Special Series

D35 Members, if you have not already preregistered, the Meeting and Registration Information for the ASTM June Committee Week (June 12-17, 2005) in Reno, NV is available on the ASTM web site at the link below. Learn more here.;

An Indian committee working on the expansion of the country's technical textile sector forcasts a 50 percent growth in the next two years. Among the materials expected to gain a much larger market are geosynthetics. The committee includes members from the ministries of defence, home affairs, and environment. India's infrastructure and economy are undergoing rapid change. Learn more here.;

GeoSoft software developed exclusively for Geofoam applications Including: Retaining walls, Embankments & bulkhead, Insulated panels and plates. It analyzes static/seismic/spectrum gravity and cantilever retaining walls. Solves stress distribution, uplift/net stress, excavation depths, settlement/deformation, and slope stability. To learn more about GeoSoft:

Hendersonville, North Carolina, like many counties and municipalities, has been adjusting to taking on more of its erosion control monitoring, and that includes citizen education too. A letter to the editor of the Times-News Online shows that the state's DOT and the county's new erosion control director are working well together. Learn more here.;

One certainly hopes East Tennessee is not interpretted by newcomers as bleakly as it's presented in Cormac McCarthy's novels Child of God, Outer Dark, Suttree and the Orchard Keeper. But one also hopes that East Tennessee's development boom and population growth does not leave a landscape blighted by erosion and stormwater pollution. Learn more here.;

Gauteng, South Africa's first eco-friendly industrial park is being developed. The South African Engineering News reports that the 90-ha project includes permeable pavers with geotextile separators over a crushed stone subbase. The base creates a 30% reservoir capacity while the geotextile filters solids from the subbase. Read about it here. Learn more here.;

From the Denver Post comes an interesting article about leaking CO2 pipes in Sand Canyon. The leaking gas condenses and forms dry ice around the aged, cracking pipeline within ancient Pueblo ruins. The corporation that manages the CO2 line has been making repairs gradually, but the degradation has outpaced them. Last year a holding pond was cleaned up and a new liner installed. A great deal more is needed. Learn more here.;

Lange Containment Systems Inc. announced that the company has recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary in the geosynthetic membrane business. gsa wishes them success for the next 10!

In Exeter, New Hampshire, an expansion to the RiverWoods care facilities is planned along sensitive wetlands. The engineers have proposed building a temporary road that uses geotextiles to protect the basic wetland organic material beneath. After two years of construction, the access road would be removed. They maintain the wetland will reclaim the land over two years after that. The city would like examples of this application first. Learn more here.;

Ian Peggs of I-CORP INTERNATIONAL shows several cases of whales in geomembrane liners.

Chime Spark International Company are manufacturers and exporters of PP woven silt fence fabric with trading offices in Taiwan. Please contact Tina at chime.spark@msa.hinet.net

Erosion-control professional Tom Carpenter and his silt fence installation work were profiled recently in the Des Moines Business Record. Learn more here.;

Naue GmbH & Co. KG has added an Atlanta location to its global geosynthetics business. The new contact is Carsten Lesny. Mr. Lesny may be reached at Naue GmbH & Co. KG, US-Office, 3525 Piedmont Rd., 7 Piedmont Center, Ste. 300, Atlanta, GA 30305; +1 404 504 6295, fax +1 404 233 4883, email clesny@naue.com. Learn more here.;

Subscriptions are much cheaper if you subscribe through the GFR web site. A web subscription comes with a print subscription, so readers still get the paper copy, and access to six years of archives as well. Subscribers outside the United States currently pay between $65-100 per subscription, however, subscribing through the secure Web site costs only $49. Learn more here.;

ASTM International's Proficiency Testing Program provides companies with a statistical quality assurance tool that enables them to compare, improve and maintain a high level of performance in the use of ASTM methods with other laboratories worldwide. For information on the methods used in the Yarn & Thread Program and the program schedule and fee information, download the PDF. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) announces its Save Our International Land (SOIL) Fund. The aim is to provide a permanent funding source for programs and projects that improve the environment by addressing erosion and sediment control issues through education, research and applied technology. For more information, please visit the Fund's website. Learn more here.;

The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases monthly updates to American power production, consumption, imports and exports. These figures are telling in regards to growth of industries. Current trends show nuclear stalemating (perhaps because of concerns brought on by Japan's situation). Renewables continue to accelerate in use. The cost in terms of real dollar GDP of petroleum and gas has declined sharply since 1973. All this in more in the March 2011 report. The April report is due out in the next week. Learn more here.;

Columnist John Heckathorn's space in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, "What the Heck?", includes a nice photo from above the new geotextile-improved lagoon at the Hilton. It's one of the largest salt-water lagoons in the world...though as Heckathorn notes it pales in comparison to the lagoons that have been created in Chile. Learn more here.;

MARC has affirmed the ratings of geosynthetic manufacturer Emas Kiara Industries Bhd's (EKIB) RM80 million Partially Underwritten Murabahah Notes Issuance Facility/Islamic Medium Term Notes Issuance Facility (MUNIF/IMTN) at MARC-2ID/ AID. The rating outlook is revised to stable from developing. Since MARC's review at end-August 2009, the rating agency's concerns over the execution and collection risks attached to EKIB's first foreign contract to install geodykes along the Brahmaputra River in Assam, India have eased with the substantial completion on work under the contract and collection of 73.44% of billed receivables as of mid-August 2010.

Please visit Colbond's new and improved, one-week-old web site. Colbond is a gsa underwriter.

The Hawaiian city of Waipahu needs to find closure--with a landfill. The 49-acre site was used as a landfill for roughly 30 years and has sat in wait of official closure since 1991. A geomembrane cap is needed. City officials are debating whether the site might then be converted for recreational use. Learn more here.;

The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) is pleased to announce that effective June 1, 2006, it has engaged Whitmer & Worrall, a Washington, DC, lobbying firm. Learn more here.;

The US Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a bill that will allocate $600,000 for erosion and sediment control in the Great Lakes Basin. Next up, the bill will go to the Senate floor for a vote. The three states to benefit from the plan are New York, Minnesota and Michigan. Learn more here.;

Business incubators, once a trendy place for entrepreneurs to start companies, fell out of favor in recent years. But some indicators suggest incubators are making a comeback as a breeding ground for startups, innovative ideas and new job creation. Learn more here.;

As reported in Nonwovens Industry On-Line, "Basell will build a new Spherilene S polyethylene plant at its Wesseling industrial site near Cologne, Germany. The plant will be based on Basell’s new Spherilene S single reactor gas phase design." Learn more here.;