Dr. Peter Rankilor, a pioneer in the geosynthetic, geotextile and geomembrane industry was recently sentenced to 10 years in prison as a result of his January conviction on “indecent assault and incest” charges stemming from events between 1980 and 1996. The charges came in a Manchester, UK court on 24 different counts of serious sexual offences against children. Source: New Civil Engineer.
Standards and Codes
ASTM Updates April 2010
Standards governing the testing of tensile strength of geogrid and geotextile tensile strength are among the standards updated over the past month by the ASTM. This includes a new standard for "Determining Small-Strain Tensile Properties of Geogrids and Geotextiles by In-Air Cyclic Tension Tests". A number of standards relating to concrete including capping of concrete cyllinders for testing have also been updated. Click through for the list.
Available Resources
CALTRANS Publishes Guide For Design With Subgrade Enhancement Geotextiles
Geotextiles are frequently used for subgrade improvement under roadways. Caltrans has released a document titled "Guide for Designing Subgrade Enhancing Geotextiles". This 18-page document covers what situations can be improved using geotextiles and includes a […]
Project Related
Geosynthetics at De-Icing Facitility
GeoSynthetica was kind enough to track down an interesting case study in the use of geosynthetics at a new de-icing facility at Cleveland’s Hopkins International Airport. Ethylene Glycol and Propylene Glycol are commonly used de-icing chemicals. Most de-icing is done at the gate to avoid flight delays, but it also increases the chance of environmental contamination. In the design of a new dedicated de-icing facility at the airport, geosynthetic clay liners (GCL), Geocells, geotextiles and geocomposites were all used to handle chemical-laden runoff as well as regular runoff during the non-icy times of year. Also there is a problem with high water table and a resulting detrimental effect on the pavement subgrade. This is where the aggregate-filled geocells were used. Read on for the link. (Photo by Spiritwood Images)