Industry News

WaterWorld & Industrial WaterWorld magazine are pleased to announce the 2006 Buyers Guide is now available online. Learn more here.;

Nonwovens Industry's 37th Annual Guide lists suppliers and producers of nonwovens around the globe in one comprehensive listing. Learn more here.;

Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL sounds off on pipe boots...in-field or prefabricated?

As a partner organization to IECA's Annual Conference, EC06, geosynthetica arrived at the Conference on Tuesday evening to set up a booth in the Exposition Hall, which, this year, held ~170 exhbitors in the Long Beach, CA. Convention Center, February 20-24, 2006…

Read a review on NAGS /GRI19 held on 14-16 December, 2005 at the Flamingo Hilton in Las Vegas, USA.

Read a review on Sardinia 2005 - the Tenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium in the IGS News. After clicking on the link or graphic to the right, scroll to page 8 in the newsletter. Please note that Adobe 7.0 is reccommended for optimal viewing.

Lara Peggs reports on the "Best Show in Public Works" 2005 in Minneapolis, MN. The conference was a huge success - but how did geosynthetics fare?

geosynthetica reviews the 2005 ASDSO Conference held in Orlando, Florida. The workshop: Geosynthetics in Dams presentations are also offered in full.

On June 20-21 2005, the members of the Erosion Control Technology Council (ECTC) met with government agencies and association partners in Washington D.C. The Associations included were: American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), National Association of County Engineers (NACE), American Society of Landscape Architects and (ASLA), Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). Members of ECTC also met with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The purpose of these meetings was to discuss the ECTC’s Installers Training Program that ECTC has developed and is working in partnership with industry associations to present.

Upon receipt of the Sardinia 2005 Tenth International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium Final Programme, Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL had this to say about the papers to be presented…

On 14 June the M25 committee met during the AWWA conference and exhibition in San Francisco to discuss modifications of the manual on "Flexible-Membrane Covers and Linings for Potable-Water reservoirs"…

Peter Bond is the new Director of Sales at Stevens Geomembranes.

Stevens Roofing and Geomembranes is pleased to announce that Peter Bond has been elevated to the position of Director of Sales, Stevens Roofing Systems International and Stevens Geomembranes, divisions of the JPS Elastomerics Corp. In this new capacity, he will be responsible for developing the strategic direction and managing the daily sales activities internationally for Stevens Roofing Systems and worldwide for Stevens Geomembranes. Mr. Bond has held various positions within Stevens since 1998, primarily in the finance and credit departments. Peter lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife and his three children. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Recreation Management from Springfield College, Springfield, Massachusetts. “Peter’s demonstrated track record at Stevens and diverse skill set will enable him to positively impact these critical segments of our business,” said Tom Vinci, President. Bond may be contacted at Nine Sullivan Road, Holyoke, Massachusetts 01040, USA, direct phone 1.413.552.1074, Toll free within the U.S. 1.800.621.7663 or via e-mail at pabond@stvroof.com

CETCO International (a gsa underwriter), a wholly owned subsidiary of AMCOL International Corp., has announced its plans to build a manufacturing facility for its geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) products in Segovia, Spain…

Rapra is currently recruiting speakers for autumn 2005. If you are interested in any of their events, please contact Dr. S. Humphreys at shumphreys@rapra.net, or submit an abstract through Rapra's web site at the "continued" link below.

View the many events occurring at Geo-Frontiers, all conveniently located on one page. If you see that your organization's meeting is not included, please contact us and we will be happy to add it to the page.

Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL reports real-time from Mumbai, India on ICGGE 2004 taking place from December 8th through 10th, 2004. For the conference report, with pictures, please go to the "continued" link below. For more information about the conference please cut and paste the following link into yor browser: https://www.geosynthetica.net/calendar.asp?search_key=c351.

8-11 November 2004, Orlando, FL. gsa is proud to be a sponsor of the IRMI conference. We will be hosting one of only six Technology Showcases where we, in partnership with gsa Underwriters Cooley, Colbond, Naue Fasertechnik, TRI, Coletanche, Agru, I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, and consultant John Paulson, will introduce our Construction Risk Management Program. To learn more about this program, please go to the "continued" link below.

A review of the events, people and papers surrounding the Symposium Honoring the Research Achievements of Dr. Robert M. Koerner on the weekend of September 12 and 13, 2004 .

The "continued" link below contains the Fall 2004 GMA Newsletter. As noted in the newsletter, the next GMA General Assembly will be held in conjunction with GeoFrontiers 2005, Austin, Texas on Monday January 24 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. All members are encouraged to attend. There will be updates from industry team leaders working on GMA’s new vision and action plan. (See article “GMA Strategic Plan” in attached newsletter.) An announcement with the room location will be sent out as soon as it is finalized. For more information please contact GMA Managing Director, Danette Halloran at dfhalloran@ifai.com or 800-636-5042. Please welcome two new members to GMA: Linear Composites Ltd. Http://www.linearcomposites.co.uk/ joined July 2004 and Polimeros Derivados S.A. de.CV www.polimeros.com joined Sept. 2004. Due to the timing of this newsletter, I was not able to include a profile of our new members, as such a description of their companies will be included in the next newsletter scheduled for November 2004. The winter edition will also include a report on activities in GMA Mexico as well reports from the GMA task group chairmen. Please note that GMA members are encouraged to keep their company profiles current. When you register on the site, you will be prompted to insert your IFAI member constituent I.D. this will allow you access to your company profile. If you do not know your constituent I.D. please contact Danette Halloran at dfhalloran@ifai.com or 800-636-5042. Please note that past meeting minutes will be available starting in mid-September on the "Members Only Section" of the Website. - Danette Halloran, Managing Director, Geosynthetic Materials Association.

