National Geographic reports on the closure of "Little Blue Run," the largest coal ash pond in the United States. The 1,700-acre site does not have any geosynthetic lining system and has operated since 1974. Groundwater testing near the site has discovered that arsenic, sulfates, and chlorides have leached into the water from the coal ash reservoir. The United States still has no official policy on coal ash management, though the 1.1 billion gallons that spilled from an unlined Kingston, Tennessee facility in 2008 put the issue of coal ash regulation in the public eye and organizations such as the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) have helped inform environmental agencies and policymakers on the how geosynthetic lining systems protect municipal solid waste facilities and could protect coal ash storage too. Learn more here.;

Here in Part 2 of 2, Gordon Keller looks at multiple case studies of GRS designs. In Part 1, he focused on design and benefits. GRS bridge abutments have been typically produced savings of more than 25% versus traditional designs and are much faster to construct.

GRS bridge abutments have been typically produced savings of more than 25% versus traditional designs and are much faster to construct. Here in Part 1 of 2, Gordon Keller discusses the development and benefits of the GRS bridge abutment approach. In Part 2, he focuses on case studies.

Tensar International has announced that its high-density polyethylene (HDPE) Uniaxial (UX) Geogrid product line successfully completed the National Transportation Product Evaluation Program (NTPEP) on-site audit. As the on-site audit was added just last year to the program, Tensar's UX Geogrids are the first HDPE geogrids to pass the rigorous evaluation. Learn more.

Region One of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) has announced that "Modeling Sediment BMP's in Sensitive Areas" has been named the winner of the Most Distinguished Technical Paper Award for Environmental Connection 2013. This award honors the presenters who have demonstrated excellence within the content of their Environmental Connection technical presentation. The paper was submitted by Stephen H. Peck, PE, Paul Wisheropp, PE, and Andrea Manha, PE.

University of Kansas School of Engineering Ph.D. student Ryan Corey, one the Geosynthetic Institute's fellowship recipients, is conducting research regarding geosynthetic reinforcement over buried pipelines. Improving the safety of pipelines is a significant infrastructure need. More than 350 deaths, 1500 injuries, and $5 billion+ in property damage has been linked to pipeline problems in the past 20 years. Professor Jie Han is the advisor for Corey's work. Learn more here.;

Thrace-LINQ, a global supplier of woven and nonwoven polypropylene-based fabrics for a wide variety of textile applications, invited the best players in Geosynthetics and Industrial Fabrics to its key customer event held August 6–12 in conjunction with the 94th PGA Championship at The Ocean Course located in Kiawah Island, South Carolina, which earned its "stripes" for unpredictable challenges since its debut 21 years ago and hosted the strongest and deepest all-professional field of the year. The 156-player roster included the top 108 players on the current Official World Golf Rankings. The field featured 32 major champions, 71 international players representing 21 countries, and all three of the year's major winners competed for the Wanamaker Trophy in the first major golf championship to visit South Carolina.

The International Road Federation's (IRF) annual "Preserving Our Highway Infrastructure Assets" seminar is an international event that brings engineering and construction leaders and key government stakeholders together. Experts from all levels of government and private industry, engineers, contractors, equipment manufacturers and others gather to discuss cutting-edge technologies, design and maintenance strategies, case studies, and more regarding how transportation infrastructures can be strengthened. The event will be held at the Miami Beach Holiday Inn in Miami, Florida, 11–13 September 2012.

Access to or from construction sites often involves crossing over very weak or variable ground conditions. Thus, before work can begin on site, engineers are often first challenged with the problem of how they actually get to site. With a couple notes from recent wind farm contructions, Nigel Wrigley of NewGrids Ltd. writes on how geosynthetic reinforcement solutions provide the answer.

On August 22, CETCO will hold its next "GCL University" session in Southern California. This day-long geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) seminar will be held at the Costa Mesa Marriott and will focus on methodologies for the practical inclusion of GCLs in the design of landfill cells and caps, mining, coal combustion residual sites and other industrial applications. Expert speakers include Dr. Ed Kavazanjian, Rick Thiel, P.E., Chris Athanassopoulos, P.E., and Joanne Lee. Register online. Learn more here.;