Who say measurements of shear and peel strengths provide no useful information? At a recent meeting Rick Thiel (Thiel Engineering) informed Ian Peggs (I-CORP) that he had started using and specifying only peel separation and shear elongation in geomembrane seam CQA tests, as proposed by Peggs for a number of years. Thiel agrees that measurements of shear and peel strengths provide no useful information. Peggs has shown (EuroGeo 1) that when weld efficiencies exceed only 8% for 1 mm geomembranes and only about 18% for 2.5 mm geomembranes the weld interface cannot be challenged since failure always occurs prematurely in the single thickness of geomembrane at the edge of the weld, due to its relatively low cross sectional area.

The International Association of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI), a group of geosynthetic installers dedicated to raising the professionalism of the industry, announces its Board of Directors for 2004-2005. The following individuals were elected to serve on the board: Carl Apicella, American Environmental Group LTD, Brian McKeown, Clean Air and Water Services, “Demo” Dave McLaury, DEMTECH Services, Inc., Dennis O’Brien, MPC Containment Systems, Inc., John K. “Robbie” Robinson, Engineered Textile Products, Anne Steacy, Poly-Flex Construction, William Steinke, Steel Dragon Enterprise Co. Ltd., Lee Taylor, Taylor Geosynthetics. Mr. Robinson will serve as President, Mr. O'Brien will serve as 1st Vice President, Mr. Taylor will serve as 2nd Vice President and Ms. Steacy will serve as Treasurer. Robert Haddox, PLS Construction Services Inc., will continue to serve on the Board as Immediate Past President. Haddox commented, "it has been a pleasure to work for the IAGI organization. IAGI has accomplished many things and the new Board of Directors is planning several new initiatives. Look for more good things from this group." The International Association of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI) strives to provide a forum for geosynthetic installers to advance installation and construction techniques as well as to strengthen the knowledge, image and communication within the industry.

The 2004 IAA entry brochure is now available. IFAI looks forward to recieving entries for the "best of the best" of the geosynthetic industry.

Read the first issue of IGS-Thailand Newsletter for 2004.

HOUSTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (NYSE: GSE), announced today that GSE, its directors, and a prospective buyer of GSE have been named in a putative class action styled Twist Partners LLP v. Samir T. Badawi, et al, which was filed yesterday in the Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington. The complaint alleges that the GSE board breached its fiduciary duty by authorizing the merger of GSE with an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Code Hennessy & Simmons LLC ("CHS"). The complaint seeks to enjoin the merger, to rescind it if approved by stockholders and consummated, and to obtain unspecified damages from the defendants. According to GSE spokesman Roger Klatt, "GSE and its directors believe this suit to be frivolous, intend to deny all the plaintiff's substantive allegations, and to vigorously defend the litigation." SOURCE Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc.

Mo Gabr is the newly appointed chair of the Geo-Institute's Geosynthetics Committee. He would like to take this opportunity to thank John Bowders, the outgoing chair, for his dedication and leadership over the past six years. If you would like to learn about the committee scope, vision, and mission of the Geosynthetics Committee, please click on the "continued" link below to visit the web site. The site is maintained by John Bowders and updating it is a part of the committee's activities. At present the Committee is focusing on the following: 1) GeoSupport (Orlando, Jan 2004): Mo Gabr will be attending the TCC workshop for chairs. He will learn about "new TCC initiatives on Traveling Short Courses for Sections and Branches and Web-inars (Web Seminars) and new procedures for Committee annual reports and assessment of Committee performance." 2) GeoTrans (Los Angeles, July 2004): The Committee has enough papers for a session on walls. Professor Yegian is the contact for coordinating paper reviews and moderation of the session. 3) GeoFrontiers (Austin, Jan. 2005): John Bowden will be providing updates. 4) The GI is developing a "speakers' bureau" to provide members of the GI, including local Sections and Branches, with a database of GI members who are willing to make presentations on Geotechnical topics. If you have a presentation that may be of interest to GI members, please add it to the GI database at http://www.geoinstitute.org/speaker/locate.cfm . They need Geosynthetics topics! The following is Mo's biography: Mohamed A. Gabr, P.E. is a professor at North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Mo Gabr's research program addresses the innovative applications of geosynthetics for environmental soil remediation and soil improvement, and the behavior of foundation in residual profiles. He has worked in different capacities at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, Woodward Clyde Consultants, West Virginia University (WVU), and Army Corps of Engineer Waterways Experiment Station. He served as vice chair of ASCE national committee on geosynthetics, and as the chair of Transportation Research Board national committee on Physicochemical Properties of Soils from 1998-2003. He also serves as editorial board member of ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and the ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal. He has received several national recognitions including ASCE Edmund Freidman Professional Recognition award as well as being named WV young civil engineer of the year in 1996. In addition, he received the 1993-94 Outstanding College Researcher award, and 1995-1996 outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources (CEMR) at WVU. He was elected Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2000. His e-mail address is gabr@eos.ncsu.edu. Learn more here.;

