August 29, 2018
U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced on Aug. 24 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will award $616.9 million in airport infrastructure grants, as part of the total $3.18 billion in Airport Improvement Program (AIP) funding for airports across the United States. “The department has been investing heavily in our nation’s airport …
August 27, 2018
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision Aug. 21 holding that the first-ever federal safeguards set by the Obama administration for coal ash dumps do not sufficiently protect communities and the environment from pollution from coal combustion residual (coal ash) waste. The court’s decision sided with public interest groups by …
August 1, 2018
In December 2017, the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and GRID-Arendal, an organization that supports environmentally sustainable development in partnership with UN Environment and other collaborators, published “Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident.” The report recommends mining companies adopt simple steps to reduce environmental destruction and death by changing the way they store …
June 20, 2018
Pete Ruane, president and CEO of the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), announced he will be retiring from the organization in October 2018 after 30 years of service, ARTBA said in a June 19, 2018, prepared statement. He is the longest tenured head of the 116-year-old organization. After Ruane’s departure, ARTBA executive vice …
April 25, 2018
The Geosynthetic Institute (GSI) will sponsor a webinar entitled “Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Wall, Berm and Slope Construction Inspection,” on May 9, 2018, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. The inspection and monitoring of MSE wall, berm and slope construction using geosynthetic reinforcement is essential for providing a safe, durable system. Such inspection includes …
April 24, 2018
The International Erosion Control Association (IECA) is now accepting abstracts for the IECA Annual Conference, Feb. 19–22, 2019, in Denver, Colorado, the association said in an April 20, 2018, press release. IECA said it is accepting abstracts for sessions including case studies, technical papers, workshops, industry roundtables, fireside chats, Mountain States-related sessions, posters, product case …
April 23, 2018
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced April 18, 2018, it is accepting applications for grants from a pool of up to $60 million in federal funding under the 2015 Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The grants will be made to eligible entities to develop model deployment sites for large-scale installation …
June 1, 2017
For more than 30 years, the geomembrane industry has been told that “all geomembranes leak” (Giroud 1984), as if this were some foregone conclusion no matter what might happen from geomembrane manufacturing to the time it is put into service. But recently, the idea of “zero leaks” has been a hot topic at industry conferences, …
Introduction The objectives of this article are to document the long history of geosynthetic materials used in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and other rural roads, to document the many creative and useful ways geosynthetics have been used, and to promote the cost-effective uses of geosynthetics in road projects today, particularly on …
Resisting animal and insect attacks on geomembranes is an interesting problem. Geomembrane installers and manufacturers have had numerous geomembranes damaged by bears, deer, coyotes, birds, beavers, and ground squirrels (Figures 1 and 2). In most cases, the damage is incidental to something else the animal is seeking. Deer damage the liner with their hooves trying …
