Features Archives

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Crissy Field Drainage Improvement Project
San Francisco Bay, Calif.

Owner
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Turbidity curtain
Elastec Type III RuffWater Screen
• Yellow 22-oz. PVC curtain frame
• Woven, polypropylene Mirafi FW404 filter fabric
Construction
Power Engineering Co.
Installation
Elastec Floating Barrier Division

Behind the [turbidity] curtain

October 1, 2016 | Features

Geosynthetics and marine construction near Golden Gate Bridge Introduction Marine construction projects often materialize with different sets of construction obstacles. In addition to the challenge of building stable structures in and under water, the environmental impact of construction must be lim…

Reviving the Palos Verdes Reservoir

October 1, 2016 | Features

Introduction California is home to one of the most active water resource infrastructure sectors. Geosynthetics can play an enormous role with the creation and rehabilitation of these water resources. The 76-year-old Palos Verdes Reservoir in Los Angeles County provides an exemplary case (Photo A). T…

Wetlands restoration at San Pablo Bay

August 1, 2016 | Features

How geofoam, as lightweight structural fill, solved a variety of construction challenges on a roadway embankment project in support of wetlands restoration in Northern California Introduction As those in the design and construction community know well, every project is slightly different from the la…

Accelerated geosynthetic closure of a mine refuse site

August 1, 2016 | Features

Case history: Cambria Site 93 in Pennsylvania Introduction During the coal mining process—underground or surface—other unwanted soil and rock materials are mined along with the coal. A separation technology is used to best segregate the coal from the “refuse material.” After separation, vari…

Part 3: Field evaluation of the performance of unpaved roads incorporating geosynthetics—Implementation

June 1, 2016 | Features

Introduction The mechanisms that govern unpaved road performance are complex, and accurate field evaluation of the performance of unpaved roads incorporating geosynthetics is not easy because it involves many influence factors. Interpretation of test data can be correct only if there is a good under…

Reinforced soil slope design and construction

June 1, 2016 | Features

Harold Court East Regional Service Center in Austin, Texas Introduction The Harold Court East Regional Service Center in Austin, Texas, is a city-owned multi-purpose facility used primarily for material storage. The erosion control and other issues at this site included: periodic movement of the emb…

Part 2: Field evaluation of the performance of unpaved roads incorporating geosynthetics—Planning

April 1, 2016 | Features, News

Introduction Scope and terminology The mechanisms that govern unpaved road performance are complex. Therefore, it is legitimate to try to get quantitative data from laboratory and field tests, but test interpretation can be correct only if there is a good understanding of the mechanisms (which was t…

Part 1: Mechanisms governing the performance of unpaved roads incorporating geosynthetics

February 1, 2016 | Features, News

Authors’ note: Road improvement is one of the major applications of geosynthetics. It is also one of the most complex because of the variety of mechanisms involved. This Part 1 article provides a description of the mechanisms that govern the performance of unpaved roads incorporating geosynthetics…

Geocomposite for landfill’s groundwater drainage layer

February 1, 2016 | Features

Background Dubuque Landfill Cell 9, Phase 2, is located in Dubuque, Iowa. The original liner system (from bottom up) consisted of 1ft (30cm) groundwater collection layer, 8oz/sy (270g/m²) separation geotextile, 1ft (30cm) earth barrier layer, 2ft (60cm) compacted clay layer, 60mil (1.5mm) high-dens…

Geogrid proven in logging industry demonstration