An anniversary and a new direction

2001

GFR notes that the U.S. Congress passed a $32.9 billion bill for federal highway programs … An artificial reef is constructed with geotextile containers filled with sand to help slow erosion of Surfer’s Paradise in Narrowneck on Australia’s Gold Coast … ASCE’s 2001 “Report Card for America’s Infrastructure hands out below-average grades, specifically referencing an aging bridge network (five years before the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis).

2002

GFR reports that the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) is changing its name to ASTM International … GFR celebrates its 20th anniversary with a four-part history lesson by authors J.P. Giroud (June/July issue), Greg Richardson (August), Ian Peggs (September), and Robert Koerner (October/November) … Daniele Cazzuffi is elected IGS president at 7ICG in Nice, France.

2003

Former associate editor, Chris Kelsey, is named GFR managing editor … in GFR industry news, NTPEP launches a new program to help state DOTs prequalify rolled erosion control products … GFR publishes its third Spanish-language issue … IFAI announces plans to partner with ASCE’s Geo-Institute for its 2005 biennial geosynthetics conference—Geo-Frontiers-2005 in Austin, Texas.

2004

A March GFR article recaps the U.S. University Council on Geotechnical Education and Research workshop in Atlanta … GFR’s compilation, “Designer’s Forum–Vol. 1 (1997-2003)” now available … the Geosynthetic Research Institute (GRI) approves two new standards—GT12b (nonwoven geotextiles as protection material) and GT13 (geotextiles as separation between subgrade soil and aggregate) … A landmark article, “Lessons Learned from Failure: Landfill Covers” by Gregory Richardson and K.L. Pavlik, is published in the October/November issue of GFR.

2005

A watershed year for the geosynthetic industry’s trade association and its magazine—Andrew Aho is hired as the new managing director of GMA … GFR undergoes vigorous internal redesign efforts that first appear in Vol. 24, No. 1 (February/March 2006) and Ron Bygness comes onboard as the new editor of Geosynthetics (née GFR) magazine … Aho and Bygness are inaugurated at their first geosynthetics conference, NAGS 2005/GRI-19, Dec. 14-16, in Las Vegas, Nev. … Hurricane Katrina slams into the U.S. gulf coast.