Ground Improvement

World prices for precious and semi-precious metals have vaulted in the past few years, and this spike in demand has helped fuel tremendous growth in the mining industry. But while prices have somewhat stabilized, growth will continue. Australia forecasts a 70% rise in employment (90,000 new jobs) in mining through 2020 in the mining sector. And these projects will also require environmental controls, which is where geosynthetics enter in. Learn more here.;

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS) has announced a $10 million dollar capital investment for its Midwest facilities. This expansion initiative is in addition to the new manufacturing facility in Hampton, Iowa which ADS will open this September. This capital expansion will significantly increase production capacity and add operating efficiencies to the company's operations in North Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Manitoba and Ontario.

Campbell County Environmental Manager Brian Stokes and Bedford County’s erosion control chief Pete Dalton say it can be a tough duty. While many contractors are familiar with how to properly install and maintain erosion-control measures such as silt fencing, others are not. And then there are a handful who “don’t do anything until you make them,” Stokes said. Learn more here.;

As an industry leader, Presto offers a variety of solutions for porous pavements and soil stabilization – solutions that provide positive environmental benefits, and have low negative environmental impact. Presto partners with designers and LEED® Project Managers to provide cost-effective, environmentally-responsible solutions that offer opportunities for LEED® credits in several credit categories. Learn more in this PDF brochure.

The Ministry of Textiles in India has launched TechnoTex (www.technotex.gov.in) to better promote the Indian technical textiles industry and to facilitate education in this ever expanding area of manufacturing. The website is divided into various zones, such as GeoTech (which includes the geosynthetic sector), BuildTech (for architectural uses) and AgroTech (for agriculture). Learn more here.;

GeoAmericas 2012 marks the Second Pan-American Geosynthetics Conference and Exhibition. It will be held 1-4 May 2012 in Lima, Peru under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). This week's update includes two key items: The Early-Bird Room Rate for the venue hotel (Westin Libertador Hotel) will be held open until 15 February 2012. Reserve your room today and get the best rate at this key Latin American infrastructure event. And: the GeoAmericas exhibit area is sold out! HOWEVER: at the request of a number of companies, the conference has created an additional exhibit area.

Raven Industries released strong third quarter results on Wednesday. The Flow Controls Division continues to perform well while the Engineered Films Division (which includes Raven's geomembrane lines) saw 23 percent growth in third quarter sales. Raw material costs (including the often volatile resin market) pinched some profit, but overall volume was good and high demand in the oil and gas industry for pit and pond liners continued to be one of the company's signature successes. Learn more here.;

Prof. Jonathan Fannin and Prof. Bob Holtz lead this regular course for the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC). This course encourages participants to develop an understanding of fundamental concepts as they govern the behaviour of geosynthetic reinforced soil structures. Material properties are examined that govern performance, including mobilized tensile strength, soil-geosynthetic bond and strain compatibility. The next edition of the course will be held 17 February 2011 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Learn more. Learn more here.;

Manasanat's Mohammad Reza Ashgbousi has provided us with some notes on the use of geotextile tubes to stabilize the harbor front at Bandar-e Anazali along Iran's Caspian Sea coastline. The sea's rise in the late 1970s has led to decades of hard armor coastal protection strategies and land reclamation operations; but the cost of hard armor has risen sharply. Here, they've incorporated geotextile tubes for the first time and found them to be an excellent solution. Read about the project.

The value of construction starts so far this year has risen 11% compared with the same period in 2009, according to numbers released by Reed Construction Data. Excluding residential contracts, construction starts amount to $82.7 billion. April starts were up 6.6% versus March. Learn more here.;

SKZ's 2nd International Conference on Geosynthetics Middle East will be held in Dubai, UAE, 10-11 November 2009. The speaker and topic line up is certainly an impressive list. Ian Peggs of I-CORP will present on predicting end-of-life for high-density polyethylene (HDPE) geomembranes and the incorporation of flexible solar cells on exposed landfill caps; Carl De Leon of Solmax will present on geomembrane liners in harsh, petrochemical containment operations; Detlef Schramm of Dow will present a geomembrane global review; Silke Schwöbken of SENSOR will present on drainage detection systems; and much more. Dr. Helmut Zanzinger will chair the seminar. Download the program in PDF.

