soft clay using electrical vertical drains" by Rittirong, Douglas, Shang and Lee; and a "Corrigendum."

Officials in Coon Rapids, Minnesota are appealing for $200,000 of funding from state and federal sources in order to move forth on a much-needed erosion control scheme. The stream bank stabilization needs include regrading, sloping, plantings and rip rap. Learn more here.;

Pop over to ESCN.tv for a chance to win a full registration to the EC09 conference in Reno, Nevada! ESCN's "I'm A Survivor" contest will award two full registrations to the event (to be held 9-12 February 2009) plus three nights of lodging at the Atlantis Casino Resort. Feeling lucky? Stop by ESCN.tv today. Learn more here.;

The Global Plastics Environmental Conference (GPEC 2009) will be held 25-27 February 2009 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Florida. GPEC is sponsored by the Plastics Environmental Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE). The theme of GPEC 2009 is "Plastics: The Wonderful World of Sustainability and Recycling." The conference invites your abstracts and reminds you that they are due 1 October 2008. Final papers will be due in December 2008. For more information, view the Call for Papers in PDF. Learn more here.;

Earlier this month, geosynthetica's role as a media partner to Penton Media's Global Waste Management Symposium was completed as the event unfolded in Copper Mountain, Colorado. It was a marvelous event that touched upon current and future practice through a shrewd mix of presentations from active engineering practices, on-going research, and academia. Also, the Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) arranged two fine session on the design, installation and monitoring of engineered berms--a much-needed and much-appreciated dialogue. Read more about the event in Chris Kelsey's review.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Soil and Water Conservation Program has announced that in 2010 it will dedicate to erosion control measures 62 cents of every dollar earmarked for soil and water conservation. This move underscores how important erosion control has become in agriculture, public works and other vital sectors. The department opened additional monies through an improvement to its fund management and transference. The move made room for $27 million to soil and water conservation and erosion erosion control practices. Learn more here.;

GeoAfrica 2009 marks the first African regional conference on geosynthetics. Held under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and hosted by the Geosynthetics Interest Group of South Africa (GIGSA)--a chapter of IGS--the September 2009 Cape Town conference seeks abstracts and proposals. Deadline for receipt of 350-word abstracts is 30 Septmber 2008. Geosynthetica encourages its readers to get involved with this historic event. Visit the abstract submission page. Learn more here.;

Companies interested in exhibiting at GeoAfrica 2009, 2-5 September 2009, Cape Town, South Africa should be aware that the exhibit hall is limited to 30 spots. The conference organizers report that more than half of them have already been booked. Visit the conference's exhibitor page for more information. Learn more here.;

In the Shasta Mountain, California area, cleanup of the abandoned Altoona Mine progresses. The area's newspaper has published an update and photograph of the work, which involves the installation of a triple bottom and cap system: clay, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembrane, and geotextile. Altoona Mine was once a gold mining site, and its cinnabar vein (inorganic, mercury sulfide) led to mercury production through 1968. Now that we have geosynthetic environmental controls, its hoped that future mining sites are protected during operations rather than only in retroactive legacy corrections. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) will hold an open house on October 16 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm to introduce visitors to the association's new Denver headquarters. The IECA invites you to come for refreshments, appetizers and staff introductions. Learn more here.;

According the US government's General Accountability Office (GAO), the number of "factory farms," or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), tripled between 1982-2002. The GAO's audit of the sector is to be released today. According to the Wall Street Journal, the report notes that "[the Environmental Protection Agency] lacks information and a clearly defined strategy for effectively regulating mega-farms." A single CAFO operation is capable of producing 1.6 million tons of manure--1.5 times the amount of waste produced by cities like Houston and Philadelphia. The Associated Press reports that in the absence of clear federal regulation, states have begun enacting their own standards. California, Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and North Dakota have all put in place some emissions controls. An aspect that neither the Jounral nor the AP addresses in their articles is waste containment. More of the focus has been on emissions arguments and manure application as fertilizer. But lagoon construction quality is bound to rise on the radar, especially as the rapid construction of larger manure lagoons begins to exhibits the failings one would expect in the absence of regulation and proper CQA. Take, for example, the whales that developed at an installation in Indiana earlier this year. Learn more here.;

