August 1, 2015
When we go on vacations, we go on no-electronics vacations. Sure, we have a phone for emergencies but it is turned off until needed. And no other devices or wireless access. That said, I recommend that—when you are plugged in—you spend more time checking out our revamped and enhanced magazine website. GeosyntheticsMagazine.com now has a …
June 1, 2015
What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports issa goin’ on here? —Slim Pickens as Taggart in “Blazing Saddles” By Ron Bygness I could not help recalling that memorable line from the classic Mel Brooks movie while I was first investigating an industry conference on the subject of coal ash. Truly, what is going on …
April 1, 2015
By Ron Bygness Arousingly successful combo event that partnered the Geosynthetics 2015 conference with the annual Environmental Connection show in Portland, Ore., Feb. 15–18, deserves more recollections. Attendance was good? No, it was fantastic! A number of technical sessions were full-house, SRO … I opened one door, only to stare at a gentleman’s back. After …
February 1, 2015
By Ron Bygness Special Happy New Year (HNY) greetings are in order for our many readers, contributors, and colleagues involved with geosynthetics and Geosynthetics magazine. And HNY for all of our acronym friends who especially stood out in 2014: HNY, EPA—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was told by the court to finally issue its ruling …
December 22, 2014
By Boyd Ramsey On Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued rules on the disposal of coal combustion residuals (“coal ash”). These rules take effect 180 days after publication in the Federal Register, but for general intents and purposes will affect geosynthetics users immediately. Overview More information on this topic …
December 1, 2014
By Ron Bygness Another year, another Specifier’s Guide—for more than a quarter century the gold standard of geosynthetics specifications for engineers, public and private construction, and education. If you missed it, let’s take a look back at Geosynthetics magazine 2014, highlighted here by each issue: February/March Lance Carter and Michael Bernardi write an insightful geosynthetics …
October 23, 2014
Expanding the use of GRS–IBS Eight innovations are new to Every Day Counts, but three are carried over from earlier rounds of the FHWA initiative because the need to expand their implementation continues. They include … geosynthetic reinforced soil integrated bridge systems (GRS-IBS). Geosynthetic reinforced soil integrated bridge systems use alternating layers of compacted granular …
October 1, 2014
By Ron Bygness Eight years ago, I interviewed Ernie English. At that time, Ernie was with GSE and was the chairman of the Geosynthetic Materials Association’s Executive Council. I asked him several questions about the state of the geosynthetics industry, about market opportunities, about some historical perspectives. Then I asked Ernie about the future for …
August 1, 2014
By Ron Bygness The Professor Training Course for Geosynthetics (aka, Educate the Educators) was a successful educational effort that ran for one week each summer, 1994–1998, at Auburn University in Alabama under the direction of Prof. Dave Elton. A reinvigorated plan to launch a 21st century version of this course is gaining momentum, thanks primarily …
July 11, 2014
EPA ups methane capture requirement Next step: A new energy source With the EPA‘s recent announcement that new landfills will be required to capture two-thirds of their methane and toxic air emissions by 2023 (13% more than current requirements)—see our previous post on this subject—the Obama Administration is taking another step to lower greenhouse gas …