Special Series

Dr. Jim Collin has been announced as Vice Chair and Dr. Jorge Zornberg has been appointed as Secretary of the Geosynthetics Committee. The logic is to maintain the balance of Academics/Industry for the committee leadership. This way, the chair position is rotating between academics and industry professionals.

A civil engineering site solutions products and services company, today announced the acquisition of Vortechnics, Inc., provider of engineered solutions for the treatment of stormwater runoff. Through the purchase of 100 percent of the outstanding shares of Vortechnics, Vortechnics has become a wholly owned subsidiary of CONTECH. With products serving the municipal, industrial and commercial construction markets, Vortechnics has been a pioneer in the treatment of stormwater pollution, developing several technological innovations for the rapidly evolving stormwater management industry, including the award winning Vortechs(R) System, which is used to clean stormwater that runs off parking lots, roads and other impervious surfaces. If not removed from this runoff, the pollutants can accumulate in surface waters damaging ecosystems and diminishing habitats for native plant, fish and bird species. "This is a natural transition for the relationship between these two companies," said Patrick M. Harlow, president and chief executive officer of CONTECH. "CONTECH established a position in the stormwater market with detention systems and drainage solutions. We strengthened our position with a sales representative agreement with Vortechnics in 2002. This acquisition solidifies CONTECH as the leader in technology and solutions for the stormwater industry." With a sales force of more than 170 sales engineers across the country, this acquisition further strengthens CONTECH's competitive posture and ability to lead the construction products industry in offering the full continuum of products and services. "Together, Vortechnics and CONTECH will have a comprehensive portfolio of stormwater solutions products, creating a single source for the civil engineering community. Our combined strengths will give us the power to serve our customers in a way Vortechnics could not accomplish on its own," said David Miley, CEO of Vortechnics. "By joining with CONTECH, we are able to fulfill several key strategic objectives and strengthen our commitment to cleaning up the nation's waters. We have an unrelenting passion for helping our customers achieve their water quality objectives with site specific solutions, and CONTECH is the ideal partner to help us continually reach for that vision."

Officials tout the project as "the largest reclamation in the world..." Learn more here.;

D35 will be celebrating a 20 year anniversary in Kansas City in June with a reception/dinner on Thursday, June 17th. ASTM D35 has invited special guests and long-time contributors, as well as international representatives. More info to follow.

ASTM D7008-03 Standard Specification for Geosynthetic Alternate Daily Covers and D7006-03 Standard Practice for Ultrasonic Testing of Geomembranes are now available for purchase. Learn more here.;

Bilan de la conférence: La conférence qui s’est tenu du 1 au 3 mars 2004 à Munich, Allemagne, a été un très grand succès avec la participation de plus de 500 personnes provenant de 44 pays. Learn more here.;

A. Maurice Myers is stepping down as CEO at Waste Management Inc., but he will remain chairman of the company's board until November. David P. Steiner, who has been executive vice president and chief financial officer, becomes the new CEO immediately, the company said today. Lawrence O'Donnell III also becomes president and chief operating officer of the nation's largest trash company. Learn more here.;

Company: Bend Tarp & Liner, Position: Geomembranes Construction/Production Manager, Date Posted: 9 March 2004. Central Oregon based liner manufacturer and installer requires individual to oversee production crews and field crews. Working in conjunction with Operations Manager, this individual will be responsible for laying out daily production scheduling, and overseeing daily field operations. Candidate should have good knowledge of the geomembranes installation industry, welding of geomembranes, QA/QC procedures, and a background in project management and estimating. Travel both nationally and internationally, valid drivers license and pre-employment drug screening also required. Salary negotiable depending on experience. 401k and profit sharing included. Only mailed resumes to: Bend Tarp & Liner, 63012 Layton Avenue, Bend, OR 97701, Attention: Operations Manager. No phone calls please. Learn more here.;

