Soil Reinforcement

In May, when participants from around the world arrive in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil for the 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG), they'll have many hotel beachfront hotel options. The conference organizers have announced that a local travel agency has arranged for special rates at more than just the conference hotel, the Sofitel Jequitimar Hotel. Attendees may also choose from several hotels located at the beaches of Enseada and Pernambuco. Read more and guarantee your best rate no matter where you stay during 9ICG.

Berlin, 10 December 2014 – The early bird catches the worm. The same expression also goes for InnoTrans. Every exhibitor who books a stand at InnoTrans 2016 by 7...

On this day in history (June 11), in 1776, the Second Continental Congress formed the Committee of Five, which was charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence. The team...

The 5th European Conference on Geosynthetics (EuroGeo 5) will be held 16-19 September 2012 in Valencia, Spain. The Spanish Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) will organize it, and the event will be held under the auspices of the IGS. Authors interested in presenting a paper at the Conference must provide an abstract before 31 October 2011, addressed to the Conference Secretariat, through the Conference website. Abstracts received by fax or mail will not be considered. Abstracts must be written in either English or Spanish. Visit the abstracts submission page on the conference website. Learn more here.;

Roctest Ltd ("Roctest"), a leading designer and manufacturer of high-precision sensors, today announced the launch of the FOP-MicroPZ, the smallest fiber optic piezometer available in the market. Piezometers measure pressure from pore-water or other fluids, and are deployed in tunnels, embankments, excavations, dams, water repository sites and many other civil engineering and industrial applications.

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics contact Christi Basile (formerly Sierk) has updated her email address. Please contact her at cbasile@astm.org. Learn more here.;

19 May 2014 – Brussels, Belgium – EDANA, the international association serving the nonwovens and related industries, today launched the first two in a series infographics.  These images are drawn from...

Targeting new markets in effective ways – that is the declared aim of the US rail industry. That is why US companies operating on the world stage are increasingly...

From TRB's Research-in-Progress Library: Richard Coffman is investigating if geosynthetic separators have prevented plastic "clayey" fines from migrating into the base layer from a prepared subsoil. The in-situ fines content at the site will also be compared with the preplaced quarry obtained fines content to determine if additional fines are created during transportation, placement, and use of the roadway base. Base course drainage, strength, and modulus are important parameters that must be considered in the design of a roadway system. Pavement service life is maintained if the base course is permeable, strong, and rigid. Two recent Mack Blackwell Transportation Center (MBTC) projects have focused primarily on the rigidity of pavement systems. MBTC Project 2027 focused on the strength, permeability, and rigidity of quarry obtained, preplaced, Class 7 base course using laboratory tests; while MBTC Project 3013 is investigating the effects of geosynthetic separators, geosynthetic reinforcement, and base course thickness on pavement system rigidity. Learn more here.;

Residents in Rochester, Minnesota's Manorwood development are paying dearly for buying homes with a view. Mudslides have taken out yards, patios, small retaining walls, and, most importantly, safety. New proposals involve reinforcing the area with soil nails or a more highly engineering retaining wall with geogrid support. Who will pay for the repairs remains to be seen. Learn more here.;

One of the behind-the-scenes luminaries of geosynthetics has passed. Dr. Joseph Scott Thornton, Jr. died peacefully at his home on 23 November 2014 in Austin, Texas at the age...

Rob Swan (SGI) and Ian Peggs (I-CORP), both geosynthetica.net Underwriters, examining the exposed parts of a bend in a low geocell wall they came across in Fernandina Beach, FL. on New Year's Day.

Strata Systems announces that the results of tests performed by the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) on its geogrid products have been published in a final report and are available on the NTPEP website (www.ntpep.org). Strata engineers are pleased that the products tested by NTPEP performed consistently with or better than the company has self-reported in all areas measured. Product attributes tested include tensile strength, creep rupture, installation damage, and durability. Strata's Polyester polymer coated geogrid products were included in the test.

The spike in demand for (and profit from) minerals and precious metals has caused a furious number of mining projects to be pushed. The environmental management costs--liners, erosion control, etc.--have contributed more as the scope of these mining sites expand; but a far greater cost crunch lies in the global competition for mining equipment and labor. There are shortages of both. Learn more here.;

Coffey Geotechnics' Richard Kelly and Thevaragavan Muttuvel have shared project details from the construction of the Ballina Bypass, a route which traverses a floodplain in which the soils comprise soft clays up to 25m depth. Stabilizing embankment and construction platforms over such highly compressible, low strength clays and ensuring proper erosion and sediment control in this sensitive floodplain required an extensive utilization of geosynthetics. Read about the project here.

Through its RE-Powering America's Land initiative, the U.S. EPA is encouraging renewable energy development on current and formerly contaminated land and mining sites. This free webinar series will identify the benefits of siting renewable energy facilities on brownfields. A December 15 webinar will be part of a series addressing this sector. Learn more here.;

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has revised D6637, "Standard Test Method for Determining Tensile Properties of Geogrids by the Single or Multi-Rib Tensile Method," as D6637-10. The determination of the tensile force-elongation values of geogrids provides index property values. This test method shall be used for quality control and acceptance testing of commercial shipments of geogrids. Learn more here.;

Periodic in-service measurements--including high pressure oxidative induction time, carbonyl index (FTIR), and stress cracking resistance--should provide a few years advance warning of exposed high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) liner end-of-life (EOL), thereby preventing unexpected very expensive catastrophic liner failures.

The 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics will be held 21 – 25 September 2014 in Berlin, Germany. This quadrennial global event from the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) will be...

Daniele Cazzuffi of CESI serves as president of the Italian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). He has sent along the following photograph from the 22nd National Conference on Geosynthetics, which was held on 28 October 2009 in Bologna, Italy. The event's theme was "Regulations and Seismic Design in Reinforced Earth." IGS Italy, the Geosynthetic Association of Italy (AGI), and the Association of Engineers and Architects (Bologna Province) held the conference. Read more.

The proceedings from Geo-Frontiers 2011 contain 500 papers presented at Geo-Frontiers 2011 in Dallas, Texas, March 13-16, 2011. Geo-Frontiers 2011 included three key events: the ASCE/Geo-Institute Annual Congress, Geosynthetics 2011, and the biennial NAGS Conference. These papers will be of interest to geotechnical researchers and practicing engineers, especially those working with geosynthetic materials. Cost $99 ($79 for IFAI members). Learn more here.;

From the Department of Did You Know? comes news that the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has a Facebook page. Facebook and other social networking websites have increasingly transitioned from being teenage communities to more advanced forums, including the establishment of businesses on Facebook. IECA invites users of the service to become an IECA "fan," which is a mark of support and community among Facebook users. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetica will be at GeosPeru 2017 in Lima, Peru, March 29 – 31. If you or your colleagues will be part of the event at the Hotel Los Delfines,...

A growing interest in oil and gas exploration and extraction in Pennsylvania has led to increased road erosion, sediment runoff and cloudy streams. Conservation districts and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) cite the erosion to unpaved roads caused by heavy mining vehicles (in excess of the unpaved road design strength). Separation geotextile use is being planned for some future road constructions and repair to support the oil and gas traffic. Learn more here.;

The twelfth edition of Techtextil North America takes place June 2-4, 2015 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas where industry experts will present the most...