Geosynthetics in Modern Engineering – Are We Moving Forward?????

One of the earliest environmental developments of our profession, is that of geosynthetic design within the waste industry. It is fair to say that we have a long history of both design, and component development in landfill engineering. War against pollution has led to the development of geosynthetic products and a whole genus of landfill engineering. As an industry, however, are we becoming complacent? During the 70s and 80s, as landfills were developed to stricter standards, materials were designed and improved, and ways of testing and ensuring quality were developed. In those halcyon days it seemed that we were all united against one common enemy – pollution. We had all seen the dire results of poorly designed tips and despite the ever-present legislature (in the form of the pre-EA regulatory bodies). I believe that as an industry we were as innovative and forward thinking as any. Why are we too frightened to continue in the same way? Is it because the level of development in the manufacturing industry has reduced? This may be, but one thing is sure, this is only because the market place is not as demanding. It is a fear of being innovative that concerns me. As engineers, we are supposed to push forward the frontier of our industry. To develop better ways of doing things, we do not take risks, but experiment in a controlled way to improve our understanding and ultimately reduce risk. We are not setting new and exacting standards, but allowing the commercial practitioners to control specification and markets for pre-existing products. In this environment ‘recyclable’ is still seen as somewhat poor and second-rate. How are we to recover the innovative days of the 70s and 80s. We need to develop an environment of development, of openness to new ideas and, above all, to insist that we have not solved the problem. We are frightened, that, to admit that we can do better will brand us as unprofessional in what we did ten years ago. Whilst a site license issued in the 80s might has insisted on a particular specification, it is nonsense to limit ourselves to historical engineering detail. Whilst a fear of litigation is probably at the root of most risk avoidance strategies, we should look at the USA (a highly limitative environment). Many use geosynthetic products from the USA – a market not afraid to continue the development of better, if more expensive solutions. Two things are destined to destroy our industry: the fear of innovation and “value” engineering. The first prevents the development of new ideas: the latter continually reduces prices and quality. Perceived quality can remain the same in a static market, but the actual quality reduces.