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Foreword to special issue on developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection
Geotextiles and Geomembranes xxx (2016) 1
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geotextiles and Geomembranes journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geotexmem
Editorial
Foreword to special issue on developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection
Over the past three decades geosynthetics, in particular geosynthetic clay liners and geomembranes, have become one of the dominant construction materials in modern municipal solid waste landfills and consequently have gained widespread acceptance for use as contaminant barriers. As our knowledge of the issues related to their use has advanced, their use has also extended to application subjected to harsh or severe environmental conditions such as encountered in mining and oil and gas industries or sites located in remote areas where weather conditions can be detrimental to their long term behaviour. Furthermore, as waste streams are changing gradually reflecting the changes in manufacturing processes, geosynthetics are increasingly exposed to the so called emerging contaminants. However, geosynthetic barriers were not designed with prior intent to consider such types of contaminants which can present unexpected risks of release to the environment. This special issue provides insight into research efforts conducted in various parts of the world on the theme of developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection which seeks to address the issues highlighted above. It is the result of an initiative taken by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Technical Committee 215 (TC 215) on Environmental Geotechnics to compile a selected number of papers presented at the 7th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics held in Melbourne in November 2014 for publication in Geotextiles and Geomembranes. These papers were significantly enhanced and extended to incorporate new unpublished results. They were subjected to the Geotextiles and Geomembranes normal peer review process and only seven papers out of the selected nine papers were accepted for publication. These form the majority of the papers contained in this special issue. TC 215 invited also its members and affiliates to submit papers for possible publication in this
special issue. This has led to three additional papers accepted for publication after undergoing standard peer review process. The content of this issue will constitute a reference in the years to come for practitioners, manufacturers as well as researchers and hopefully will also inspire more innovative developments for the benefit of the geosynthetics industry. Finally, we wish to express our appreciation and thanks to the authors for their effort and time in the preparation of a set of very high quality papers without which this special issue would not have resulted. We are very much indebted to the reviewers for their highly competent efforts. Last but not least, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of R. Kerry Rowe, Editor, during the preparation of this issue and also for taking time to ensure that each paper met the high technical standards of Geotextiles and Geomembranes. Abdelmalek Bouazza* Department of Civil Engineering, 23 College Walk, Monash University, Vic., 3800, Australia Nathalie Touze-Foltz Unit e de Recherche Hydrosyst emes et Bioproc ed e, Irstea, 1 rue Pierre Gilles de Gennes CS 10030, 92761, Antony Cedex, France E-mail address: [email protected]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Bouazza).
15 May 2016 Available online xxx
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.05.005 0266-1144/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Bouazza, A., Touze-Foltz, N.Foreword to special issue on developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.05.005
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Geotextiles and Geomembranes journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geotexmem
Editorial
Foreword to special issue on developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection
Over the past three decades geosynthetics, in particular geosynthetic clay liners and geomembranes, have become one of the dominant construction materials in modern municipal solid waste landfills and consequently have gained widespread acceptance for use as contaminant barriers. As our knowledge of the issues related to their use has advanced, their use has also extended to application subjected to harsh or severe environmental conditions such as encountered in mining and oil and gas industries or sites located in remote areas where weather conditions can be detrimental to their long term behaviour. Furthermore, as waste streams are changing gradually reflecting the changes in manufacturing processes, geosynthetics are increasingly exposed to the so called emerging contaminants. However, geosynthetic barriers were not designed with prior intent to consider such types of contaminants which can present unexpected risks of release to the environment. This special issue provides insight into research efforts conducted in various parts of the world on the theme of developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection which seeks to address the issues highlighted above. It is the result of an initiative taken by the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering Technical Committee 215 (TC 215) on Environmental Geotechnics to compile a selected number of papers presented at the 7th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics held in Melbourne in November 2014 for publication in Geotextiles and Geomembranes. These papers were significantly enhanced and extended to incorporate new unpublished results. They were subjected to the Geotextiles and Geomembranes normal peer review process and only seven papers out of the selected nine papers were accepted for publication. These form the majority of the papers contained in this special issue. TC 215 invited also its members and affiliates to submit papers for possible publication in this
special issue. This has led to three additional papers accepted for publication after undergoing standard peer review process. The content of this issue will constitute a reference in the years to come for practitioners, manufacturers as well as researchers and hopefully will also inspire more innovative developments for the benefit of the geosynthetics industry. Finally, we wish to express our appreciation and thanks to the authors for their effort and time in the preparation of a set of very high quality papers without which this special issue would not have resulted. We are very much indebted to the reviewers for their highly competent efforts. Last but not least, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of R. Kerry Rowe, Editor, during the preparation of this issue and also for taking time to ensure that each paper met the high technical standards of Geotextiles and Geomembranes. Abdelmalek Bouazza* Department of Civil Engineering, 23 College Walk, Monash University, Vic., 3800, Australia Nathalie Touze-Foltz Unit e de Recherche Hydrosyst emes et Bioproc ed e, Irstea, 1 rue Pierre Gilles de Gennes CS 10030, 92761, Antony Cedex, France E-mail address: [email protected]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Bouazza).
15 May 2016 Available online xxx
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.05.005 0266-1144/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Bouazza, A., Touze-Foltz, N.Foreword to special issue on developments in geosynthetics for environmental protection, Geotextiles and Geomembranes (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geotexmem.2016.05.005