Copper Mountain, Colorado provided a beautiful setting for what turned out to be a spectacular conference.
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The first Global Waste Management Symposium (GWMS 2008) took place 7-10 September at the Copper Mountain Conference Center in Colorado. The mountain setting provided a pleasant sort of isolation for the attendees’ discussions, and it made it all the more amazing that for an event with a cap on 500 attendees and located a good 90 minutes from Denver, roughly 25% of the attendees came from outside the United States.
International dialogue was a major subtext of the event, and organizers Penton Media should be proud of how it unfolded. From the opening keynote lectures on the growth of carbon trading markets (Michael Walsh, Chicago Climate Exchange, USA) and European waste management and recycling practices (Håkan Rylander, South Scania Waste, Sweden) to the final landfill covers session, international representatives shared the lessons learned in their climates and soils and regulatory systems.
GEOSYNTHETICS AT GWMS
One of the highlights of the conference was the Geosynthetic Institute’s (GSI) organization of geosynthetic discussions. Bob and George Koerner, who were originally invited to deliver a paper but instead proposed a session, put together a spectacular, strongly attended, two-session exchange of engineered berm design and performance papers that took the audience from finance to conclusive analysis of completed projects.
Engineered berms are becoming the future for landfill design for a number of reasons, not the least of which is airspace (i.e., volume). But it was remarkable to see just how quickly these berms have gone from theory into design practice—and not just on small and mid-level landfills. Huge projects are now incorporating more than a mile of engineered berms around them.
The engineered berms session participants (back row, lleft to right): Kevin McKeon, Mark Case, Charlie Ballod, Doug Brown, Dick Stulgis, Te-Yang Soong, Scott Luettich;
(front row, left to
right) Frank Adams, Bob Koerner, George Koerner.
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GSI’s Bob Koerner issued a much-needed caution to the audience, though.
“Engineered berms is a perhaps a strange discussion just for the waste sector,” he said, “but we must remain separate from transportation and commercial design.”
He cited wall and berm failures that have occurred in transportation and commercial construction, and contrasted that with the geosynthetic installation and performance success rate the waste sector has experienced through its historical focus on its own design needs.
This is a hugely valuable point: applications that cross numerous sectors do not necessarily inform themselves.
What is learned in one sector is never a substitute for the design specifics and diligence needed in another—especially when that sector is as environmentally important as waste management.
For those considering acquiring the conference proceedings, the engineered berms papers are worth it. The writers and topics are as follows:
- Te-Yang Soong (CTI and Associates) – “Economic Benefits of Using Engineered Berms”
- Charlie Ballod (Golder Associates) – “Mechanically Stabilized Earth Berms: Overview at Pennsylvania Landfills”
- Scott Luettich (GeoSyntec Consultants) – “Landfill Stability Analyses for the Application of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Perimeter Berms”
- Doug Brown (Tensar International) – “Construction Details and Related Considerations of MSE Berms at Landfills”
- Dick Stulgis (GeoComp) – “Atypical Backfill Material”
- Kevin McKeon (Earth Tech / AECOM) – “Specification, Contracting and Construction Quality Assurance”
- Mark Case and Frank Adams (Golder Associates) – “Geotechnical Monitoring of Long-Term Issues”
OTHER SESSIONS
Rita Ugianskis-Fishman issues opening remarks. Seated at the table, the symposiums Co-Chairs, Mort Barlaz and Craig Benson; the symposium's Business Committee Chair, Greg Cekander; and keynore speakers Michael Walsh and Hakan Rylander.
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Engineered berms was not the only topic, of course. The conference featured a number of fascinating discussions. Two sessions on the final day were dedicated to landfill cover systems. Attenuation of gas in landfill cover systems was another hot topic that was split between multiple sessions. Also, leachate management and landfill liners were high on the docket.
Poster sessions provided additional dialogue and interesting designs, from double geocomposite systems in problem landfills to the impact of unplanned military ammunitions testing on a site!
Thank you, poster presenters, for spending time with the attendees.
CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE
The authors have provided a dynamic mixture of perspectives from all levels in the design and management of the waste industry. We recommend to geosynthetica readers the conference proceedings. Copies are available on disc here.
We also would like to acknowledge the fantastic sponsorship that enabled the conference to take place. These included:
- Gold Sponsor: Waste Management
- Silver Sponsors: Republic Services, Golder Associates, Waste Connections Inc.
- Additional Support: Brown and Caldwell, Civil & Environmental Consultants Inc., Geosyntec Consultants, Geotech Environmental Equipment, SCS Engineers, Shaw, Weaver Boos Consultants
Key funding also came from the numerous table-top exhibitor sponsors. We at geosynthetica were very happy to see some of our underwriters among them: Agru America, CETCO Lining Technologies, Firestone Specialty Products, GSE Lining Technology, Tensar International, and TRI/Environmental.
Jacquie Dettman of TRI/Environmental.
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John Heathcote and Bill Tippen of Firestone.
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The symposium co-chairs, Craig Benson—who deserves congratulations on and plenty of well-wishings for his new position at the University of Washington—and Mort Barlaz (North Carolina State University) did a fantastic job, as did Greg Cekander of Waste Management. Greg was in the room at Geo-Frontiers 2005 (Austin, Texas) when a few people began to develop the GWMS idea. And as chair of the Business Committee, he helped bring in all the companies who made the event possible.
Rita Ugianski-Fishman and her colleagues at Penton Media staged a wonderful event. Everyone involved should feel good after this one. Let’s do another, okay?
Finally, I would like to thank the many geosynthetic industry figures who took time out to speak between sessions, over lunch, and elsewhere during the event: John Heathcote and Bill Tippen (Firestone), Boyd Ramsey and Dale Geary (GSE), Jacquie Dettman (TRI/Environmental), Marc Owens and Jim Olsta (CETCO), Willy Liew (Tensar), Bob and George Koerner (GSI), Piet Meyer and Kelvin Legge (Aquatan), Scott Luettich (Geosyntec), Morris Jett (Poly-Flex), Aigen Zhao and Doug Kolz (Tenax), Larry Holmes (Comanco), Todd Harmon (Hallaton), and so many others.
It was a pleasure seeing you in Colorado. We close with some photographs from the event:
Six awards were presented to authors at the close of the symosium. Seen here (left to right):
Jovita Saquing, Antoine Babilotte, Julia Gebert, and Christopher Bareither.
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Heijo Scharff presents "undeniable proof of independent testing" in one of the more dramatic poster presentations....
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Attendees rush to reach the final sessions of the symposium.
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Chris Kelsey is an editorial consultant to geosynthetica.net. He can be reached at chris@geosynthetica.net.
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