Transportation

When you book your hotel stay at the Hilton Anatole for EC10 under IECA's room block, you will automatically be entered into a drawing to be upgraded to a Garden Hospitality Suite. Click here for details and contest rules. From now until January 22, you will enjoy special rates of $149.00 plus tax per night at the beautiful Hilton Anatole Hotel. Call +1 214 761 7500 or book online now. Learn more here.;

Congratulations to the following members who were elected to the Chapter Board of Directors: Pete Hanrahan, president; Rick Fritschler, vice president; Andrea Wright, secretary; Joe Koziell, treasurer. Gene Ambroziak (New York) and Brandon Faneuf (Rhode Island) were elected as state representatives for their respective states. The Board thanks outgoing president Christine Odiaga for 4 years of outstanding service. Learn more here.;

John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods Inc., and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods of the Carolinas Inc., based in Atlanta, Ga., have agreed to pay a $350,000 civil penalty to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today. The companies have also agreed to implement company-wide storm water compliance programs at their construction sites that go beyond current regulatory requirements. EPA estimates that the agreement will keep approximately 37 million pounds of sediment from polluting the nation's waterways each year.

Geosynthetica supports its underwriters and the geosynthetics field on many fronts: in magazine articles, in daily news on its site and as an approved provider to Google News, through webinars, with market research, and in many other ways. One of the important ways we deliver geosynthetics information around the world is through support of conferences, particularly of those that are not exclusive to geosynthetics or which have not yet realized their full market or regional potential in their utilization or understanding of geosynthetic technologies. In 2010, some of the events for which Geosynthetica.net is serving as a cooperating organization / media sponsor include: ** EC10 in Dallas, Texas, USA -- 16-20 February 2010; ** 7th Cooperation for Waste Issues in Kharkiv, Ukraine -- 7-8 April 2010; ** Polymers in Photovoltaics 2010 in Cologne, Germany -- 20-22 April 2010; ** LatAm Mining Congress 2010 in Coral Gables, Florida, USA -- 27-29 April 2010; ** Global Waste Management Symposium 2010 in San Antonio, Texas, USA -- 3-6 October 2010. **** To learn more about how you can be part of these events and others with Geosynthetica.net, or how Geosynthetica can work with you to expand your reach, contact Elizabeth Peggs at elizabeth@geosynthetica.net.

CETCO will present its next webinar, "Slope Stability & Shear Strength - Installation of GCL," on 16 November 2009 from 10:00 - 11:30 am (CST). This geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) webinar uses the GoToMeetings web application, so may require some download of software in order to have full access to the presentation. Phone-in and computer audio is a possibility for listening in. Visit the company's webinar and event page for more information and to request a space in the webinar audience. Learn more here.;

Construction spending during September was estimated by the U.S. Commerce Department at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $940.3 billion, 0.8% above the revised August estimate of $933.0 billion. The September figure is 13% below the September 2008 estimate of $1,081.2 billion. Public construction spending edged up in September to $326.4 billion, 1.3% above the revised August estimate of $322.1 billion. Highway construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $85.5 billion, 1.0% above the revised August estimate of $84.6 billion. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is calling for nominations for its 19th annual Awards of Environmental Excellence. This year's awards program features two new award categories: Organization of the Year and Young Professional of the Year. IECA will also honor a Sustained Contributor and Industry Professional of the Year during its awards program at Environmental Connection 2010 (EC10) 16-20 February 2010.

Brantley County, Florida has had enough with its woodland roads flooding out and costly the county significant maintenance fees year after year. Instead of the simple dirt fix the county usually opts for, it is now installing geotextile separation fabric and drainage stone to prevent the subgrade breakdown during future heavy water periods. It costs a little more today, but it saves a considerable amount tomorrow. Learn more here.;

County Road 36 along the Crow River in the Otsego area of Minnesota, near Highway 101, has had a 20 to 50% chance of flooding each year. The commonality of floods has cost the area significant road delays, commercial dollars, and maintenance time and money. A new plan is being carried out now to support a critical quarter-mile stretch with a combination of geofoam, geotextile and geogrid. The project should be completed by late November. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association's (IECA)membership voted to re-elect Sandy Mathews and Brock Peters, CISEC to the 2010 Board of Directors. Joining Mathews and Peters to the 2010 Board of Directors is new board member Charles Riling, Jr. Riling will begin his term in February alongside fellow Board members Mike Chase, Julie Etra, Ron Faucher, Philip Handley, Lee Johnson, Rick Morse, and Tom Williams. Read about the new board members.

On Tuesday, 3 November, our engineer colleagues and friends Gaye Sprague and John Paulson were elected to their city councils. At a time when so much of American government is debating infrastructure, it seems especially relevant and important to have civil engineers serve in office. Read about them here.

NAUE GmbH & Co. KG, a German manufacturer of geosynthetic materials, such as geosynthetic clay liners will be appealing a recent decision of Australian Customs imposing anti-dumping measures on its products. NAUE is an internationally active company with a long-standing record of high-performance products and high integrity in its involvement in the global market. This includes many years of successful interaction with and service to numerous sectors of civil engineering and construction in Australia. Read the company's response here.

The Federal Highway Administration crossed the $20 billion mark in approved obligations for highway, road and bridge projects this week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced today. Of the $26.6 billion available for federal highway and bridge projects under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than 75 percent has now been obligated. To date, nearly 8,500 highway projects have been approved and nearly 5,000 are underway.

The North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS), the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Geo-Institute (GI) have signed an agreement to co-organize Geo-Frontiers 2011. The last Geo-Frontiers was held in 2005 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 edition will be held at the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel 13-16 March 2011. The event is the second Geo-Frontiers, the first of which was held in 2005 in Austin. The Call for Proposals has been issued. In addition to traditional paper sessions, this call seeks proposals for activities that will allow professional colleagues to share their expertise through panel discussions, hands-on workshops and short courses; and “show-and-tell” their stories in field demonstrations and technical tours. Learn more in the PDF brochure. Learn more here.;

CETCO has completed an extensive update of its website. The new content includes new tools and contacts for specification assistance, an extensive reference and document library (all available freely and without any login requirements), and key testing updates, such as to recent direct shear testing results. We encourage our readers to explore CETCO's new site. The added content is worth the time. Learn more here.;

Daniele Cazzuffi of CESI serves as president of the Italian Chapter of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS). He has sent along the following photograph from the 22nd National Conference on Geosynthetics, which was held on 28 October 2009 in Bologna, Italy. The event's theme was "Regulations and Seismic Design in Reinforced Earth." IGS Italy, the Geosynthetic Association of Italy (AGI), and the Association of Engineers and Architects (Bologna Province) held the conference. Read more.

The Fabricated Geomembrane Institute (FGI) held its first course on "Constructing with Fabricated Geomembranes" on 23 October 2009. "The attendance exceeded our expectations for this course," stated Tim Stark. The short course was attended by 66 people and covered the design, specification, testing, manufacturing, fabrication, installation, inspection and field testing of fabricated geomembranes in a variety of applications. The course was moderated by Tim Stark and 16 other speakers presented various components to the course. One goal of the course was to give attendees a wide range of experts from which to draw from.

Roads & Bridges magazine will combine its Paving Innovations and Bridge Infrastructure Live Events into one grand occasion in Chicago in September 2010. Any interested speakers should contact Bill Wilson at bwilson@sgcmail.com. Learn more here.;

Professor Jean-Louis Briaud, Holder of the Buchanan Chair in the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University in the USA was elected President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). The election took place in Alexandria, Egypt on 4 October 2009. Read more about his appointment here.

CG/LA Infrastructure LLC, the world leader in infrastructure project identification and development, announced today the release of the Top 100 Global Strategic Infrastructure Projects. The total estimated value of the projects identified is nearly US$550 billion. The Top 100 List is released prior to the 3rd Annual Global Forum (New York City, 9-11 December 2009).

Maccaferri, a leading provider of Civil Engineering and Environmental solutions for over 130 years, has developed the MacDam™ to control ash and fine sediment runoff on burned or barren slopes. Fire is an ever present force in forests and rangeland and is an important natural process in the renewal of ecosystems. However, as human populations expand, people and their homes, businesses and public infrastructure are not only threatened by the incidence of natural and man-induced wildfires, but ultimately areas affected by fire can succumb to a secondary disaster resulting from the erosion of barren soils.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a survey to help strengthen stormwater regulations and reduce stormwater discharges from newly developed and redeveloped sites. Stormwater discharges can harm water quality through increases in stormwater volume and pollutant loadings into nearby waterways.

This summer, EPA replaced a 43,000-square-foot section of the parking lot at its Edison facility with three different types of permeable pavement and planted several rain gardens with varying vegetation for the study. Over the next decade, EPA will evaluate the effectiveness of each pavement type and the rain gardens in removing pollutants from stormwater, and how they help water filter back into the ground. The parking lot will be functional during the study to accurately evaluate how the different types of pavement handle traffic and vehicle-related pollution like leaking oil.

Bolivar, Missouri is the county seat of Polk County and home to Southwest Baptist University. The city recently capitalized on an 80/20 funds-sharing plan to correct years of rutting and unsatisfactory road performance. Petromat paving fabric from Propex is being installed to stabilize the road and prevent the pumping and mixing of fines that historically has undermined roads in the city. Learn more here.;

When ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics meets in San Antonio, Texas (27-29 January 2010), the gathering will include a Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI)/D35 joint workshop on durability. The workshop--"Geosynthetic Material Durability: Field and Laboratory Experiences"--will be held on 29 January (8:00 am - 5:00 pm). The topics to be presented are as follows: (Read more)