Soil Reinforcement

At the Geosynthetics Materials Association's (GMA) meeting at the Geo-Frontiers event in Dallas, it was announced that Boyd Ramsey will be the next GMA Executive Council Chairman. He follows John Henderson, who has served the association very well. In recent years, GMA has been particularly active in raising awareness of the many vital roles geosynthetics play in civil infrastructure, and especially how they can be utilized to improve the economics and long-range performance in various sectors such as transportation and environmental protection (e.g., coal ash containment). Mr. Ramsey is an industry veteran who has long given his time to these industry-supportive initiatives, education development, and, as we at Geosynthetica are well-aware and appreciative of, communication--including with media sources. Mr. Henderson has been an excellent Chairman, and we feel certain that Mr. Ramsey will be too. Learn more about GMA on its website. Learn more here.;

Synteen Technical Fabrics has announced that the company will expand its wide-width weaving capacity by 400% at the Lancaster, South Carolina plant. Synteen Technical Fabrics weaves high-strength polyester geosynthetics for soil reinforcement and stabilization applications, such as for segmental retaining walls, base course and subgrade stabilization for roadway construction, and slope stabilization and repair. Read more in the release.

The December 2010 issue of NAUE News is perhaps the company's most ambitious to date, in terms of content range. The introductory article addresses the departure of long-time managing director Prof.-Ing. Dr. Georg Heerten, who is retiring from his primary day-to-day operations with NAUE. Project stories in the issue look at countering the danger posed to a community by the sudden appearance of a sinkhole; high-speed railway improvement; foundation protection; landfill sealing; dam restoration; and much more. These projects are set in Australia, Germany, Romania, Burkina Faso, and elsewhere.

By NAUE Geosynthetics – In the early hours of an October Saturday, a high-pressure gas pipeline exploded in Lithuania’s Širvintos region near the village of Medžiukai. The Lithuanian...

The 49 technical sessions at the 3rd Pan-American Conference on Geosynthetics (GeoAmericas 2016) will include multiple high-quality panel discussions and training lectures. Diverse topics address geosynthetic installation, the...

GSE Lining Technology, LLC, GSE -0.42% the leading global manufacturer and provider of geosynthetic lining products and services, announced today the launch of its rebranded identity as GSE Environmental. Following its recent listing to the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 10, this rebrand reflects the company's transition from a multi-regional company to a truly global organization.

UK-based Electrokinetics, which combines geosynthetic and electrokinetic technologies for drying out soils, was launched in 2004 out of research and development work conducted at Newcastle University. Last year it announced is was nearing the turn to profitability. In a November 26 article titled "Rise in Fortune…", the company reports that its technology is being considered for potential sludge drying at the source, in order to prevent storage disasters such as occurred in Hungary. When an aluminum slag cell failed two months ago, it flooded a Hungarian town, ruined infrastructure, and killed eight people. Learn more here.;

Geogrids are not just in large-scale stabilization projects but smaller-scale ones too. The reinforcement can provide significant savings on the cost of aggregate placement by reducing aggregate need. Case in point, Estherville, Iowa where a school reduced its base aggregate need from 12 to 8 inches with the installation of geogrids. Learn more here.;

The Tennessee Valley Authority will securely and permanently store onsite all ash removed in the next phase of recovery work to begin soon at Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, Tenn. The decision was announced today in an Action Memorandum issued by TVA and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The Initial Public Offer (IPO) market has been grim in the United States with economic investment so low. More than 100 offers were withdrawn last year in the US, and over the past six months only two IPOs have gone forward. A few more companies withdrew IPO floatation on February 3. Among them, geogrid and infrastructure specialist Tensar. Learn more here.;

The month of October offers plenty of playoff baseball for Geosynthetica's editor to obsess over in his free time (while his wife rolls her eyes and his daughter uses...

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MoDNR) will host CQA Week 7 – 9 September 2016 in Jefferson City, Missouri. Three courses will be offered as a single...

There are two ASTM International standards updates to report for 8 April 2013 from Committee D35 on Geosynthetics: * Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has published a new standard, D7853 -...

At the Geo-Frontiers 2011 conference, there will be a technical session on Concrete Protection Liners co-chaired by Ian D. Peggs (icorp@geosynthetic.com) and Peter Dimaio (peterd@aks.co.za). All those working on tunnels, wastewater treatment basins, process chemical containment, or any other aspect of concrete protection using geomembranes or thicker polymeric sheet products, are invited to submit abstracts through 8 March 2010. Learn more.

During the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of Royal Ten Cate, which was held on 9 April 2009, the dividend for the 2008 financial year was declared at €0.85 (2007: €0.80) per ordinary share of €2.50 par value. (Continued.)

After a string of product development and research updates, Titan Environmental has announced a new Texas-based office for its US division. Titan Environmental USA has established an office in...

In a letter dated 20 August 2013, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced an update to its geotextile Approved Products List (APL). This impacts all geotextiles to...

By Chris Kelsey - Sinkholes are a common problem in many parts of the world. Although not much can be done to prevent them from collapsing, catastrophic loss can...

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.

Rail transport has enjoyed a revival in many parts of the world as the developing world moves more into cities and the developed world must upgrade its infrastructures significantly. High-speed rail has been particularly of interest. In the United Kingdom, leaders from Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield have come out in favor of a high-speed rail network to connect not only their economic development centers but the entire UK to Europe's high-speed network. Learn more here.;

HUESKER launched a series of "mini-webinars" this year, succinct (<30 min) engineering discussions on various geosynthetic applications and materials. January's coal ash webinar was so well-attended that the company has...

Mississippi is doling out money from its $5.4 billion Hurricane Katrina recovery fund. The Brookhaven community, for example, has received $665,000 for erosion control. The city will offer a $100,000 match. The Daily Leader's story, via Zwire, includes a breakdown of other recent awards in the state for shoreline repair, road construction, erosion control and much more. Learn more here.;

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) has announced a worldwide call for requests-for-proposals (RFPs) focusing on "innovative" geosynthetics research and development projects. This will be the second class of awardees in the GSI Fellowship series, the having been awarded in 2008. Multiple awards of up to $10,000 per year will be given. Each is renewable, pending an annual written report, to a total amount of $25,000 per student. Read the call from Jamie Koerner and Robert Koerner.

Access to or from construction sites often involves crossing over very weak or variable ground conditions. Thus, before work can begin on site, engineers are often first challenged with the problem of how they actually get to site. With a couple notes from recent wind farm contructions, Nigel Wrigley of NewGrids Ltd. writes on how geosynthetic reinforcement solutions provide the answer.

By Ray Myers – The benefits of asphalt interlayers are documented going back over 40 years. Interlayers delay reflective cracking and form a moisture barrier when properly installed using...