Transportation

GeoAmericas 2012 marks the Second Pan-American Geosynthetics Conference and Exhibition. It will be held 1-4 May 2012 in Lima, Peru under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). Organizers have announced that the Early-Bird Room Rates for the venue hotel (Westin Libertador Hotel) have been extended until 15 February 2012. Reserve your room today and get the best rate at this key Latin American infrastructure event. Learn more here.;

In late 2009, the town of Workington in Cumbria, United Kingdom was affected by a considerable flood. In just 13 days, a temporary bridge was constructed over the River Derwent. The project was designed and led by the Royal Engineers' Captain Caroline Livesey and involved the utilization of geogrid for mechanical stabilization of aggregate sub-base for the bridge abutments and surrounding structures, such as the construction platform. Tensar's Ian Fraser revisits the project here with Captain Livesey and reports that though the bridge was rapidly constructed on uncertain, flood-impacted banks, it was found to have settled on 5 mm in its 15-month service life.

DuPont has achieved zero landfill status in its Building Innovations business by reducing, reusing and recycling manufacturing byproducts and waste at manufacturing sites globally. After three years of focused effort, DuPont Building Innovations has become completely landfill free, reducing its environmental footprint from 81 million pounds of landfill waste annually to zero. Now, through the "Drive to Zero" landfill program, none of the waste generated by the business from the manufacture of DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces, DuPont™ Zodiaq® quartz surfaces, DuPont™ Tyvek® weatherization systems products and geosynthetic textiles is sent to landfills.

During the January 2012 Dinner Meeting of the Delaware Valley Geo-Institute Chapter, the Geosynthetic Institute's (GSI) Drs. Robert Koerner and George Koerner will speak on the subject of "Geosynthetics Issues with Marcellus Shale Development." The dinner will be held 17 January 2012 at the Radisson Valley Forge. (Meeting at 5:30 pm; dinner at 6:30; presentation at 7:15.) Learn more about this dinner and GSI's research into geosynthetics and shale gas.

The abstract submission deadline for GeoManitoba 2012 is 15 January 2012. This Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) annual conference will take place 30 September - 3 October 2012 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Abstracts of up to 400 words may now be submitted online. Key subjects expected for the event include brownfields remediation, sustainability, landslides and slope stability, MSE walls, and much more. Visit the latest call for papers information on the event website. Learn more here.;

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has revised D6638, "Standard Test Method for Determining Connection Strength Between Geosynthetic Reinforcement and Segmental Concrete Units (Modular Concrete Blocks)." This connection strength test is meant to be a performance test (laboratory or field); it should be conducted using full-scale system components. Learn more here.;

Geomembranes used as separation liners between old and new waste in vertical expansions of landfills may be subject to differential settlement strains. It is important to define a maximum allowable strain that any given geomembrane can tolerate without compromising its required service life. Here, we take another look at work from Peggs, Schmucker and Carey. The authors assess competing notions of maxiumum allowable global strain from different world regions and liner selection. This information has previously been delivered in a live session but until now has not been published in print.

ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has revised D4439, "Standard Terminology for Geosynthetics." Learn more here.;

Chaido Doulala-Rigby (Yuli), Chief Engineer Tensar International, and Mike Dobie, Tensar Regional Manager Asia Pacific, have both recently been admitted as Fellows of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the world's oldest professional engineering society and a pre-eminent international organisation for civil engineers of all disciplines. Congratulations, Mike and Yuli!

Tensar Corporation has announced the promotion of Robert Vevoda to Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this new position Vevoda will be responsible for global manufacturing operations in addition to heading up commercial operations as President of Tensar International Corporation, a leading producer of geosynthetic soil reinforcement and stabilization materials.

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Photo Contest was created to showcase the outstanding work of IGS members and exceptional geosynthetic engineering solutions. The inaugural contest response was phenomenal--a 2nd IGS Photo Contest was demanded. Submission deadline: 1 February 2012. Learn more about the competition here.

The University of Kansas's School of Engineering has received $75,000 in funding from the Mid-America Transportation Center for an investigation into the beneficial impact geogrid reinforcement may have on track ballast performance (longevity, economics). BNSF Railway Co. has provided ballast and track sections to the study and Tensar Corp. has supplied the geogrid reinforcement material. Learn more here.;

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and its 34 country/regional chapters provide exceptional opportunities for networking and knowledge exchange in the greater civil engineering and construction fields. Those opportunities are only increasing as in 2011 the IGS was invited to join the Federation of the International Geo-Engineering Societies (FedIGS). This union is providing fantastic links and information resource developments with the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM), the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG), and the International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). Geosynthetica strongly encourages its readers to renew their IGS memberships and applicable chapter memberships. If you have never joined, we strongly encourage you to now. Learn more about membership and chapters, including online registration/renewal, at the IGS Membership page. Learn more here.;

