The University of Minnesota held its 61st Annual Geotechnical Engineering Conference on Friday, February 22 at the conference center on the St. Paul campus. Sponsored by the U of M Department of Civil Engineering, the Minnesota Geotechnical Society (MGS), and the Geo-Institute of ASCE, this annual gathering continues to impress. In a report on his visit to the conference, Geosynthetica Editor Chris Kelsey writes that "This year's event focused on instrumentation, data interpretation, and the impacts of geotechnical activities on the environment and structures (such as building overlying tunneling zones). These guiding ideas helped provide significant perspective on the changing practice of engineering. Chaired by Steve Gale (Gale-Tec), the event included many presentations in which geosynthetics played a key role in the geotechnical solution."

At Environmental Connection 2013 in San Diego, Calif., International Erosion Control Association's Board of Directors elected its officers. The IECA Board of Directors re-elected Phil Handley, REM, CPESC, CESSWI as President, Brock Peters, CISEC as Administrative VP, Charlie Riling Jr., TRETCNO, ABI, CESSWI as Technical VP and Julie Etra, CPESC, MS as International VP. Also elected are Craig Benson as Marketing VP, Beth Chesson, CPESC, CPSWQ as Secretary and Mike Chase, CPESC, CPSWQ, CESSWI as Treasurer.

05/30/2013 - 05/31/2013 China Solid Waste Summit is where local waste management operators and multinational ones with a presence in the world's second largest economy come to discuss business problems and meet with technology vendors and service providers from aross the world. Positioning its vision as a major fixture on China's waste management circuit, the 4th annual China...

When plans were being made for a new Sam's Club in Hendersonville, TN, developers were presented with several challenges regarding the retaining wall on the property. First, the wall would reinforce a large area, rising 30 feet high and running nearly a half-mile. Areas behind the wall had a steep three to one slope, access roads for deliveries had to be accommodated, and because it backed up to popular walking/bike path and green area, it had to include safety railings. Plus, the upscale area warranted an attractive wall system and design. Read about the solution from Strata Systems.

On geosynthetic installation sites, such as during a landfill cell's construction, the current practice of construction quality assurance (CQA) involves field technicians filling out paper forms on site, having the forms cross-checked at a later time and then double-checked again prior to certification. "This linear process often leads to problems being detected days (or weeks) after installers have left the job site," say the principals of CQA Solutions, an Ohio-based firm. The company has released a real-time software solution: SuperTek. The software has been designed to dramatically reduce total technician time and the incidence of error.

Tensar has launched a new website with easy-to-navigate access to geogrid products and systems, project case studies, industry white papers, product literature and more. Search by application, system or market sector to learn how Tensar's wide range of geogrid products, systems and applications can benefit your next project. Registered users can take advantage of SP4 PRO, Dimension Solution and other valuable Tensar software too. Register by February 28 and be entered in a drawing to win 1 of 5 iPads.

Writing for the December 2012 issue of Rebuilding America's Infrastructure, Jeff Fiske details how NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) selected Triton Marine Mattresses for bridge scour protection. The bascule piers to be protected support drawbridge gears and may also support a guardhouse on top of a key bridge in a KSC-controlled channel. The reinforced mattressed solution was selected for scour protection performance, constructability, adaptability, and durability in a challenging, submarine environment. Also, the coastal and waterway revetment system was much more cost-effective than the alternatives. Read it online. Learn more here.;

Solmax, positioned among the top three worldwide leaders in the manufacturing of geomembranes offering both containment and fluid transportation solutions, will be present at the Geosynthetics 2013 trade show held in Long Beach, California 1–4 April 2013. Find Solmax in Booth #423. On April 3, don’t miss the Geosynthetics and Liners Session hosted by Tarik Hadj-Hamou in which Solmax's Technical Director Daniel Tan will present his new research paper, "Lifetime Prediction of Thin HDPE Geomembranes for the Shrimp Aquaculture Industry." Learn more.

When both a navigation channel and a deep water fisheries habitat in the Lower Peoria Lake needed to be secured, project engineers found a solution to satisfy both goals. A 21-acre island was created using Maccaferri's MacTube geocontainers for shaping the island and dredged river soils for establishing the land. The result has been a flourishing vegetation spot, improved navigation depth, and safer fishing grounds. The design of this on-going project (schedule for April 2013 completion) has a 4800-foot island perimeter and uses three rows of tubes on the bottom and topped with a fourth row, each filled to a six foot fill height. Read about it.

In March, two more "Designing and Constructing Lining Systems" workshops featuring expert insight from Dr. R. Kerry Rowe (and extensive research being carried out at Queen's University) have been announced. Pre-registration is required, as space is limited. Sponsorship from terrafix and Brock White has enabled these sessions to be offered for only a nominal registration fee of $20 per attendee. On March 20, a special session will be held in Saskatoon. On March 21, the session will be held in Edmonton. Topics include all aspects of barrier system design, including leachate collection, natural barriers, clay liners, geosynthetic clay liners, geomembranes, and composite liners. Additional instruction from Dave Fuerth and Bruno Herlin. Contact Yvette Kohlmann, ykohlmann@terrafixgeo.com, +1 416 674 0363 x 274 to register. LIMITED SPACE. Register by March 1. Sponsored by terrafix and Brock White.