The old saying "Out of sight, out of mind" applies to a lot of geotechnical work. The materials that provide the essential support to roadways, retaining walls, embankments, etc. are not in the public eye. Why things work is not the story--outside of engineering and construction, that is. In regards to wind energy, the state of subsidies and national energy...

Over the past four months, Australia-based engineer Siamak Paulson (ADE Consulting Group Pty Ltd) has hosted an occasional podcast, the eponymously named Siamak’s Geosynthetics Podcast. Siamak interviews experts in the field in succinct bites (< 15 minutes) on careers, pressing environmental or technical issues, and more. Current episodes available on YouTube include interviews with Mike Dobie, Brendan Swifte, and,...

Throughout 2020, Geosynthetica has been celebrating Pan-American contributions to geosynthetics, both in terms of practitioners and companies located in the Americans and events held in the Americas. No event series is more influential in this regard than the GeoAmericas series, a quadrennial, Pan-American regional event from the International Geosynthetics Society. In this GeoAmericas series installment, we publish a green roofs...

In 2019, Dr. George Koerner, P.E. and his Geosynthetic Institute colleagues published a white paper on the advantages of geosynthetics in construction from an embodied carbon perspective. They returned to it in early 2020 with a new white paper on the topic. Geosynthetics, as you might expect, came out dramatically ahead from cost and embodied carbon analyses in both...

The Geosynthetic Institute opened 2019 with its White Paper 41: “Relative Sustainability (i.e., Embodied Carbon) Calculations With Respect to Applications Using Traditional Materials Versus Geosynthetics.” The independent organization has returned to the topic of geosynthetics and sustainability with its first white paper release of 2020: White Paper 44, “Relative Sustainability of Road Construction/Repair: Conventional Materials versus Geosynthetic Materials.” Quite quickly one...

GeoAsia 7 -- the 7th Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics -- will be held 1 - 5 March 2021 at Taipei International Convention Center (TICC), Taipei, Taiwan. The main theme of the GeoAsia 7 is Hazard Risk Management, Innovation, and Sustainability. Several subjects on modern geosynthetic technologies and activities will be covered under this theme. ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31...

By Joel Sprague and Jay Sprague – Sediment retention devices include silt fence, wattles, filter logs, compost socks, and various types of stormwater inlet protectors. They are a widely used best management practice (BMP) to remove sediment from stormwater runoff as water passes through the BMP. However, SRD performance varies greatly with regard to flow rate and filtration efficiency. The...

The newly constructed Arkun Dam hydropower facility on the Çoruh River (Turkey) would have been considerably more expensive if conventional concrete walls were used along the edges of the power station. NAUE Geosynthetics profiles the project and the reinforced earth option that was selected and which saved 40% on the cost for this portion of the project.

This April, Geosynthetica is promoting 30 Days of Earth Day (#30DaysEarthDay). Each day we will publish stories on the intersections between geosynthetics and environmental protection, sustainable development, climate change, and green engineering innovations. We begin by re-emphasizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are helping nations prioritize and structure programs around the world. Of note, these Sustainable Development...

At the 11th International Conference on Geosynthetics (September 2018, Seoul), Dr. Nathalie Touze (Vice President, International Geosynthetics Society) delivered one of the most inspiring lectures the geosynthetics field had seen in a while. Her topic, "Healing the World: A Geosynthetics Solution," highlighted UN Development Goals, climate change, and philosophy while emphasizing what we can do in geotechnical engineering to...