Transportation

South Lanarkshire will be the home of Europe’s largest on-shore wind farm. Scottish ministers have just signed off on the Clyde Wind Farm deal. Access to wind farms is often dependent on geogrid reinforcement and/or geotextile separation in the road bed, as the access roads must withstand long-term heavy vehicle traffic. More about this project as it develops. Learn more here.;

Catch up with geosynthetica's primary headlines, publications, and event news from the week of 13-19 July 2008. Includes the major geosynthetics news highlights, calls for papers, event updates, publications and more.

TenCate Geosynthetics has launched a new website. The new section focuses on Industrial Fabrics. Read about the site's redesign, its new resources, and more.

Commodity Online has published an interview with Dr. Ramkumar Seshadri of Texas Tech University. Seshadri spoke at the recent ATNT 2008 event in Coimbatore, India, and detailed the growth potential for the Indian technical textiles market. India's massive infrastructure growth needs is creating a huge demand for more highly engineered support. Learn more here.;

geosynthetica is proud to announce that it has cleared the application process to begin supplying original content to Google News. This platform will help extend the reach of geosynthetic engineering information to users, potential users, journalists, and many others. For information on how your work could be part of a story, contact Chris Kelsey.

The current installment of CE News' Civil Connection e-newsletter includes a segmental retaining wall (SRW) design on shipping giant DHL's new, 72-acre site in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Strata Systems' Sleeve-It product enabled the project team to establish a key security fence on what would normally be a difficult site: the top of the wall. The article shows how the installation succeeded. Learn more here.;

Tensar International has released the latest issue of GeoTalk. This 18th volume of the company's geosynthetics applications newsletter includes a field study on geogrid performance in roads, new paving reinforcement materials, use of geogrids by the US Army Corp of Engineers for border zone installations, slope retention and dewatering. Download the issue in PDF. Learn more here.;

Our bi-weekly update on calls for papers, abstracts and proposals is posted. This issue includes Cooperation for Waste Issues, a Kharkiv, Ukraine event for which geosynthetica is a media partner. Events are listed in ordered of closest deadlines.

Resin prices have increased dramatically this year, and since resins provide the vital characteristics of geosynthetics, the cost of geosynthetic products have risen--though not nearly by as much as resins have. But there is only so much manufactures can do before some of their increased costs must transfer into the product lines. Tensar International has released a letter about this. Learn more here.;

Lumite Inc., a geotextile-manufacturing subsidiary of Thrace Plastics, has acquired a plant from Propex. The 226,000-sq-ft facility in Alto, Georgia will increase Thrace's geotextile production capacity, a welcomed advent as the company seeks to expand within the domestic market. Learn more here.;

The Indian economy is developing at an incredible pace, and to sustain this growth requires significant infrastructure investment and new technologies. Constru India 2008 addresses this. Organizers have added an October 17, one-day symposium--"Geotextiles: What, Where and Why"--for the country's young geotextiles market. A symposium brochure is available.

We've seen a great many Calls for Papers, Abstracts and Proposals come out recently. It can be difficult to track all this during your busy work season. Keep up-to-date on the calls with our update column that may identify particular sessions of interest, such as the Geotechnical Risk portion of the 2009 DBIA Water/Wastewater event. Read more about these forthcoming deadlines.

The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) has announced that it is preparing to meet with members of the U.S. Congress who have an interest in levee safety. GMA seeks examples of geosynthetic products that can be employed for emergency levee repair and levee heightening to prevent overtopping. For information on the meeting and GMA, contact Andrew Aho. Learn more here.;

Tensar International has provided a bit more detail regarding funeral services for Jim Paul, the company's former CEO. A private cremation ceremony will be held on July 4 followed by a public service. Read more.

TenCate Geosynthetics' engineers have released a document detailing the importance and use of separation factors in selecting geotextiles for roadway design. Key to selection is retention, permeability and survivability characteristics. View a copy of the document today.

The 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics (9ICG) will be held 23-27 May 2010 in Guaruja, São Paulo, Brazil. A Call for Papers has been issued…as has a conference mascot. Deadline for submission of abstract is 30 October 2008. Key interests for the conference include drainage, mining, durability and long-term performance, transportation, hydraulic applications, new products and much more. Learn more here.;

The sagging state of the American infrastructure is well known. The recent collapse of more than 20 levees during the flooding in the Midwest is more than telling. But the Economist has now weighed in with a rather stark, short essay on the funding and application needs. Transportation and water management are of major concern. Read more. Learn more here.;

While the primary uses of geotextiles include separation, cushioning, drainage control and filtration, another major use has grown in recent years: demolition control. The durability of geotextiles and finer apperatures have seen demolition crews go increasingly for them over more traditional site demolition wraps like chain link. The materials are used for blast, dust and debris containment. Learn more here.;

ASTM's Committee D35 on Geosynthetics will be meeting June 26 in Denver. "Geosynthetics in Roadways and Pavements" will be the focus of Subcommittee 01 on Mechanical Properties that day. Regular Task Group meetings on properties frequently used to characterize geogrids and geotextiles used in roads and pavements will be sandwiched around an hour long update by Steve Perkins on the encouraging developments and correlations of index, bench-scale, and full-scale separation/stabilization test methods. Learn more here.;

Geosynthetics 2009 will be held 25-27 February 2009 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The deadline for submission of abstracts and proposals is June 30. The conference theme is "Hydraulic and Environmental Engineering." See the abstract submission page for more information. Learn more here.;

Separation geotextiles are used to improve unpaved road performance. They keep fines from mixing with coarser aggregate. In constructions with pervious concrete and other porous pavement designs, these geotextiles serve as underlays that greatly improve drainage, thus preserving the integrity of what lies above. Pennsylvania's Pike County Conservation District recently held a workshop on the subject. Learn more here.;

The TriAx geogrid from Tensar has won a Gold Medal at the Brno International Building Fair in the Czech Republic and at Autostrada 2008 in Kiecle, Poland. Out of the 800 exhibiting companies and eight award winners at Autostrada, TriAx was the only geosynthetic product to receive recognition within road construction and took home the coveted 'Product & Technology' category award. Learn more here.;

The North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) and the Erosion Control Technology Council (ECTC) held a demonstration in Ithaca, New York on the installation of temporary rolled erosion control products (RECPs). The demonstration was part of the Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) at Ithaca College and the demonstration was part of New York's annual Highway Superintendents School. Read a write up on the event. Learn more here.;

Randall-Reilly Publishing, parent company of the magazines Better Roads and Aggregates Manager, have announced two promotions. Tina Grady Barbaccia has become executive editor of Better Roads magazine and Kerry Clines has been promoted to senior editor on Aggregates Manager. Geosynthetica congratulates them on their promotions and looks forward to working with them in their new positions. Learn more here.;

TenCate Geosynthetics is to open a plant in China this week. On Friday, June 13, parent company Royal TenCate, which is based in the Netherlands, will officially open the plant in Zhuhai. The plant's production will concentrate on markets in India and China and employ about 150 people. Learn more here.;