Despite some anxiety over recent cases of the viral Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in some places in Korea, the geosynthetics community kept to its schedule and gathered for the long-anticipated 2nd GSI Asia conference from the Geosynthetic Institute.
The International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) also took the opportunity to call together its IGS Council for high-level meetings. Korea, as many readers know, will host the 11th International Conference on Geosynthetics (11 ICG) in 2018. These meetings included both executive and general council members.
A couple meeting participants and some expected conference attendees declined to attend due to MERS fears, but all in all the events have taken place without disruption. Attendees, such as Geosynthetica’s Elizabeth Peggs, have reported little evidence locally of any health concerns.
The 2nd GSI Asia conference was guided by GSI’s international affiliate GSI Korea. Key session topics included:
- Stabilized and Reinforced Soil Structures
- Hydraulic Engineering
- Geo-Environmental and Green Structure Applications
- Testing, Regulation, and Reliability; MQC/MCA and CQC/CQA
Presenters and attendees came from all over the world, includig GSI Director George Koerner, GSI Taiwan director Dr. Wayne Hsieh, Immediate Past President of IGS Dr. Jorge Zornberg, IGS Vice President Dr. Chungsik Yoo, former IGS President Daniele Cazzuffi, GSE Environmental Dr. Aigen Zhao, Dr. Hyun-Jin Koo of FITI, and many others.
These presenters shared insight into research, project execution, material performance, installation, monitoring, CQA, and other key topics. Roadways, GRS bridge abutments, climate change impact, rolled erosion control products (RECPs), drainage geonets, geosynthetic damage testing, tunnel drains, and geocell protection of buried pipelines are just some of the presentation points of focus.
**
For more about the GSI Asia conference, look for the next GSI Newsletter at www.geosynthetic-institute.org. (Geosynthetica will also share it when it is avaialbe.)
For more information on the International Geosynthetics Society and its chapters in Asia, visit www.geosyntheticssociety.org.