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL., Mar. 1, 2004. AMCOL International Corporation (NYSE: ACO), today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Linteco Geotechnische Systeme GmbH (LGS), a specialized geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) manufacturer headquartered in Linz, Austria. The acquisition will strengthen the Company’s presence in the European lining market and add a highly skilled team of professionals to complement CETCO’s lining technology operations in the U.S., U.K., Poland, Korea and China. Ryan McKendrick, CETCO president, said, “The acquisition of LGS will bring together two well established companies serving the European lining market today. This combination expands the breadth of our product offerings and provides CETCO with better market penetration in several important market areas. Coupled with the product and technology synergies we can deliver today and in the future, the arrangement will result in benefits to each company’s customers.” Larry Washow, AMCOL president and chief executive officer, added, “Building on customer relationships is a key component of our strategy for long-term growth. LGS’s European sales and support presence makes it a strong fit for us as we seek to expand distribution of our products into a wider range of market segments throughout Europe." LGS is a geosynthetic sales and manufacturing company with headquarters and manufacturing facilities located in Linz, Austria. It has sales offices in Spain and Scandinavia. In addition to supplying and manufacturing GCLs for the European market the company sells complimentary products such as drainage composites, nets, geotextiles and geomembranes. The company was incorporated since 1997. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. CETCO Environmental Offshore Services is a division of CETCO, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AMCOL International Corp. AMCOL produces and markets specialty mineral products used for industrial, environmental and consumer-related applications. The company operates in three industry segments, minerals, environmental and transportation. AMCOL’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “ACO.” The company’s web site is www.amcol.com.

March 17-19, GMA will be holding a Committee Meeting for Strategic Planning.

The Czech Republic now has an IGS Chapter. It is one month old. Congratulations from gsa! Greece will be the next chapter to be added to the IGS. This will make a grand total of 25 chapters. Encourage the growth - contact the IGS for details on how to incude professionals in your country in the Society.

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

The European GeoMembrane Association (EGMA) was formed on the 26th of November, 2003. The president is Stefan Baldauf of GSE Lining Technology GmbH, and it has eight members, two of which are gsa underwriters, Atarfil and Alkor Draka (Solvay). Their web site can be found at the "continued" link below. Learn more here.;

