October 1st, 2016
Koerner is the founding director (now director emeritus) of the Geosynthetic Institute. He has a list of accomplishments that is long and impressive—and he isn’t showing any signs of slowing down in his fervor to advance the field. Photo: Dennis Degnan. When Dr. Robert M. Koerner talks about geosynthetics, the cadence of his speech quickens...
Read MoreJanuary 1st, 2016
The Crissy Field Drainage Improvement Project was undertaken to alleviate flooding problems upstream in the Crissy Field and Mason Street areas of San Francisco. The work had the potential not only to disrupt marine wildlife but its habitat as well. Photos: Elastec Geosynthetics make an impact in a large marine construction project near the Golden...
Read MoreMay 1st, 2015
Combatting climate change and drought to provide drinking water from ocean water. By Pat Elliott Climate changes and drought have prompted major coastal cities in Australia, and worldwide, to construct desalination plants large enough to provide major populations with rainfall-independent sources of drinking water. In July 2009 the Australian state of Victoria signed a $3.5...
Read MoreJune 1st, 2014
A new cover for an old water reservoir provides a long-term solution. Last November, Newport Beach, Calif., completed a major water reservoir renovation project that it expects to solve the city’s decades-long water quality issues. The 22-acre Big Canyon Reservoir, constructed in 1958, would hold nearly 200 million gallons of potable water—enough to serve 70...
Read MoreApril 9th, 2014
Covering U.S. and Canada geosynthetics materials and manufacturing. A comprehensive review of all U.S. and Canada geosynthetics markets has been compiled by the Geosynthetic Materials Association (GMA), a division of the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI). The Geosynthetics Market Report 2011–2012 is described in an April 4 IFAI press release as “the most comprehensive and...
Read MoreApril 1st, 2014
Manufacturers tackle the world’s growing need for safe drinking water–after disasters, and before. When a chemical storage tank in West Virginia leaked this past January, 300,000 people were unable to drink water from their taps. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sent more than 367,000 gallons of water to the nine-county area; the local water...
Read MoreMarch 1st, 2014
The Perth Hockey Stadium is where Australia’s national field hockey teams prepare for and play their most important matches, and Hockey Western Australia wanted the best artificial grass system available for the venue. Following the example of the Royal Netherlands Hockey Association and ten other Dutch hockey clubs, Hockey Western Australia selected GreenFields® TX to...
Read MoreAugust 1st, 2013
TenCate Geosynthetics, Pendergrass, Ga., developed the durable Geotube® system for large-scale water management projects, such as sludge dewatering and breakwater stabilization. Dewatering contaminated sludge or sediment pumped into a Geotube is simple and conservative; the high-strength, permeable, specially engineered geotextiles allow water to escape while capturing solids for re-use or appropriate disposal. Geotubes packed with...
Read MoreAugust 1st, 2013
The road to growth for geosynthetic textile markets goes straight through developing countries, according to a Textiles Intelligence report, “Markets for geosynthetic products and profiles of five leading manufacturers.” Large-scale construction of infrastructure (roads, railways and landfills, for example) will drive growth in the market, which has seen robust growth even during times of economic...
Read MoreJuly 1st, 2013
[Afitex-Texel] Champhol, France In landfill final cover systems, geocomposite drainage products are frequently used as a drainage layer above the geomembrane layer and for surficial landfill gas collection below the geomembrane. For the first time in the southeastern United States, a final cover system has been constructed using a draintube planar geocomposite product rather than...
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