Soil Reinforcement

The 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG) will be held in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil 23-27 May 2010. The gathering provides an opportunity to learn about and discuss highly technical and scientific geosynthetics issues and their solutions. In addition to the exhibit hall activities, keynote lectures and technical sessions, the 9ICG offers five 3-hour short courses. These courses will be held on the opening day of the event, Sunday, 23 May. Read more.

The 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG) will be held in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil 23-27 May 2010. When entering Brazil, your passport must be valid for at least six months after the date of entry. For tourists from the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay), it is necessary only to show some identification or a valid passport. For tourists and visitors from other countries, visas may be required. Read more.

In an article in Geosynthetics magazine, Maccaferri's Alan Dinges profiles the Interstate-95/495 Capital Beltway upgrade near Washington, D.C. The 24 lane-miles of road required 321,000 yards of paving, 11 bridges, drainage improvements, retaining and noise-abatement walls, and environmental mitigation. Geogrids and geotextiles were effective construction components in this project’s diverse range of soil reinforcement and separation requirements. Read Alan's cover story from the issue. Learn more here.;

In Palmyra, Maine the city has asked contractors to rebid a road reconstruction process. Three miles of roads are to be rebuilt on geosynthetics and gravel, but the bids the contractors submitted showed significant confusion as to who would provide the gravel and what sort of geotextile would be needed. Geosynthetics are designed for specific functions and situations. The city has wisely put the contractors on the same page. Learn more here.;

In Florida, paved roads that have suffered pitting and rutting, such as those in Gainsville, are being quickly corrected with paving fabric. The top layer of the asphalt is taken off speedily and the fabric rolled into place. New asphalt is applied on top. Paving fabrics have been shown to significantly reduce road crumbling and extend service lives. Learn more here.;

By Maccaferri – For a 33m-high, 300m-long retaining wall along the new Tehran North Highway, a composite geosynthetic solution from Maccaferri is being utilized. This geosynthetic approach has enabled the...

Freecycling is the act of recycling what is destined for a landfill by giving it away to those who can still utilize the original materials. For the manufacture of geosynthetics, this may represent a huge opportunity to reduce the amount of material that is landfilled simply by default of being "waste" from the perspective of the conventional manufacturing, shipping, and storage side of the business. Geofabrics Australasia recently engaged in a highly successful freecycling trial in the Albury/Wodonga area of New South Wales, thanks to a strong freecycling organization and the dedicated efforts of a Geofabrics employee.

The Secugrid® line of geogrids have developed a strong reputation around the world with both biaxial and uniaxial geogrid constructions (Secugrid® Q and R), as well as a composite...

The French construction publication, BTP, has posted an article about the importance of geotextiles and geocomposites in roadway improvement, such as for the reduction of reflective cracking and subgrade improvement through reducing water incursion and the mixing of fines. In particular, the publication cites TenCate's products currently being used in the French market. Read the article today (in French only). Learn more here.;

We would like to thank all of our viewers for your patience with gsa regarding the aftermath of Hurricane Frances. Power was restored to our offices on Wednesday, Sept 15, and we are very pleased to be able to update the site for you as of today. Feel free to contact us with items of interest - specifications (material, installation), employment opportunities, technical articles, products, projects, news, etc. for inclusion on geosynthetica.

When the 2nd Geosynthetics in Road Construction conference gathers 19 May 2017 in Moscow at the InterContinental Moscow Tverskaya, it will include broad discussion on how geosynthetics are growing...

The Organizing Committee of Cobramseg and the the 7th Brazilian Symposium on Rock Mechanics (SBMR) have assembled a strong short course program. These courses will be held on October...

By Bruno Pedroni – The Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) is one of the most prestigious engineering institute’s in Brazil. The Institute's geosynthetics group (GGGAITA) is celebrating its...

From the arrival of the Romans to the Saxons and Normans clashing upon the shore, and from the Spanish Armada to Napolean and two World Wars, England has a...

In recent years, NAUE has truly staked its claim as one of the world’s largest manufacturers of geosynthetics through a series of high-impact activities. The company has invested significantly...

GeoAmericas 2020 will be the 4th Pan-American Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. The quadrennial event will be held 26 – 29 April 2020 in historic Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The...

Presto Geosystems has served as a leader in the geosynthetics field for nearly 40 years, including being an innovator in the truest sense: the company invented geocellular confinement technology...

The Geosynthetic Institute had a particularly busy 2018 with White Papers, issuing five of them. All of them are worth reading. One that particularly caught our eye, however, was...

Following a few years of significant manufacturing investments around the world, HUESKER has announced major transitions in its international management team. Sven Schröer, who has led an enormous endeavor at...

Geofabrics Australasia Pty. Ltd. (www.geofabrics.com.au), an Australia-focused geosynthetics manufacturer and service provider, has announced the hiring of industry veteran Dr. Richard Austin as the company's new National Technical Manager. With 20+ years of experience in the geosynthetics field, Richard brings considerable expertise and international insight to Geofabrics. Through his previous key positions with geosynthetics manufacturers and system providers in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong Richard has developed a strong reputation in the industry, particularly in the utilization of soil reinforcement technologies, for subgrade and slope stabilisation and the construction of mechanically stabilised earth (MSE) walls.

The University of Minnesota held its 61st Annual Geotechnical Engineering Conference on Friday, February 22 at the conference center on the St. Paul campus. Sponsored by the U of M Department of Civil Engineering, the Minnesota Geotechnical Society (MGS), and the Geo-Institute of ASCE, this annual gathering continues to impress. In a report on his visit to the conference, Geosynthetica Editor Chris Kelsey writes that "This year's event focused on instrumentation, data interpretation, and the impacts of geotechnical activities on the environment and structures (such as building overlying tunneling zones). These guiding ideas helped provide significant perspective on the changing practice of engineering. Chaired by Steve Gale (Gale-Tec), the event included many presentations in which geosynthetics played a key role in the geotechnical solution."

Writing for the December 2012 issue of Rebuilding America's Infrastructure, Jeff Fiske details how NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) selected Triton Marine Mattresses for bridge scour protection. The bascule piers to be protected support drawbridge gears and may also support a guardhouse on top of a key bridge in a KSC-controlled channel. The reinforced mattressed solution was selected for scour protection performance, constructability, adaptability, and durability in a challenging, submarine environment. Also, the coastal and waterway revetment system was much more cost-effective than the alternatives. Read it online. Learn more here.;

The first quarter of the year is a time of renewing professional society memberships, and it is also often a time of elections. Readers are encouraged to renew their North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) memberships now…as well as take part in the NAGS Elections. From now through February 21, members of NAGS—the North American chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS)—will be able to vote for the President Elect position and a Vice President spot.

A proposed new ASTM International standard will provide a test method to give index performance for both established and new geogrids, which are products used for the reinforcement and stabilization of roads, railways, airports, docks and other trafficked areas. ASTM WK39646, Test Method for Multi-Axial Low-Strain Tension Test for Geogrids and Geotextiles, is being developed by Subcommittee D35.01 on Mechanical Properties, part of ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics.

With 11,000+ attendees, 4,000 presentations, and 750 sessions and workshops, and with just a few days in which to absorb the material, the annual Transportation Research Board gathering in Washington, D.C. is a huge undertaking for both organizers and attendees. To support this year's event (January 13–17) TRB has released a very useful mobile app for saving agendas, keyword search, session and committee meeting times/locations, and more.