Civil Engineers Define a New Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century. The proposal is the first among engineering disciplines to call for advanced studies, work experience, in addition to bachelor's degree. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Many Americans would be surprised - if not alarmed - to learn that the people responsible for designing their roads, bridges, buildings and drinking water are only required to hold a bachelor's degree while doctors, lawyers, physical therapists, accountants and even elementary school teachers are expected to hold professional and graduate degrees. Despite practicing a profession where technology and techniques are ever- evolving, the educational requirements for today's young engineers are less than their counterparts' of 150 years ago. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released a report today, Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century: Preparing the Civil Engineer for the Future, outlining a plan to broaden and deepen the "Body Knowledge" required for future civil engineers. The knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be required of an individual entering the civil engineering profession in the 21st century must be broadened emphasizing leadership principles and technical specialization. "Civil engineering must restructure its 150-year-old educational model to meet the challenges of the 21st century," said ASCE President Patricia D. Galloway, P.E., F.ASCE. "The next generation of civil engineering professionals will be engaged in increasingly complex work, requiring knowledge both broader and deeper than the current engineering education provides." At the turn of the last century, civil engineering graduates completed 155 credit hours, compared to the 125 credit hours earned by most of today's students. Civil engineering students take at least 20 fewer credits than did counterparts in the 1920s and they take a whole semester less of technical and professional engineering courses at a time when the complexity of civil engineering is escalating. In comparison, law and medical students at the turn of the last century had no more than one to four years of training, compared to the average eight years of undergraduate and graduate work today. "Most professions - business, law and medicine - do not consider the bachelor's degree a professional degree, yet engineering does," said National Academy of Engineering President William A. Wulf. "With growing global competition and the explosion of new technology changing the shape of the profession, we must restructure the way we educate engineers." The first of any engineering discipline to develop a proposal to elevate educational prerequisites for future practicing engineers, the report recommends that a graduate degree, or the equivalent of 30 credits, and practical experience be required in addition to an undergraduate degree before a civil engineer can sit for the licensure exam and practice professionally. The plan will lead to the revision of current undergraduate and graduate programs to reflect the basic skills and knowledge that will be expected of professional civil engineers, and may eventually lead to the creation of new programs. The Body of Knowledge is developed to be flexible in how future civil engineering students pursue their education. The trend towards distance learning programs and high-quality corporate and government agency education will not be ignored and can be cultivated as an optional to traditional graduate school programs for future civil engineering student. "As the steward of the civil engineering profession, ASCE must lead the development and implementation of this new educational model," said ASCE Task Committee Chair Jeffrey S. Russell, Ph.D., "The current four-year bachelor's degree is becoming inadequate formal preparation for the practice of civil engineering in the 21st century." ASCE's Committee on the Academic Prerequisites for the Professional Practice of Civil Engineering developed the recommended new Body of Knowledge that will serve as the foundation for the education of civil engineers in the future. Through this new Body of Knowledge, ASCE can influence changes to the civil engineering curricula, as well as necessary changes in licensure requirements, to ensure that the profession will meet its obligations to serve public health and safety in the increasingly complex technological world of the future. Knowledge, skills and attitudes that comprise the Body of Knowledge include the abilities to: 1) Apply knowledge of math, science and engineering; 2) Design and conduct experiments as well as to analyze and interpret data; 3) Design a system, component or process to meet desired needs; 4) Function on multidisplinary teams; 5) Identify, formulate and solve engineering problems; 6) Understand of professional and ethical responsibility; 7) Communicate effectively; 8) Understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global and societal context; 9) Recognize the need for and engage in lifelong learning; 10) Know contemporary issues; 11) Use techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice; 12) Apply knowledge in a specialized area related to civil engineering; 13) Understand the elements of project, construction and asset management; 14) Understand business, public policy and administration fundamentals; and 15) Understand the role of a leader and leadership principles and attitudes. For Additional Information Contact: Norida Torriente 202-326-5129 (office) 202-253-5058 (cell) ntorriente@asce.org

The PVC Geomembrane Institute (PGI) is pleased to announce that the PGI Specification 1103 has been updated. The index test for Average Plasticizer Molecular Weight has been added to the PGI Specification effective January 1, 2004. This index test is required to be tested once per formulation of material. Increasing the plasticizer molecular weight of the plasticizer increases the amount of plasticizer that is retained over time. Thus, increasing the plasticizer molecular weight increases the long-term flexibility and thus the durability of PVC geomembranes. The change is important because the requirement of 400 Average Plasticizer Molecular Weight helps further define PVC geomembrane versus PVC sheet not suitable for geomembrane applications. A copy of the PGI specification is available on the PGI website, http://pgi-tp.cee.uicu.edu. According to Patrick Diebel, President of PGI, this new requirement “is an added measure to ensure only high quality PVC is used. This average plasticizer molecular weight assures that the best ingredients are used in formulating a PVC geomembrane.” Tim Stark stated that “PGI is committed to consistently improving the methods for defining quality PVC geomembranes. Expect more work of this nature to come from PGI during 2004 including the inclusion of leachate resistance to the PGI 1104 specification” For more information on PGI, contact Laurie Honnigford, at 651-554-1895.

A link to the latest newsletter (December 2003) from the Geosynthetic Institute. Learn more here.;

Please note the new phone and fax numbers for CAAWSystems (phone: +1.262.965.4366, fax: +1. 262.965.4369). Also, Matt Albert, formerly of GSI, has joined the company to handle the estimating needs and project managment.

Huesker recently announced that they had purchased the assets of Geocomp Inc. located in Shelby, NC. According to Tom Collins, President, "this expansion will allow Huesker to grow faster and will provide access to numerous water-related markets that are central to our long term plans." Huesker Inc. of Charlotte, NC, is a manufacturer of specialty geosynthetics for the soil reinforcement market.