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has revised D4595, "Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Geotextiles by the Wide-Width Strip Method." The basic distinction between this test method and other methods for measuring strip tensile properties is the width of the specimen. This width, by contrast, is greater than the length of the specimen. Some fabrics used in geotextile applications have a tendency to contract (neck down) under a force in the gage length area. The greater width of the specimen specified in this test method minimizes the contraction effect of those fabrics and provides a closer relationship to expected geotextile behavior in the field and a standard comparison. Learn more here.;

GeoAsia 2012 is the a quadrennial geosynthetics conference dedicated to engineering and construction in the Asian region. To be held 10-14 December 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and with the support and leadership of IGS Thailand, GeoAsia will provide an essential regional educational and networking opportunity. This 5th edition to the GeoAsia series will operate under the theme "Geosynthetics for Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change." Learn more here.;

In his year-end review letter, North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) Executive Director David Suits writes, "The year 2011 has been a very good year for the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS)….We are maintaining a healthy membership. This year we had 32 new or revived memberships. Under the guidance of the past Board, the early part of the year was devoted to working with IFAI, and the Geo-Institute organizing the Geo-Frontiers 2011 Conference. We had close to 2000 attendees and 150 exhibitors. As a result NAGS received one of the best, if not the best financial return that we have experienced for any of the conferences in which we have participated." Read more, and don't forget to renew your membership (or join).

The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) has published its third issue of IGS News for 2011. Issue 27.3 includes a lead editorial from IGS President Jorge Zornberg on IGS's relationship with international sister societies (which includes an interesting comparative table on memberships, chapters, and technical committees), a call for IGS Council members, a chapters activity report, news on the October 2011 memorandum of understanding between IGS and ICID, event reports, and much more. And don't forget to submit your photo to the 2nd IGS Photo Competition. Read the issue here (PDF).

TenCate Geosynthetics is reporting strong global performance of approximately 15% organic sales growth, led by new products and a focus on sustainability and environmental protection. Soil stabilization and soil reinforcement solutions have been key to this growth. For products such as TenCate Geotube® and TenCate GeoDetect™, the company sees growing interest stemming from their CO2-friendly, sustainable environmental approach and the utilization of leakage, erosion control and deformation detection systems.

ASTM International Committee D18 on Soil and Rock has revised D6459, "Standard Test Method for Determination of Rolled Erosion Control Product (RECP) Performance in Protecting Hillslopes from Rainfall-Induced Erosion." This test method is a performance test, but can be used for quality control to determine product conformance to project specifications. Caution is advised since information regarding laboratory specific precision is incomplete. For project specific conformance, unique project-specific conditions should be taken into consideration. Learn more here.;

Propex announced today that Robert F. Dahl, II, has joined the Company as Vice President Sales - Specialty Products. Dahl comes to Propex from Fiberweb, where as Vice President of Specialty Products he led growth of the building materials, geotextiles, and defense business units, with primary focus on North American markets. Prior to that, he spent eighteen years with DuPont, building experience in a range of Sales, Marketing and Management roles.

TenCate Geosynthetics North America has developed a patented, woven geosynthetic for soil stabilization and base course reinforcement applications when differential settlement occurs due to heaving in the subgrade soils. TenCate Mirafi® H2Ri is a wicking geosynthetic created from high-tenacity polypropylene filaments and wicking filaments formed into an innovative weave to provide superior reinforcement strength and soil interaction integrated with high soil retention and wicking capabilities. Read more in the release.

The bienniel Geosynthetics conference series continues 1-4 April 2013 in Long Beach, California. This event will be co-located with the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) annual Southwest Geotechnical Engineers Conference and the Geosynthetic Institute's (GSI) 25th Geosynthetic Research Institute conference (GRI–25). Geosynthetics 2013 has issued a call for proposals for short courses, panel discussions, and technical papers. Deadline for submission: 1 February 2012.

NAUE America has announced the appointment of Paul O'Malley as President of NAUE America, effective 1 January 2012. In the United States, the international manufacturer specializes its business around Secugrid® and Combigrid® geogrids for reinforcement utilization in applications such as road construction, wind farm development, retaining walls and soil stabilization. O'Malley is a veteran of the construction and engineering materials field, including numerous years involved in geosynthetics. Read more in the official release.

China's geotextile market currently exceeds 300 million square meters, with 40% of the volume being nonwoven geotextiles. From 2006 to 2010, the country's manufacturing output of geotextile materials rose more than 35% annually, according to information exchanged during the December 3 China Geotextiles Composite Materials Summit 2011 held in Lingxian, Shandong. Elsewhere, Chinese officials made some surprising environment and climate change target proposals at a UN-led gathering in Durban, South Africa.

The Geosynthetic Certification Institute (GCI) has announced a NEW Inspector Certification Program (ICP) for Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Walls, Berms and Slopes Using Geosynthetic Reinforcement. A 14 March 2012 one-day short course has been announced in support of this certification opportunity. The course shall be focused on the inspection, monitoring and maintenance of MSE walls, berms and slopes reinforced with geogrids and geotextiles. Read more from Jamie Koerner.