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A geosynthetic wrap-face vegetated wall system

October 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

For highway embankment construction  By Stanley M. Miller and Drew Loizeaux A recent creek enhancement project to facilitate the passage of bull trout in Pend Oreille County of northeastern Washington state required removal of a 6-foot (1.8-m) diameter concrete culvert (Figure 1), realignment o…
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CCR landfill final cover test pad—Part 2

October 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

By Nina J. Balsamo, John Massey-Norton, John R. Klamut, Terry Queen,Charles F. Straley and Mark R. Lehner An integrated drainage system (IDS) geomembrane, which provides both a low-permeability membrane and drainage space above the geomembrane, is being used in the final cover at a coal combustion r…
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Reinforced embankments for the causeway for a North Wales bridge project

October 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

By Patricia Guerra-Escobar  The Pont Briwet Project in Penrhyndeudraeth, North Wales, U.K., consisted of the replacement of a historic timber trestle bridge with a new 446-foot (136-m) long concrete viaduct and the upgrade of the approach road to the north and south of the crossing (Figure 1). …
Innovative geosynthetic solution saves 106-year-old Panama Canal structures

August 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

By Tom Stephens and Nicolas Ruiz The Panama Canal opened for business 106 years ago and was hailed as the eighth wonder of the world and an engineering marvel. It has become the most consequential global waterway ever constructed. Since 1914, more than a million ships of all sizes have passed throug…
EPA finalizes revisions to the coal ash closure regulations, increases public access to information

July 30, 2020  |  Case Studies

On July 29, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized several changes to the regulations for coal combustion residuals, known as CCR or coal ash, to implement the court’s vacatur of certain closure requirements as well as adding provisions that enhance the public’s access to infor…
High-strength geocell and geogrid hybrid reinforcement

June 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

Compressor station gravel pad on soft subgrade By Sanat Pokharel, Timothy Yii, Marc Breault and Meisam Norouzi Infrastructure development in natural resources rich Alberta, Canada, often encounters very soft ground conditions that pose several construction and sustainability challenges to transporta…
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Geosynthetic strip MSE wall at Point Defiance Marina

April 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

By Paul C. Frankenberger and Robert Lozano  This article will focus on a geosynthetic strip mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall case study using discrete geosynthetic strips with large precast facing panels (Figure 1), an innovation of the original MSE invention. The system is the Highway …
Erosion control using concrete-enhanced synthetic turf

February 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

By Bradford H. Cooley and Bryan Scholl Concrete-enhanced synthetic turf (CEST) is a hardened revetment system best described as a fiber-reinforced, flexible concrete liner. It consists of a high-friction, impermeable geomembrane layer overlain by an engineered synthetic turf, which is infilled with …
U.S. Bank Stadium geosynthetic reinforced stress relief wall

February 1, 2020  |  Case Studies, Features

Design, construction and fire damage mitigation By Nathan M. Lichty, Stephan M. Gale and Timothy P. Bendell Demolition of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., occurred in 2014 and subsequent construction of U.S. Bank Stadium (Figure 1), the home of the Minnesota Vikings an…
Overcoming expansive soils with Tensar’s TriAx Geogrid

November 13, 2019  |  Case Studies

Expansion: it’s a win for communities when roads reach out and connect people to business, resources and formerly rural areas. But another form of expansion—soil that expands when water is added and shrinks when it dries out—can thwart this progress by making it hard to economically build and …