When Cesar Eloy Pérez founded Technotense in 2019, he wanted to create a company that would professionalize the industry of designing, building and installing lightweight tensile structures.

Clutter. Claustrophobia. Continual need for more storage. Those are possible hazards of working out of a physically small marine fabrication shop. Yet it’s understandable that many fabricators choose to house their companies in conservatively sized spaces to better control overhead costs.

People are shopping, dining out and going to movies. They’re heading back to schools and offices. Milestones are being celebrated, “I do’s” are being said, and along with all this return to near-normal life, festivals big and small are once again part of the entertainment landscape. For tent and event rental companies supplying this market, it’s not a minute too soon.

Construction of a large mine waste stockpile was required at the Rainy River Mine in Ontario, Canada. The mine rock stockpile foundation has up to 131 feet (40 m) thick of low to high plastic, slickensided and lightly overconsolidated clay deposits. The stockpile required foundation ground improvement to support the planned ultimate height of more than 131 feet (40 m), to be raised over six years. Prefabricated vertical drains (wick drains) are used to accelerate the dissipation of excess pore water pressure due to stockpile loading, resulting in an increased rate of strength gain in the foundation clay. About 8,530,183 linear feet (2,600,000 linear meters) of wick drains over the area of 8,309,738 square feet (772,000 m2) were installed over the course of two field campaigns in 2019 and 2020. Wick drains were installed beneath the stockpile perimeter slopes and crest, over a width varying from 453 to 661 feet (138 to 203 m). The outer boundary of the wick drain ground improvement area was maintained at 89 feet (27 m) inside the toe of the stockpile. Overburden waste is placed at the interior of the stockpile and rockfill is placed at the exterior, buttressing the interior overburden fill. Only rockfill is placed above the wick drain zones.

How did textile and fabric manufacturers survive the global pandemic? How do supply chain issues and labor shortages continue to be a problem? What markets are manufacturers looking to expand into, and how do they plan to get there? Which trends will have the biggest impact on the industry in the next two years?

Unexpected demand, raw material price volatility, market fluctuations and other factors have created a stressful scenario for the commodity textiles sector. In countries like India, where textile exports contribute to major export incomes, such volatile situations create a panic in the entire supply chain. Solutions, in part, lie in enhancing the availability of raw materials at competitive prices, developing advanced textiles, improving the value of commodity products, investing in research and development. But this requires funding support for research and development.