New officers named for geosynthetics organizations
April 1st, 2011
NAGS, FGI, IAGI make announcements at Geo-Frontiers North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) The following were announced as the new Board of Directors for NAGS: President–Dean Sandri; President-elect–Bob Mackey; Treasurer–Corey Bobba; Vice Presidents–Marolo Alfaro, Jay McKelvey, Dhani Narejo, Richard Brachman; Immediate Past President–David Elton. Fabricated Geomembrane Institute At FGI’s annual meeting during Geo-Frontiers, new officers were […]
GMA comments on EPA process for Superfund sites
April 1st, 2011
By Boyd Ramsey and Andrew Aho The Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA) participated in a public listening session held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) March 30, 2011. The session was held in Albuquerque, N.M., and addressed the topic of vapor migration as a component of the selection and evaluation process for Superfund sites and […]
Geosynthetic reinforced soil walls as integral bridge abutments
April 1st, 2011
From ER-2010 / Earth Retention Conference #3 By Michael R. Simac and David J. Elton Introduction The first use of geosynthetic reinforced soil walls for integral bridge abutment construction in North America occurred on the Greenville Southern Connector (Interstate 185) toll road in 1999. A second bridge with a longer span and higher loads was […]
‘Old-timer’ recalls the history of geomembrane interface strength tests (Part 2)
April 1st, 2011
By Allan J. Breitenbach, P.E. Editor’s note: Author Breitenbach’s treatise recalling geomembrane testing in days of yore started with Part 1 in the February/March issue of Geosynthetics. He continues in Part 2 with an examination of several related factors that influenced liner interface test strengths. -rb- The next sections of this article present a general […]
Utah’s Trax line now built to the airport
April 1st, 2011
Project basics The Salt Lake City Airport Trax Line is a six-mile light-rail extension that will connect with the existing Trax system at the Arena Station, located at 400 West and South Temple. When completed, the Airport Trax Line, combined with the University Trax Line, will connect the top three trip generators in the entire […]
Highway reconstruction on soft soils not a problem with geofoam
April 1st, 2011
By David Shong and Nico Sutmoller Once a thriving industrial suburb of Chicago that was sometimes called the Steel City, Gary, Ind., has seen a gradual decline in its industrial base and population. Indiana’s fifth-largest city was hard hit by the decline in steel mill employment but has recently found an economic boon in the […]
Ongoing geocell discussion
April 1st, 2011
Editor's Note: The following comments were submitted regarding the GMA Techline article "Geocell application," from the April 2010 Geosynthetics. Comment From: Suprio Re: Geocell on soft subgrade In case if a layer of geocell is placed on a soft subgrade of say CBR value 1, then what is the method of determining the settlement envisaged […]
Zero cohesion
April 1st, 2011
Editor's Note: The question below was submitted regarding the Richard Thiel article "Cohesion (or adhesion) and friction angle in direct shear tests," from the April 2009 Geosynthetics. Comment From: Leo Posted: Oct. 3, 2010 | 11:12 p.m. What happens if you force the line of best fit through zero, to force a zero cohesion? Reply […]
Protecting pipelines
April 1st, 2011
Editor's Note: The comment below in response to the February–March 2010 Geosynthetics article "Geotextiles are protecting pipeline." Comment From: Gholamhosein Posted: Feb 22, 2011 | 5:22 am CST Re: Protecting pipelines My research results prove that the buried pipelines can be protected strongly under heavy vertical cyclic loadings by using nonwoven geotextiles. Join the discussion […]
Interface friction info
April 1st, 2011
Question From: Scott Posted: March 8 | 9:16 am CST Is there any interface friction information available between PVC to RCSPE layers? Response Dr. Robert Koerner, GMA Techline Scott, We have a rather large database of interface friction values (as do others) but not for that specific combination of geomembranes. That said, the PVC values […]