In Memoriam: Dr. Robert Koerner and Paula Koerner
By Chris Kelsey – The engineering community is mourning the loss of two of its most influential champions: Dr. Robert M. Koerner and Pauline W. Koerner. The couple, who...
Evaluation of Geocell Reinforced Backfill for Airfield Pavement Repair
In this latest sharing of work from the GAP 2019 conference--Geosynthetica published GAP's proceedings--Lyan Garcia and Jeb Tingle of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) share...
GeoU Event Rescheduled to April 2021 Due to COVID-19
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....
Wilke Joins GeoU 2020 Stormwater Course as Instructor
The GeoU 2020 engineering short courses event has added another world-class instructor to its line up: Markus Wilke. He joins Joel Sprague, P.E., in the "Geosynthetics in Stormwater Controls...
Effects of Subgrade on GCL Hydration and Desiccation in Antarctica
In late 2019, the GeoEngineering Centre posted a video presentation from Queen's University PhD student Vanessa Di Battista. The topic, “GCLs and Antarctica: Effects of Subgrade on Hydration and...
Flood Protection Strategies with Geosynthetics
Geosynthetics have provided a wide range of flood defense solutions around the world. They are used to halt erosion, strength coast lines and riverbanks. They support dunes and prevent...
Flood Protection – Rehabilitation of a Dike in Germany
The flood disaster of 1997 made a deep impression on many Germans. The Oder and Morava river basins flooded, and the waters spread through regions of the Czech Republic,...
Characterizing Sediment Retention Devices with ASTM Methods
By Joel Sprague and Jay Sprague – Sediment retention devices include silt fence, wattles, filter logs, compost socks, and various types of stormwater inlet protectors. They are a widely...
Long-Term Outdoor Exposure Testing of Geosynthetics
During GeoAmericas 2016, K. Lin, A. Tang, and J. Wu detailed some ongoing exposure testing with geosynthetics in Taiwan. The results were somewhat unique in the field, due to...
Quantifying Pavement Damage in Overload Corridors
During the GAP 2019 transportation engineering conference, leading researchers from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) provided a number of papers and presentations. One that drew considerable...
The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb
“The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb” is one of 12 stories in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 publication The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. The story, now in the public...
Online Geosynthetics CQA Week Training, May 10 – 14
The long-running geosynthetics CQA Week training courses from TRI Environmental return 10 - 14 May 2021 in an online format. The live, online format has been a quick success,...
IGS Prague Workshops Cover Stabilization and Hydraulics
The International Geosynthetics Society will hold back-to-back workshops 10 – 13 November 2019 in Prague. The events are being organized by the IGS Technical Committee on Stabilization (TC-S) and...
An Artificial Island Ringed with Geosynthetics
It’s long been said that investing in land is smart because “they aren’t making more of it.” In general, this is true. Mitigation strategies create more habitat, but not...
GeoU 2023 Highlights Sustainability and New Courses
The biennial, 2.5-day GeoU in Austin, Texas focuses on geosynthetics in civil infrastructure. The event co-locates short courses on landfill design, landfill CQA, and civil infrastructure (roadway design, walls...
National Survey Underscores GeoU 2021’s Engineering Value
A late 2019 blind survey from CentralSquare of more than 5,000 participants found that Americans are overwhelmingly supportive of infrastructure improvements. In fact, 2/3 of respondents cited that infrastructure...
VIDEO: Designing Sustainable Landfills with Geocells
Presto Geosystems has hosted an on-going series of live webinars on a wide range of civil and geotechnical topics, such as mining, slope stabilization, load support, sustainable landfills, etc....
New Drainage Tool Combines Simple Interface and Technical Muscle
Solmax has unveiled a new online drainage design manual with significant design and specification functionality. Hosted on its own website, the Geosynthetic Drainage Tool provides project engineers with the...
Four Failures That Still Tell the Right Story
In construction and engineering with geosynthetics, lower price is never a substitute for the value of experience. The cheap can come out quite expensive if you cut out experienced...
The Greening of Bali’s Largest Landfill
The Indonesian island of Bali is one of the world’s most well-known tourist destinations. It provides critical economic vitality to the province, with tourism accounting for more than 70%...
Was the Geosynthetics Risk Management Program Proposed Too Soon?
In 2003, Geosynthetica and Dr. Ian Peggs of I-CORP International began to agitate for the creation of an industry-wide movement on risk management in geosynthetic projects. The initial efforts...
The Relative Sustainability Case for Geosynthetics in Roadways
The Geosynthetic Institute opened 2019 with its White Paper 41: “Relative Sustainability (i.e., Embodied Carbon) Calculations With Respect to Applications Using Traditional Materials Versus Geosynthetics.” The independent organization has returned...
GSI Fellowships Continue to Have Extraordinary Impact on Geosynthetics
The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) has invested tens of thousands of dollars in its engineering research over the years, both in-house and with its GSI Fellowships program. The latter endeavor...
Bases and Subbases for Concrete Pavement Performance
From the GAP 2019 transportation conference proceedings: In "Design and Construction of Bases and Subbases for Concrete Pavement Performance," Shreenath Rao, Hesham Abdualla, and Thomas Yu, P.E. use a...
12 ICG Extends the Call for Abstracts through February
The 12th International Conference on Geosynthetics (12 ICG) will be held 18 – 22 September 2022 in Rome, Italy at the Auditorium Parco della Musica. As the quadrennial, global...