TEXTILES.ORG
By Flora Xu, ATA China Representative
In order to discuss the future sustainable development of geosynthetics and grasp the development trends of global geosynthetics, the 3rd EurAsian Geosynthetics Symposium (EAGS·2024) was held in Tai’an, Shandong Province on November 22, 2024. The conference was organized by the China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA), and the International Association Representing the Nonwovens and Related Industries (EDANA), supported by Tai’an Municipal People’s Government, the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), and the Advanced Textiles Association (ATA). It was co-organized by Shandong Road New Materials Co., Ltd., Tiandingfeng Holdings Co., Ltd., Feicheng Lianyi Engineering Plastics Co., Ltd., