Transportation

Firestone offers installation training all over the United States for its versatile PondGard EPDM liner. The four-hour session combines classroom demonstrations, discussion, and video training followed by time with Firestone staff. This seminar is designed for individuals interested in residential and light commercial lining projects (including backyard decorative ponds, retention ponds, waterfall features and the associated project nuances involved with these types of applications). The next sessions will be held in Westminster, Colorado; Grant, Michigan; and Uniontown, Ohio. Learn more here.;

EDANA, a Europe-base association for the nonwovens industry (which includes nonwoven geotextiles), has relaunched its website with a new look and organization. Visit the main site or visit one of the relevant subpages, such as Civil and Engineering Geotextiles. Learn more here.;

This page breaks down the latest broadcast stories from the Erosion and Sediment Control Network and lists related erosion control news from geosynthetica.net.

Though the bi-weekly Call for Papers Update will be published on Monday morning, we'd like to remind readers that 1 August 2008 is the deadline for submissions to TRB 88, Urban Water Management 2009, and the 2009 Techtextil North America Symposium. See the succinct breakdown of deadlines here.

The organizers of EuroGeo 4--the 4th European Conference on Geosynthetics--would like to remind readers of the early registration deadline (31 July 2008) and of the three technical courses that will be held in conjunction with the event. The technical course subjects are geosynthetics in reinforcement, waste containment and hydraulic applications. Read more.

South Lanarkshire will be the home of Europe’s largest on-shore wind farm. Scottish ministers have just signed off on the Clyde Wind Farm deal. Access to wind farms is often dependent on geogrid reinforcement and/or geotextile separation in the road bed, as the access roads must withstand long-term heavy vehicle traffic. More about this project as it develops. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics has launched a new website. The new section focuses on Industrial Fabrics. Read about the site's redesign, its new resources, and more.

Commodity Online has published an interview with Dr. Ramkumar Seshadri of Texas Tech University. Seshadri spoke at the recent ATNT 2008 event in Coimbatore, India, and detailed the growth potential for the Indian technical textiles market. India's massive infrastructure growth needs is creating a huge demand for more highly engineered support. Learn more here.;

geosynthetica is proud to announce that it has cleared the application process to begin supplying original content to Google News. This platform will help extend the reach of geosynthetic engineering information to users, potential users, journalists, and many others. For information on how your work could be part of a story, contact Chris Kelsey.

The current installment of CE News' Civil Connection e-newsletter includes a segmental retaining wall (SRW) design on shipping giant DHL's new, 72-acre site in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Strata Systems' Sleeve-It product enabled the project team to establish a key security fence on what would normally be a difficult site: the top of the wall. The article shows how the installation succeeded. Learn more here.;

Tensar International has released the latest issue of GeoTalk. This 18th volume of the company's geosynthetics applications newsletter includes a field study on geogrid performance in roads, new paving reinforcement materials, use of geogrids by the US Army Corp of Engineers for border zone installations, slope retention and dewatering. Download the issue in PDF. Learn more here.;

Our bi-weekly update on calls for papers, abstracts and proposals is posted. This issue includes Cooperation for Waste Issues, a Kharkiv, Ukraine event for which geosynthetica is a media partner. Events are listed in ordered of closest deadlines.

Resin prices have increased dramatically this year, and since resins provide the vital characteristics of geosynthetics, the cost of geosynthetic products have risen--though not nearly by as much as resins have. But there is only so much manufactures can do before some of their increased costs must transfer into the product lines. Tensar International has released a letter about this. Learn more here.;

Lumite Inc., a geotextile-manufacturing subsidiary of Thrace Plastics, has acquired a plant from Propex. The 226,000-sq-ft facility in Alto, Georgia will increase Thrace's geotextile production capacity, a welcomed advent as the company seeks to expand within the domestic market. Learn more here.;

The Indian economy is developing at an incredible pace, and to sustain this growth requires significant infrastructure investment and new technologies. Constru India 2008 addresses this. Organizers have added an October 17, one-day symposium--"Geotextiles: What, Where and Why"--for the country's young geotextiles market. A symposium brochure is available.

We've seen a great many Calls for Papers, Abstracts and Proposals come out recently. It can be difficult to track all this during your busy work season. Keep up-to-date on the calls with our update column that may identify particular sessions of interest, such as the Geotechnical Risk portion of the 2009 DBIA Water/Wastewater event. Read more about these forthcoming deadlines.

The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) has announced that it is preparing to meet with members of the U.S. Congress who have an interest in levee safety. GMA seeks examples of geosynthetic products that can be employed for emergency levee repair and levee heightening to prevent overtopping. For information on the meeting and GMA, contact Andrew Aho. Learn more here.;

Tensar International has provided a bit more detail regarding funeral services for Jim Paul, the company's former CEO. A private cremation ceremony will be held on July 4 followed by a public service. Read more.

TenCate Geosynthetics' engineers have released a document detailing the importance and use of separation factors in selecting geotextiles for roadway design. Key to selection is retention, permeability and survivability characteristics. View a copy of the document today.

The 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG) will be held 23-27 May 2010 in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil. A Call for Papers has been issued…as has a conference mascot. Deadline for submission of abstract is 30 October 2008. Key interests for the conference include drainage, mining, durability and long-term performance, transportation, hydraulic applications, new products and much more. Learn more here.;

The sagging state of the American infrastructure is well known. The recent collapse of more than 20 levees during the flooding in the Midwest is more than telling. But the Economist has now weighed in with a rather stark, short essay on the funding and application needs. Transportation and water management are of major concern. Read more. Learn more here.;

While the primary uses of geotextiles include separation, cushioning, drainage control and filtration, another major use has grown in recent years: demolition control. The durability of geotextiles and finer apperatures have seen demolition crews go increasingly for them over more traditional site demolition wraps like chain link. The materials are used for blast, dust and debris containment. Learn more here.;

ASTM's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics will be meeting June 26 in Denver. "Geosynthetics in Roadways and Pavements" will be the focus of Subcommittee 01 on Mechanical Properties that day. Regular Task Group meetings on properties frequently used to characterize geogrids and geotextiles used in roads and pavements will be sandwiched around an hour long update by Steve Perkins on the encouraging developments and correlations of index, bench-scale, and full-scale separation/stabilization test methods. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetics 2009 will be held 25-27 February 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The deadline for submission of abstracts and proposals is June 30. The conference theme is "Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering." See the abstract submission page for more information. Learn more here.;

Separation geotextiles are used to improve unpaved road performance. They keep fines from mixing with coarser aggregate. In constructions with pervious concrete and other porous pavement designs, these geotextiles serve as underlays that greatly improve drainage, thus preserving the integrity of what lies above. Pennsylvania's Pike County Conservation District recently held a workshop on the subject. Learn more here.;