Start the week with the latest in the geoengineering world. Here’s the GeoWire conversation for the week of June 1. WORK SMARTER.
BIG PROJECTS
Orsted is ready to install the first offshore wind turbines in US federal waters off the East Coast. Seven coastal states have pledged to install 15 GW offshore by 2030. (We recommend geosynthetic scour protection!)
Fast Company reports on the use of drones to plant trees. In Canada, drones are helping re-establish forest land following wildfires. The system can plant 40,000 seeds in a month. Project leads envision 1 billion trees being planted by drones over the next decade.
Tip of the cap to Cofra on its vertical drain work at the Port of Skagen in Denmark!
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
When should a liner integrity survey be performed? It depends on who you are: geosynthetics installer? facility owner? surveyor?
The World Economic Forum shows how in Jamaica they are discovering new ways to re-establish coral reefs.
Australia-based Geofabrics has released a green version of its well-known bidim® geotextile. The new material is made with recycled plastics and is engineered to meet relevant standards.
TIP: Support the field! Use the hashtag #geosynthetics (along with a couple other hashtags) when promoting news and projects on LinkedIn.
FINANCE
#GreenRecovery: The World Bank is promoting strategies for sustainable development to help nations transition out of COVID-19 economic hardship and establish greener infrastructure going forward.
Sarah Golden at GreenBiz has a wonderfully accessible column about the state of financing renewables projects, with major financing initiatives such as the the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar and the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind dialing down in 2020.
Graphene is being explored internationally for how it can be used to improve materials–including geosynthetics. The EU is in the latter phase of a significant 10-year initiative to study and support a roadmap for graphene applications.
GEOSYNTHETICS
Geosynthetica celebrates its 20th anniversary!
The Geosynthetic Institute is taking RFPs through August 17 for the 2020 – 2021 graduate student fellowships. Multiple awards of up to $5,000 will be given.
Wow! HUESKER already had a very strong product with its Stabilenka® line. It’s now unveiled Stabilenka Xtreme.
GOVERNMENT
The Asian Development Bank is providing funds to support wind energy development and battery storage in Thailand.
Three cheers! South Africa has announced it has nearly completed the major cleanup of the Vaal River. The endeavor has involved significant wastewater treatment plant upgrades. The river had seen significant fish deaths due to pollution.
With air travel still quite low, New Zealnd is moving up runway improvement plans in Auckland from 4Q 2020 to now. It’s not uncommon to find geosynthetics used in runway and taxiway works at the airports in the region.
TECHNOLOGY
Virtual events are keeping geotechnical engineers connected
While many events have been rescheduled due to COVID-19, Slope Stability 2020 converted itself to an online event. You can even access the proceedings online openly.
Speaking of open access, Itasca International has made the proceedings from its 5th International Symposium available to all. The February 2020 event (Vienna) focused on numberical modeling in geomechanics.
Stay current with the latest webinar opportunities with Geosynthetica’s industry tracker.
This is the June 1, 2020 GeoWire from Geosynthetica. GeoWire is published on Mondays with thought-leading links to help infrastructure professionals work smarter. News and ideas to share? Contact us.