That GFR Editor, Christopher Kelsey, is also an award winning cook? His winning prize? A bottle of Beano! The following is his famous vegetarian recipe. cK Chili: 1 med. White onion - diced, 3 stalks celery - diced, 3 bell peppers (different colors, preferably) - diced, 2 serrano peppers - cored, seeded and finely chopped, 1 jalapeno pepper - cored, seeded and finely chopped, 6 cups (or three 12-ounce cans) mixed beans (e.g., black, pinto and cannelini), 4 cups (or two 12-ounce cans) vegetable broth or water, Extra-virgin olive oil, Chili powder, Cumin, Thyme (fresh or dried), a sprig or two's leaves, Cilantro (fresh, chopped) * a few sprigs, Oregano (fresh and chopped, preferably) * a few sprigs, Srirachi (Thai red chili) sauce, and finally, Corn starch - optional. 1. In warm pot with olive oil, sweat the onions and celery for three minutes. Add all peppers (bell, Serrano, and jalapeno) and a bit more olive oil. Give a good stir. Add oregano, cilantro and thyme. Stir. Let sweat for a minute. Add beans and broth. Bring to a boil. 2. Add a few squirts of srirachi sauce and cumin and chili powder to taste. (Perhaps a tablespoon of each.) Stir. Lower to simmer. 3. Add corn starch to thicken (if desired). Excellent when served hot over bread.

gsa is investigating a welding machine claimed to be able to weld different geomembrane materials together. If this is of interest to you please let us know and indicate the types of materials you would like to weld.

Huesker Geosynthetics (a gsa underwriter), along with Allan Block Corporation, sponsored Columbia University on the first full-scale seismic testing ever performed on SRW walls. In the Fall of 2002, a series of three tests were conducted on Allan Block walls reinforced with Huesker geogrids at a seismic research facility in Japan. 28-page Executive Summary at http://www.allanblock.com/seismic/seismicreport2.pdf . For the 4-page summary, please go to the continued link below. Learn more here.;

The new bilingual internet site went live today. Infogeos.com was created to inform the geotechnical French community (in Canada, Europe and North Africa) on geosynthetics activities and products. Learn more here.;

Jacquie Dettman started 3 February as Manager of Business Development for TRI (a geosynthetica underwriter). Jacquie has previously worked for Poly-Flex, Golder, and Jacobs Engineering.

CONTECH Construction Products, Inc., will share insights gained from more than 100 years of expertise in civil engineering solutions with the relaunch of its Web site, www.contech-cpi.com. The civil engineering industry resource provides access to hundreds of documents and tools to assist in the development of innovative applications for detention systems, stormwater treatment and drainage, sewage lines, bridges, tunnels, retaining walls and erosion control. The new site helps specifying engineers, design/build professionals and contractors plan and implement civil engineering projects with minimal cost and maximum efficiency. Visitors have the opportunity to register, free of charge, to enjoy exclusive access to a more comprehensive portfolio of tools and information including estimating calculators, CAD files, design software, in-depth case studies, and product installation instructions. "It became clear that the Web was one of the most effective ways to leverage our 100 years of experience to our customers' benefit," said Rick Stepien, CONTECH senior vice president of marketing. "This resource is designed to be an invaluable tool that industry professionals can use to make their jobs easier and help projects run more smoothly." Information is easily accessible thanks to enhanced navigation and an intuitive layout. Visitors can search for information by industry, application, or product category. CONTECH expects the new site to continually evolve and grow, so civil engineering professionals can rely on it as an ongoing resource throughout their careers. Learn more here.;

Le schéma préliminaire pour l'infogeos.com. Le site sera en service a partir du 12 février 2004. Infogeos.com is a new web site that will be on-line by February 12. It is a bilingual site created to inform the geotechnical French community (in Canada, Europe and North Africa) and Canadian engineering professionals on geosynthetics activities and products. 12e.