Ignorance about the details of a key standard for ground engineering could lead to on-site disputes when it becomes effective in April 2010, NCE reports. A lack of training among smaller consultants and a general lack of awareness of the details of Eurocode 7 (EC7) and supporting documents such as execution standards are behind the fears. Learn more here.;

The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) has produced a new guideline entitled Subgrade Requirements for Fabricated Geomembranes. This guideline details the proper preparation of the subgrade for the installation of all fabricated geomembranes. This document is written such that these guidelines can be picked up by an engineer or specifier and put into a specification for subgrade condition and requirements. Color pictures of both acceptable and unacceptable subgrade preparations and protrusions are provided to give the user a visual depiction of what is described in the text.

The International Geosynthetics Society Technical Committee on Reinforcement (TC-R) will welcome civil and geotechnical engineering professionals from around the world to the 1st GeoReinforcement Workshop 4 – 5 June...

From the GAP 2019 transportation engineering conference: Danniel Rodriguez, Jose Garibay, and Soheil Nazarian from the Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems (University of Texas – El Paso) examine asphalt-stabilized...

The boundary between the growing cities of Brampton and Caledon in Ontario, Canada is Mayfield Road. It connects major highways, and to keep pace with road capacity needs the area has been undergoing a multi-year Mayfield Road widening project. Two geomembrane-lined stormwater retention ponds are being built to protect nearby wetlands and kettle lakes. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics announced that the TenCate Miragrid® XT geogrid product line has completed the first ever evaluation by the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) which incorporated an onsite audit of the manufacturing facility. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in conjunction with NTPEP have developed a process for the evaluation of production data and field performance data for reinforcement geosynthetics. Learn more.

Mark C. Arnold has been announced as president, CEO and director of Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (GSE), a global geosynthetics manufacturer. Arnold's follows the sudden death of long-time GSE leader Samir Badawi. Like Badawi, Arnold brings considerable international business acumen to GSE. Prior to joining GSE, he served as vice president and general manager at Lubrizol Corporation, where he focused on growth along the Pacific Rim and in India, South America and the Middle East. Additionally, he spent 15 years with polyethylene pipe giant Advanced Drainage Systems Inc. Read more in the release.

With an estimated 30 billion pounds of additional polymerization capacity coming online in the Middle East in the next five years, the region stands to become a major plastics processing center. Will geosynthetics be part of this boom in production? How will the Middle East's growth affect global markets? Applied Market Information (AMI) is bringing its one-day "Middle East Plastics Industry Strategy Seminar" to Philadelphia on 4 November 2009. Read a piece on the event from conference coordinator Lauren Fell. Read more.

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the IGS Secretariat role. The Secretariat will perform duties and provide deliverables as specified by the IGS Secretary and IGS Officers as required. Proposals should be prepared by interested parties and submitted to the undersigned by 20 June 2010. A decision is expected to be made by 30 June 2010. For information regarding the details, please see the RFP here (in PDF). Learn more here.;

In the Geosynthetics Magazine blog, Andrew Aho of the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) writes about the recent National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) meeting in San Antonio. He writes, "Some of the state DOT representatives shared their reasons for wanting better 'traceability' of the primary manufacturers by printing identifications directly on the geotextile fabrics." Read more. Learn more here.;

As previously reported, Waste News has changed its name to Waste & Recycling News. This week, the magazine followed up with a new web address: www.wasterecyclingnews.com. The publication's changes are to include greater focus on recycling and, in particular, the scrap industry. Starting in February, the newspaper will publish a special section on scrap. This special focus will appear 18 times per year. Learn more here.;

Here's a sign of dedication from one of Prospect Contractors' team members. His gabion expertise is not just a job, it's a way of life. And he's got the tattoo to prove it. Anyone else inked up in support of your geotechnical work? - chris@gesoynthetica.net Learn more here.;

Water quality concerns are radically changing how municipalities manage runoff. A greater focus has been placed on preventing water from entering storm systems (e.g., through infiltration designs). Also, cities...

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) had trouble fitting all of its content into IGS News, Volume 32, Issue 2. The 62-page, just-released digital publication includes chapter updates, event...