Containment

The 7th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics (7 ICEG) is coming together quickly. To be held 10 – 14 November 2014 in Melbourne, Australia, the event will bring together...

Geosynthetics 2009 is the largest geosynthetics industry event in North America. This biennial event will explore important issues affecting water resources, mining, construction, and regulatory communities in the US, Canadian and Mexican markets. Register by 16 January 2009 to secure the best rates. The event will take place 25-27 February 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A new online software program to select the proper components and design an inlet filter unit for a storm water drainage system is now available from Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS), the world's largest manufacturer of corrugated high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. The step-by-step FLEXSTORM® Product Configurator is available free of charge at www.inletfilters.com and allows a filter to be configured based on drainage structure type and filtration needs.

Global Synthetics is partnering with NAUE Geosynthetics (Germany and Malaysia) and Skaps (USA) to offer a series of four landfill seminars across Australia in August. The event, Advances in Landfill...

Residents along one of central Auckland’s busiest streets are preparing to fight plans that will see it dug up twice in a year. Residents of Curran St are less than impressed by plans to dig up the road to lay a watermain after an $800,000 upgrade in January 2009. That upgrade installed geotextiles for stabilization, but the trench work would have to slice through the cloth, undermining that protection. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) members were in Washington, D.C., 1-3 March 2010 for the association's semiannual Lobby Days. GMA has consistent representation in Washington through our contracted firms, Kemp Partners/Whitmer & Worrall. But to reinforce GMA's message on Capitol Hill, twice a year GMA-member companies send representatives to meet with Members of Congress as both constituents and members of our trade association. Read more in the summary report from GMA managing director Andrew Aho.

The membership of the International Erosion Control Association has voted to accept the proposed regionalizationplan. The voting period, which closed May 23, 2011, saw the measure pass withan almost 9 to 1 margin. The accepted regionalization plan will divide IECA membership into two regions. Region One will consist of North and South America and Europe; Region Two will be centered in what has been the Australasian Chapter and include Africa, Oceania and Asia. This move will allow closer management and coordination with each region and better service to IECA's diverse membership.

The spike in demand for (and profit from) minerals and precious metals has caused a furious number of mining projects to be pushed. The environmental management costs--liners, erosion control, etc.--have contributed more as the scope of these mining sites expand; but a far greater cost crunch lies in the global competition for mining equipment and labor. There are shortages of both. Learn more here.;

Jack-Gregor Tcherniavsky, the managing director of Tencate Geosynthetics Africa region, has been quoted in an article about the coming oil industry in Uganda. Geosynthetics will play a role in the country's infrastructure growth andin the oil sector's development. As the former may be reliant on the latter's success, geosynthetics perhaps stand to be of special interest. For example, "there will be a need to build more roads and more infrastructure," Mr, Tcherniavsky said. Learn more here.;

Colorado Lining International is pleased to announce that Greg Scales has joined the firm's sales division as Outside Sales for the East Coast Region. He will be based in Asheville, North Carolina. Mr. Scales has 20 years of professional experience in the geosynthetic industry. He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Engineering with Bachelors of Applied Science in Civil Engineering (1983) and from Webster University with a Master of Arts in Marketing and Management (1985).

From 10-14 December 2012, the next Geosynthetics Asia will be held. Organized by IGS Thailand and the Asian Center for Soil Improvement and Geosynthetics (ACSIG), and held under the auspices of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), the event's theme will be "Geosynthetics for Sustainable Adaptation to Climate Change." Abstracts are due by 31 May 2011. Download the call in PDF. Learn more here.;

More on the potential to transform and improve India's roads with geosynthetics. Indopia also reports that a joint survey by the ministry and credit rating agency ICRA on technical textiles will be released in early October 2010. Learn more here.;

Raven Engineered Films would like to share with you our excitement regarding the collaboration between Raven Aerostar and Google on Project Loon and the role we play to provide...

The Pipeline Research Council International (PRCI), a 60-year-old not-for-profit industry group, is currently reviewing a Final Report on "Assessment of Geosynthetic Fabrics to Reduce Soil Loads on Buried Pipelines." According to the the PRCI's latest update on the collaborative research, "This research determined that the use of two layers of geotextile fabric on a sloped trench boundary is effective in reducing maximum horizontal soil loads at small displacements with observed reductions of approximately 30% and 40% in the horizontal soil restraint provided by gravel for various trench wall angles." The project has aimed to find a methodology and approach that would be repeatable, in the lab and in the field. Learn more here.;

Dr. Russell Jones, President of the International Geosynthetics Society, sat down with the Geosynthetic Institute's Dr. Robert Koerner to discuss GSI's 12-year study on the long-term performance and aging...

The Geo-Institute (G-I) is one eight specialty institutes organized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to facilitate networking, knowledge transfer, and professional development. The Geo-Institute is dedicated...

Dairy giant Dean Foods has announced that it is building methane-harvesting anaerobic digesters. The 4,700-head Big Sky Dairy farm near Gooding, Idaho will have an operational energy system by early 2009. Dean Foods plans to use the electricity to power the farm and will sell excess power back into the local grid. It may serve as a model for other major corporate farms. Learn more here.;

Delegates have gathered in Australia to discuss ways by which the country can manage and sustain its breakneck boom in mining. Resource exploration, environmental stewdardship, and long-term infrastructure development are key topics. Australia's Premier Mike Rann opened the event by noting the mining industry could be a dominant interest for the next 100 years. Learn more here.;

In watertreatment facilities, sunlight can play a destructive role. Geomembrane cover systems help significantly. By blocking sunlight that algae requires, the need for chlorine, chloramines and hypochlorite chemical treatment is reduced. As such, geomembrane covers also save on chemical costs while reducing disinfection byproduct (DBP) production. Geomembrane Technologies (GTI) offers a couple case studies from installations in California.

The Toronto Construction Association (TCA) has presented its 12th annual "Best of the Best" awards. One of the winners was Justin Gouthreau of Layfield Geosynthetics. Gouthreau was recognized with the Sean P. McKenna Young Construction Executive Leadership Award. Congratulations are in order. Learn more here.;

Following heavy rains in May, water from a storage pond at the North Mara gold mine seeped through the walls of a storage pond. Barrick Gold, owners of the facility, have had to deal with multiple acts of theft and vandalism at the site, including sections of liner (in use!) being stolen. Some locals maintain the mine has caused the death of fish, crops and animals. Up to 1000 cattle have been said to have died--but no evidence has been offered in support of the allegations. It's a difficult situation, to say the least. Learn more here.;

Profile Products is proud to announce its "Go PRO, Get Free Gear" giveaway grand prize winner, Tim Young, environmental manager with C.S. McCrossan, based in Maple Grove, Minn. He received one pallet of ProMatrix™ Engineered Fiber Matrix™ (EFM) and two 50-degree spray nozzles--a prize package worth approximately $1,500.

Radioactive waste buried in the Seaway Landfill in Tonawanda, New York will remain there after some waste is dug up. A surface leak from the landfill has caused some concerns, but US Army Corps of Engineers officials report that the site can be cleaned quickly followed by an appropriate long-term geomembrane and clean soil cap. Learn more here.;

UPDATE: The early-bird registration deadline for Geosynthetics Mining Solutions 2014, organized by InfoMine in partnership with SLR Consulting, has been extended to AUGUST 1. This international conference is the first mining...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is recommending that a poorly designed erosion-control project in Delta Junction be scrapped, at an estimated cost of as much as $10 million. The USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service is proposing the removal of about a mile of infiltration basin, which is designed to collect and absorb stormwater, along with side inlets and dikes that the project created. Learn more here.;