Editorial: Engineering societal issues – geotechnical and geoenvironmental perspectives

Geosynthetics in geoenvironmental engineering

Geosynthetics are planar polymeric products, which are used in connection with soil, rock or other soil-like materials to fulfill various functions in geoenvironmental engineering. Geosynthetics are of ever-growing importance in the construction industry. Sealing of waste storage facilities to safely prevent the emission of wastewater, landfill gas and contaminated dust as well as the diffusion...

Membrane Engineering: Future Perspectives

Advances and Remaining Challenges for Geosynthetics in Geoenvironmental Engineering Applications

Nine issues of importance to the use of geomembranes (GMs) and geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) as part of composite liners in geoenvironmental applications are examined. These issues include the effect of: GCL-leachate compatibility on hydraulic conductivity; freeze-thaw on GCL performance; internal erosion on GCL hydraulic conductivity; temperature on advection and diffusion as well as desicca...

Desktop GIS for Geotechnical Engineering

A desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for Geotechnical Information Management system has recently been developed to assist geo-technical managers, planners through flexible application with all common desktop GIS functionalities and customized tools like Borehole Viewer and Stripchart to relate alignments and cross-sections to a specific location and/or region on the map, and create th...

Biological Considerations in Geotechnical Engineering

The understanding of soil behavior during the last 300 years has centered on mechanical principles, geological processes, and later on, mineralogy and the relevance of colloidal chemistry. More recently, research in biology and earth science has enabled important advances in understanding the crucial involvement of microorganisms in the evolution of the earth, their ubiquitous presence in near ...