Special Series

When to tweet, post to Facebook, and other issues are taken up in explanatory graphics in this concise and accessbile article. Learn more here.;

Trelleborg continues its long-term strategy to invest in markets with favorable growth potential. Today, Trelleborg Automotive will inaugurate its new Research and Development center in Shanghai. As previously communicated, the new center offers state-of-the-art technology relating primarily to noise and vibration-damping brake solutions for passenger vehicles.

ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock has announced work item WK33702, "New Test Methods for Determination of Common Index Properties of a Rolled Erosion Control Product (RECP)." This test method can be used to determine the physical characteristics of an RECP, quantified as index properties. These properties include thickness, mass per unit area, tensile strength, coverage (expressed in terms of light penetration), water absorption, porosity and resiliency. Learn more here.;

In its June 2011 issue, American Recycler magazine looks at some of the uses of solar power installations on landfills, including Carlisle Energy Services installations utilizing thin-film photovoltaics adhered to an exposed membrane cap. Learn more here.;

MEED reports that Saudi Arabia-based National Petrochemical Industrial Co (NATPET) aims to fast-track its geotextile joint venture. In February 2011, it was announced that NATPET and Low & Bonar had agreed to construct a plant near Yanbu, Saudi Arabia for the production of geotextiles and other materials. The plant would be supplied with NATPET's polypropylene under a long-term supply agreement. Learn more here.;

The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is giving its nearly 3,000 members the newest online tool for the erosion control industry. In collaboration with MultiView, Inc., a web publishing company based in Irving, TX, IECA has created the Erosion Professionals Marketplace, an industry-driven search engine that highlights only suppliers and vendors that serve the erosion control industry.

It's graduation time in the United States. High schools and colleges across the country are dismissing classes and sending new graudates into the working world (or simply on to more education). For Bainbridge College (Georgia), 57-year-old James Ulmer has been awarded the college's Outstanding Graduate Medallion for his perfect grades en route to an electronics associates degree. Mr. Ulmer had spent his adult life working, first for Propex, then for American Fibers and Yarns. Both jobs ended due to the tough economy and plant closings. We congratulate him on staying interested and going back to school, and we wish him well on his return to the job search market. Good luck, James! Learn more here.;

PROFILE Products LLC is continuing the "Spray it, Don't Lay It" rebate program launched in 2009 that encourages contractors to convert a project specification from a rolled erosion control blanket to a Profile® hydraulic erosion control product. Contractors can earn up to $122.50 per acre or $1,540 per truckload, for participation in the program.

A cleanup plan for Olympic View Sanitary Landfill in South Kitsap has been completed, and the owner, Waste Management of Washington Inc., is preparing to move forward with further work on the 65-acre landfill. The upgrade is to include repairs to the plastic cover to reduce rainwater intrusion, to gas-extraction wells that capture landfill gases, and to the piping network that carries gases away from the landfill. In addition, the plan calls for the addition of new gas-extraction wells, continued monitoring of groundwater and soil gases, and ongoing "institutional controls," such as limiting access with fences, signs and legal notifications. Learn more here.;

A Geotechnical Lab Testing course will be offered by Missouri University of Science and Technology June 15-17, on the campus. Attendees may earn up to 27 professional development hours (PDHs). The decision date for the course is May 20. Instructors are Drs. Louis Ge and Ronald Luna. Learn more here.;

The US government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) releases monthly updates to American power production, consumption, imports and exports. These figures are telling in regards to growth of industries. Current trends show nuclear stalemating (perhaps because of concerns brought on by Japan's situation). Renewables continue to accelerate in use. The cost in terms of real dollar GDP of petroleum and gas has declined sharply since 1973. All this in more in the March 2011 report. The April report is due out in the next week. Learn more here.;

The 9th Recirculating Aquaculture Conference is scheduled for 24-26 August 2012 in Roanoke, Virginia. Learn more here.;

The United States Industrial Fabrics Institute (USIFI), a division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International, is challenging the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (commonly known as KORUS). USIFI is currently leading an educational campaign on the Hill to keep the specialty fabrics industry's U.S. factories open and save jobs which will be bartered away with the terms of the KORUS agreement. Currently specialty fabrics represent a world market estimated at $123 billion in 2010, $29 billion of that in the U.S.

When GE established a PCB landfill in the Pittsfield, Massachusetts area, it never anticipated what a wildlife habit the site would become. The site is secured by a large fence, but deer have come and gone freely for years now. A geosynthetic cap and clean fill shield the surface vegetation from the contaminated waste, and site monitoring is constant. Learn more here.;

As the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) gathers in Minneapolis, Minnesota for its 2011 annual conference and trade show, Geosynthetica's editor Chris Kelsey is there. Read two reports from the event's first full-day of sessions: a general introduction (linked to here) and a focus piece on the geosynthetic-reinforced soil (GRS) bridge abutment technology that is drastically changing construction windows and costs--for the better.

In addition to work item WK32898's focus on OIT evaluation, ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32899. This is also a revision Standard D5885-06, "Standard Test Method for Oxidative Induction Time of Polyolefin Geosynthetics by High-Pressure Differential Scanning Calorimetry." This work item focuses on an update procedure and a greater description of sample and specimen preparation. Learn more here.;

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32897, "Standard Guide for Selecting Test Methods for Experimental Evaluation of Geosynthetic Durability." This is a work item revision to existing standard D5819-05. Learn more here.;

ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32898, "Standard Test Method for Oxidative Induction Time of Polyolefin Geosynthetics by High-Pressure Differential Scanning Calorimetry." This is a work item revision to existing standard D5885-06. The work item aims to update the test procedure and specimen sampling technique. Learn more here.;

In the spring 2011 edition of TenCate's magazine txtures, the 40+ pages of stories venture far and wide in technology and interaction, taking readers from the development of new synthetic grass materials to the impact of crowdsourcing to the award-winning utilization of geotextile tubes in major bridge construction in South Korea. And don't miss the article on the large contaminated sediment project from Sepetiba Bay, Brazil (page 22). Read the Spring 2011 txtures online.

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On Monday, February 21, 2011, at the 42nd conference and expo of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA), the presentation ceremony for the Awards of Environmental Excellence was held. For the past 20 years, IECA has recognized the industry's best by awarding persons and projects epitomizing the principles of environmental excellence.

ASTM International's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics has announced work item WK32304, "Standard Guide for Installation of Geosynthetic Clay Liners." This is a work item revision to existing standard D6102-06. Learn more here.;

Geo-Frontiers 2011 is less than 2 weeks away! Do you have your schedule planned? Learn more here.;

Tensar International (Booth 400) has announced the completion of its 100th Wind Farm Project. Read more about the interaction between geosynthetics and this vital renewable energy sector.

On 21 March 2011, I-CORP INTERNATIONAL, Inc. marks 20 years of international geosynthetic materials performance consulting work that has taken the company to more than 35 countries. Ian Peggs recalls 20 moments from those 20 years in geosynthetics. Dr. Peggs will take part in the panel discussion on HDPE welding and installation during Geo-Frontiers 2011.