State environmental officials had reported finding several violations at the Monroe County landfill before a fire erupted there this month, even raising the possibility of not renewing its license. Heat generated by decomposing trash was the suspected cause of the fire that began Jan. 9 and continued smoldering Monday, said landfill director Tobias Schroeder. Most of the fire has been extinguished, but test wells were being drilled to determine the severity of the remaining fire, he said. "So far the indications are that the underground smoldering is very localized," Schroeder said. "We're guessing that another four or five days we'll have the fire completely extinguished." Crews were working this week to repair the landfill's liner, which is intended to prevent waste from contaminating groundwater, so Monroe County officials could seek permission from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management to reopen the landfill, he said. Even before the fire, the landfill had come under criticism from IDEM inspectors. A letter from the agency this month to landfill officials cited several concerns with the facility's operation, including the control and collection of arsenic and other runoff from the landfill. "I am very concerned with the pending renewal of the permit for this site, as continuing significant violations (are) always a factor in the review of renewals," wrote Bruce Palin of IDEM's Office of Land Quality. Schroeder, who has been on the job only a few months, said the landfill's problems go back many years and that many corrections were overdue. "I wouldn't try to make an excuse for it," he said. "It's been too long." Schroeder said a landfill consultant suspects the fire was caused by a combination of the buried trash igniting and being sustained by higher oxygen levels. Schroeder said the consultant explained to landfill personnel that in extreme cold, the exchange of oxygen increases through a landfill's layers between the frigid air at the surface and the heat generated by decomposing trash. "Actually, most landfill fires are in winter," Schroeder said. - Associated Press. To read part 1 of this news story, go to https://www.geosynthetica.net/news.asp?search_key2=n414, and for part 2, go to https://www.geosynthetica.net/news.asp?search_key2=n418.

International e-Conference on Modern Trends in Foundation Engineering - Geotechnical Challenges and Solutions. January 26 - 30, 2004 Hosted by the Geotechnical Engineering Division Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Chennai, India. Coordinators are Prof. K. Rajagopal and Prof. Nainan P. Kurian. "We are pleased to inform you that we have by now received 50 papers running to 526 pages. As on date this site has also received 1536 hits. Being perhaps the first International e-Conference in our field, we consider it as no mean achievement. As you would agree, no conference is complete without discussions on the papers and the authors’ replies. Indeed the papers were open for discussion at an international level from the time they were launched on our conference website. In order to make this forum active, however, we have now created two Buttons, Discussion and Author’s reply, to enable online submission of both. For the convenience of those taking part in the discussion and for the authors to enter their replies we have created two Templates which will open out when the respective buttons are clicked. On receipt of the discussion we will place them at the foot of the corresponding paper on the website and also forward the matter to the author (s) for the reply. On receipt of the reply we will place them at the foot of the discussion under the corresponding paper, besides forwarding it to the discusser. As a leading and active member of the geotechnical community, we request you to browse our web site and send us your valuable comments on the papers relevant to your area of interest. You will be glad to know that your discussions and replies will be featured when the proceedings of the conference are printed. We are now awaiting your discussions." Modern day foundation engineering is emerging as a technology-driven subject. A humble medium such as the thin drilling mud, which has enhanced the scope of foundation construction ever since the feasibility of the technique was established, is perhaps the most telling example of this truism. This is not to speak of geosynthetics -- available in a large varieties and forms -- which have virtually revolutionized the practice of earthwork and foundation engineering in recent times. To this may be added the use of shells, prestressing, etc., in foundations, which have added exciting dimensions to modern foundation engineering practice. Indeed the focus of the conference is the new techniques and technologies which have contributed to advancing the frontiers of geotechnical engineering practice the world over. Our aim is to go beyond the narrow academic confines and reach out to a wider section of the profession in a manner they would find participation in the conference more meaningful and productive in their own fields of endeavours. Please visit the conference web site and participate.

AccuGeo, based in Bakersfield, California, has moved to a larger facility. "We will now be able to increase our production of pond liners, reduce costs and carry larger inventories of all geomembrane and geotextile products and accessories. We have the capacity to manufacture projects of any size. No project is too big or too small. Our new location has easy access to Highway 58 and Highway 99 in Bakersfield, CA. Our new address is: AccuGeo Liner, Inc., 321 Industrial Street, Bakersfield, CA 93307. Our mailing address, phone and fax will remail the same: AccuGeo Liner, Inc., PO Box 70146, Bakersfield, CA 93387-0146. Phone: 661-321-0447 or toll free 800-955-4637 Fax: 661-321-0449. We will continue to provide a number of lining materials, including but not limited to :PVC, HDPE, Polypropylene, Urethane coated fabrics, Hypalon, XR-5, Coolguard-HR, Geo-grids, Geotextiles, adhesives, and pond construction accessories. AccuGeo Liner, Inc. has built a solid reputation for quality and service. We look forward to continuing this good reputation as we grow and expand."

The following meetings scheduled for Thursday January 15, 2004 in Tampa, FL have been cancelled: D35.01 Connection Strength 10:30am - 11:00am D35.01 Segmental Block Shear 5:00pm - 5:30pm D35.02 Air-Oven Aging GM 1:30pm - 2:30pm D35.10 GM Ultra Sonic Testing 1:00pm - 1:30pm Please see the meeting board at the hotel for any additional changes to the schedule. Learn more here.;