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 for March, 2012
This post contains a list of new, revised and otherwise updated ASTM standards that pertain to the geotechnical engineering, materials testing and related fields. Standard C39/C39M for testing the compressive strength of concrete cyllinders was updated, as was C42/42m for obtaining and testing drilled cores and sawed beams of concrete. The month of March also saw several geosynthetic standards being updated or added, including new standards for selecting the test method for geomembrane seams, and for testing the flexural rigidity of geogrids and other geosynthetics. There are also a few updated standards related to asphalt mix design and sampling of asphalt. Click through for updated ASTM Standards relating to geoprofessionals.
Project Related
New earthquake mitigation material – geofoam and geogrid
Graduate student Saman Zarnani and Dr. Richard Bathurst of the Royal Military College have developed a new application for geofoam and geosynthetics, to mitigate earthquake damage by improving the foundation subgrade. Initial shake table testing […]
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 […]