To our Colleagues, Readers, and Industry Partners, The spread of COVID-19 around the world has significantly impacted businesses, schools, and communities. Geosynthetica is committed to the health and safety of its team. While we have suspended travel and events for now, Geosynthetica continues to operate and publish on a business-as-usual basis. Our employees are working remotely, we continue to monitor...

This installment from the GeoAmericas Series is timely! The author, Glen W. Toepfer of CQA Solutions, Ltd., will lead an important, free, online discussion on March 27 at 1:00 pm EDT: "COVID-19: Containment System Construction–Foreseeable Problems & Preventive Measures". Geosynthetica encourages industry stakeholders to join that call. It, like this article, is all about project management and what we...

The availability of high-strength wicking geotextile has been a fascinating development. From pond slope reinforcement to highway frost boil management, these materials have shown significant benefits. Here, John Folts writes about the economical use of a wicking geotextile to repair failed pond slope sections. This article appears as part of Geosynthetica's GeoAmericas series. 1. PROJECT INTRODUCTION The failure of the side...

The spread of COVID-19 around the world is directly impacting geosynthetic containment projects. A number of project delays are being reported, either related to available personnel/materials or to temporary stoppage orders on certain construction activities. CQA Solutions, one of the most active containment CQA companies in the United States, has been monitoring these project delays and is offering strategies...

By Joel Sprague and Jay Sprague – The use of stormwater management technologies to drain developed areas with an emphasis on engineered infiltration systems and storage devices has expanded dramatically in the last two decades. In some parts of the world these engineered infiltration and storage systems are referred to as sustainable drainage systems (SuDS).  In other areas, including...

GeoAmericas 2020 will be the 4th Pan-American Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. With COVID-19 concerns impacting travel around the world, large and small events alike have rescheduled to protect their participants and to support host country changing regulations on public gatherings. GeoAmericas 2020 is following suit here, and the organizers have announced new date: 26 – 29 October 2020. The event...

In a new monthly video series—Tech Talk—CETCO shares high-quality information on geosynthetics and affiliated engineering issues. The first video in the series has been posted to the company’s YouTube Channel (and promoted in CETCO’s monthly newsletter). As you might expect from them, the first Tech Talk installment focuses on geosynthetic clay liners. The succinct, 4-minute slice serves as an...

This article is part of Geosynthetica’s GeoAmericas series. Written by Natale Daly, Bertrand Breul, and Bernard Breul of Axter Coletanche and published originally in the GeoAmericas 2016 proceedings by Geosynthetica, the article takes a 40+ year view of bituminous geomembranes in dam engineering. Geosynthetic barriers have been shown to have exceptional service lives for dams, including with large dams....

The global spread of the COVID-19 virus has caused events around the world to be rescheduled. The organizers of GeoU, which co-locates multiple geosynthetics short courses, are following suit. They have considered it in the best interest of the geosynthetics field to move the event a full year to 2021. The new dates for GeoU are 20 – 23 April 2021....

Geosynthetic materials and mineral components are used as technical barriers for landfills. As a base seal, these engineered systems prevent polluted liquid seepage into groundwater. As a landfill cap, they prevent the infiltration of precipitation into the landfill while also preventing leachate from percolating out and polluting surface waters. The Ennigerloh landfill in Münsterland, Germany, exemplifies how these technical...