The Waste Tech Landfill Technology Conference seeks your papers. The event, which has been developed by the National Solid Waste Management Association's (NSWMA) Landfill Institute, and which is being managed by Penton Media (which managed the recent Global Waste Management Symposium), invites 250-word abstract submission through 23 January 2009. Key topics will include bioreactor landfills, landfill design, closure, climate change, emissions and gas attenuation, cover systems, and much more. A conference website will be available shortly. In the meantime, please contact Alice P. Jacobsohn, NSWMA Education Director, for more information. Learn more here.;

We have reported here a number of times about the promise of agriculture and aquaculture in Vietnam. The other side of that development, however, is the runoff and pollution that results. In the Mekong Delta, agricultural fertilizer is used at a much higher rate than needed; and aquaculture hectares have increased from 20,000 to 70,000 in a very short time without an accommodating expansion in filtration and pollution controls. Learn more here.;

geosynthetica's new site organization still includes our most popular items of use, such as the Buyer's Guide, Industry Directory, Publications/Tech Docs and Abstracts Database, and much more. Use the links along the top row of the banner at the top of the page for easy access to these zones. And don't forget to try out our new channel pages for geosynthetics functions (row two of the link buttons along the page's top banner) and applications (row three). For information on how to get listed in any of these databases, directories and guides, please contact Chris Kelsey.

Andrew Aho, managing director of the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA), has met with staff members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. This meeting was related to the Transportation Reauthorization Act. Those Andrew and his colleague met with have requested geosynthetic case studies in stormwater runoff and clean water management. This is a tremendous, unprecedented opportunity to deliver geosynthetics into federal infrastructure legislation. If you have the appropriate case study information, please contact Andrew to find out how to become part of this effort. Learn more here.;

Elizabeth Peggs and Chris Kelsey would like to extend warm thank yous to the organizers and participants of EuroGeo 4 (Edinburgh, Scotland) and the Global Waste Management Symposium (Copper Mountain, Colorado), events they attended for geosynthetica last week. Reports from the events will appear shortly: about Copper Mountain this week (Wednesday, September 17) and about Edinburgh next week. Pictures, presentation notes, and much more are on the way! They were fantastic events.

In the first installment of our weekly September 2008 updates from ASTM International, we two new standars from Committee D35 on Geosynthetics, one revised standard from D35 and one work item from Committee D18 on Soil and Rock.

Geotextiles are used increasingly by preservation groups as they repair or protect historic structures. In Spain, for example, protective geotextiles have been used to preserve portions of the Mazarron Castle during extensive renovation of the grounds. Learn more here.;

The Business Co-ordination House (BCH) of India and India-Tech Foundation will hold a one-day symposium, "Geotextiles in India: What, Where and Why," on 17 October 2008. The event will be held in conjunction with CONSTRU India 2008. Read more from BCH on the symposium.

The geogrid-supported road redesign project in Ann Arbor, Michigan that was reported here a couple months ago has been completed. The $3.7 million, 1.3-mile-long Huron River Drive project adopted geogrid reinforcement so that the base could be shallower. This minimized slope disturbance during construction along the scenic route. Learn more here.;

Propex Inc. has announced the appointment of Stan Brant to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Read more on Brant's work in the release.

The latest Week in Review column is available. We look back at the news that shaped the week in geosynthetics, from North American Green's new site to Ian Peggs' piece on electrical leak location versus water balance testing; from Russia infrastructure news to Milliken's acquisition; and so much more. Read it today.

Milliken has acquired the fire-retardant barriers and geotextile businesses of Western Nonwovens. The geotextile portions of the business include Western's Sandmat product line, which is used mostly in golf course construction and remediation work. Learn more here.;