Transportation

The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) has launched a streamlined new website. The site includes a news feed, education resources, a calendar of event, partner links, and more. Among the GMA's most dedicated activities in recent years has been a strong government relations program in Washington, D.C. Learn more at the association website. Learn more here.;

Papers are invited for the Third Symposium on Current and Future Practices for the Testing of Multi-Component Geosynthetic Clay Liners, which will be held 29 June 2012 at the Sheraton San Diego in San Diego, California. Sponsored by ASTM International Committee D35 on Geosynthetics, the symposium will be held in conjunction with Committee D35's June standards development meetings. Learn more.

WatchYourDirt.com is a wide-ranging blog at which John McCullah, CPESC, posts updates on projects Salix Applied Earthcare has been involved in as well as free video excerpts from Dirt Time and educational tips on erosion and sediment control techniques and technologies. Visit the blog today. Learn more here.;

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.;

Raven Industries Engineered Films Division announces the opening of their new Technology Solutions Center within their Sioux Falls, SD operation. The Center will provide full-spectrum product development through extensive research, analysis, processing and optimization of new product formulations. The Technology Solutions Center houses two state-of-the-art pilot extrusion lines. Read more.

The IECA Southeast Chapter is once again hosting a South Carolina Erosion and Sediment Control Training and Field Day! This year's event will be held on Thursday, October 20 in Anderson, South Carolina. It is titled "New Construction General Permit (CGP) What Do I Do Now?". This years training will be a one day event and all activities will be held at the TRI Denver Downs Research Facility. The morning sessions will be devoted to technical presentations by local technical experts. The afternoon sessions will focus on specific BMP applications, testing, and demonstrations. Learn more.

Erosion, sediment, and stormwater runoff have an unquestionably critical impact on the quality of our environment. The EPA estimates that forthcoming new rules will cost more than $900 million annually to keep pace with site control needs. Commonly, the erosion and sediment controls that are selected are referred to as best management practices, or BMPs. But what puts the "B" in BMP? The National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) is utilizing large-scale erosion and sediment control testing to give BMP uses a truer sense of what really is going to be best. Learn more here.;

Tensar International's Commercial Director, John Kiely, is accompanying UK Prime Minister David Cameron as part of the high-level UKTI visit to Russia on the 12-13 September 2011. There are enormous opportunities in Russia’s developing infrastructure over the next few years. The attraction to Tensar is that much of this infrastructure will be over poor ground which needs extensive stabilisation to carry the loads imposed by the traffic and construction. Read more.

The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) regularly offers short-course and certification professional development opportunities. Currently, GSI is preparing four one-day courses, each of which will be offered twice and worth 8 PDHs. Two new courses on retaining wall failures MSE, berm, and slope monitoring and inspection are included. Also, GSI is offering two certification exams, each of which are also available in conjunction with related courses. Read about them here.

CE News' July 2011 Rebuilding America's Infrastructure supplemental publication includes Bryan Gee's "Track Support for Railways." The article looks at the beneficial use of geogrids in soft soil railway bed designs and comes not long after the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) approved this approach. Read it online. Learn more here.;

The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) has announced Long Beach, California as the next site for the long-running, bienniel Geosynthetics conference. This event will be co-located with the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) annual Southwest Geotechnical Engineers Conference. Additionally, the Geosynthetic Institute's (GSI) 25th Geosynthetic Research Institute conference (GRI–25) will be included. Learn more here.;

When SKZ's Geosynthetics Middle East (GSME) event convenes 25-26 October 2011 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, it will mark the fourth annual chapter in this conference, which has grown out of a successful series SKZ previously conducted in Germany. SKZ has organized the GSME event with BMC Gulf, and this year it will once again be held under the patronage of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi. The program for GSME 2011 has been announced. Read about it.

The Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) will once again feature two geosynthetics sessions during its IFAI Expo 2012, to be held 26-28 June 2012 in Singapore. The 2011 edition included two courses taught by TRI/Environmental's Sam Allen, while the 2012 edition has now announced that Dr. A. Malek Bouazza will lead two symposiums: "Geosynthetics for Waste and Water Containment" and "Geosynthetics for Roads and Bridges." Learn more at the event website. Learn more here.;

The St. Louis Chapter of the Geo-Institute is joining with the University of Missouri-Columbia and the Missouri University of Science and Technology to launch a new geotechnical engineering and geo-environmental conference: Geoconfluence. This annual conference will include papers and case histories focused on the geotechnical engineering and geo-environmental industry. This one-day conference is open to all and is scheduled for Friday, 28 October 2011. Dr. Robert Holtz from the University of Washington is scheduled to deliver the Terzaghi Lecture on Geosynthetics at this event. Download the event brochure (PDF). Learn more here.;

The American Public Works Association's (APWA) annual Sustainability in Public Works Conference series provides a key link between public sector engineers, municipal leaders, and design and construction professionals. The next event will be held 25-27 October 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and will include topics such as life-cycle cost analysis, practical sustainability, energy efficiency and conservation practices, low impact development (LID), best practices case studies, and much more. These subjects will touch upon all aspects of the public works' professional's responsibilities (e.g., roads, waste management, stormwater runoff). Deadline for abstract submission: 15 October 2011. Learn more here.;

Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS) has announced a $10 million dollar capital investment for its Midwest facilities. This expansion initiative is in addition to the new manufacturing facility in Hampton, Iowa which ADS will open this September. This capital expansion will significantly increase production capacity and add operating efficiencies to the company's operations in North Dakota, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Manitoba and Ontario.

Seats are booking fast for the 4th International GEOSYNTHETICS Middle East conference. Attracting over 300 delegates from 25 countries in 2010, the conference has turned out to be the leading event on geosynthetics throughout the Middle East and marked Abu Dhabi on the world map as an excellent meeting place for geotechnical and environment specialists to exchange knowledge, conduct business and build strategic partnerships. Under the patronage of Abu Dhabi Municipality, the event is taking place 25-26 October 2011 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Raven Industries, Inc. has announced record second quarter sales and earnings for the three months ended July 31, 2011. Growth in net income was led by profit gains in the Applied Technology Division due to favorable market conditions and continued demand for the company's precision agriculture solutions. The company has also highlighted strong demand for its geomembrane liners and covers.

TenCate Geosynthetics has released the Summer 2011 issue of MiraFACTS. This issue includes a case study video on global projects, Mirafi® 1450BB installation guidelines, the new Mirafi® RS380i woven geosynthetic, and an updated list of market managers. Also, three case studies are included, covering topics of weak subgrade stabilization, commercial parking lot reconstruction, and the utilization of design software and the right material to save 10" of aggregate. Learn more here.;

Rubble from segments of the Interstate 10 Twin Spans destroyed during Hurricane Katrina will be stuffed inside erosion control gabion mattresses that will be draped along a 7.8-mile stretch of the Lake Borgne shoreline of the eastern New Orleans landbridge. Learn more here.;

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) has announced that Iowa will receive $6,064,150 for highway-related projects. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Federal Highway Administration. Harkin is a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that funds the DOT. Among the highlights in the projects announced are geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutments.

As an emerging nation India is a case study in milestone events -- economic growth, global joint ventures and rapid investments in infrastructure, from airports to highways. It's in this last category -- highway construction -- that Strata India recently completed a milestone event for the company and for the nation. By the end of May, Strata India had produced retaining walls for 16 overpass structures in little more than 10 months along an 80-kilometer highway stretching between Mumbai and Surat. More than 1 million special concrete blocks were produced on-site and used to create the flyover structures, some of which are more than 40 feet high. More than 1 million square yards of StrataGrid® was used to stabilize the soils used in building the overpasses.

The United States Department of Commerce has granted Trade Fair Certification to IFAI Expo Asia 2012, which will take place 26-28 June 2012 at the Suntec Singapore International Exhibition Centre. The event schedule, just announced, includes key sessions on "Geosynthetics for Waste and Water Containment" and "Geotextile Materials for Roads and Bridges." Read more.

The North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) and the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) are co-organizing a series of geosynthetics short courses here in the second half of the year with the support of numerous industry sponsors and expert instructors. Forthcoming sessions will be held in Houston, Atlanta and Orlando and address "Geosynthetic Wall and Slope Systems" and "Geosynthetics in Pavement Systems." Read more and register.

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK34369, "Standard Practice for Sampling of Geosynthetics for Testing." This is a work item revision to existing standard D4354-99(2009). In the rationale the committee indicates that Rolled Erosion Control Products (RECPs) often contain significant geosynthetic components but have not yet been included in this standard. Learn more here.;