For the first time, a leading standards development organization based in the United States has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the national standards body of China. This historic event occurred on August 20 in Beijing when senior officials from ASTM International and the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China (SAC) signed an MOU to strengthen the relationship between the two standards organizations. The MOU was signed by ASTM International President James A. Thomas and SAC Vice Administrator Zhang Yanhua. Witnesses included SAC Administrator Li Zhonghai and Deputy Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Ben Wu. The signing, along with participation in standardization workshops held in Beijing earlier that week, is the latest event in ASTM's ongoing involvement in Chinese standardization. The MOU will enhance the ability of SAC and ASTM International to support the needs of the Chinese people and aid in the development of Chinese national standards for health, safety, and the environment. Following the signing, President Thomas stated, "ASTM standards have a century of history in the world's marketplace helping to ensure good quality products and accurate testing procedures. With China's trade topping $400 billion for both imports and exports in 2003, standards are of the utmost importance. The signing of this MOU with the SAC is a great step forward to encouraging greater access to ASTM standards in China as well as a bigger voice by Chinese experts in the content of ASTM standards." ASTM International and SAC agreed to explore cooperation opportunities for standards development in areas of mutual interest; promote communication and knowledge between the two organizations; and promote greater Chinese participation into the ASTM standards development process. Part of the MOU agreement involves ASTM annually providing the full collection of ASTM standards to SAC; jointly sponsoring standards and training programs; providing participating membership to representatives of SAC on ASTM technical committees; and providing internship programs for SAC experts to come to ASTM International Headquarters for extended study of the ASTM International standards development process. In return, SAC will promote the acceptance and use of ASTM standards in China; utilize the resources of ASTM International to develop Chinese National Standards and reference ASTM standards where applicable in Chinese National Standards; provide access to current ASTM standards including a link to ASTM International's website on the SAC home page. SAC will also facilitate connections between Chinese technical experts and ASTM International technical committees to ensure that the standards meet the needs of Chinese industry. ASTM International has had a presence in China for many years. Its involvement includes agreements with other standards organizations including the Chinese National Institute of Standardization (CNIS) and the Shanghai Institute of Standardization (SIS). In addition, ASTM has published an annual Chinese version of its magazine, Standardization News, as a joint venture with the China Association for Standardization (CAS) since 1991. SAC currently reports that it uses nearly 500 ASTM standards as the basis for its national standards in China. The spirit of cooperation continued during the week of the MOU signing with ASTM International's participation in the 2004 U.S.-China Standards and Conformity Assessment Workshop, also held in Beijing. The workshop featured presentations from ASTM committee members on current market realities in the global steel market and on standards for gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels. Established in 1898, ASTM International is an open forum for the development of high quality, market relevant international standards used around the globe.

geosynthetica.net is pleased to announce that engineer John Paulson and gsa Underwriters Cooley, Colbond, Naue Fasertechnik, TRI, Coletanche, Agru, and I-CORP INTERNATIONAL have all committed to supporting the Insurance Risk Management Program by participating in the Technology Showcase at the IRMI conference. We still have two available spaces! For those who are interested in moving the geosynthetics industry forward, please contact Elizabeth Peggs (elizabeth@geosynthetica.net) or call 561-655-2060.

Conference Report and Photos from gsa's roving reporter Lara Peggs.

IFAI is conducting a wage and benefit survey of industry manufacturers. For the first time since 1999, the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) is conducting a wage and benefit survey of end-product manufacturers in the specialty fabrics industry. Specialty fabrics end-product manufacturers are invited to complete the confidential survey online at www.ifai.com beginning Dec. 1, 2003. The survey also will be distributed with the January 2004 issue of the Industrial Fabric Products Review. Survey questions will gather data on company salaries, benefits and policies. Participants who complete the survey by the Feb. 27, 2004 deadline will receive a 25 percent discount on the price of the complete study results. All survey participants will be eligible for drawings for a free one-year membership to IFAI and a free registration to IFAI Expo 2004. The survey will focus on end-product manufacturers who do business in areas such as awnings, athletic products, banners, boat covers, inflatable recreational products, safety and protective products, signs, tarps, tents and truck covers. Data from the survey will be compiled and analyzed by product category, geographic region and company size. The published study, which will be available through the IFAI Bookstore in March 2004, will enable businesses to determine how they compare to others in the industry. IFAI 2004 Wage and Benefit surveys will be kept confidential. The published study will contain only summary information; no specific company information will be included. IFAI is a not-for-profit trade association whose member companies represent the international specialty fabrics marketplace. For more information, or to request a copy of the Wage and Benefit Survey, contact Robin Simoson, IFAI Market Research Manager, at +(1) 651/225-6946; e-mail rmsimoson@ifai.com. For up-to-date information, visit www.ifai.com.

Geosynthetica reports on the Two Rivers conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 29-October1, 2003.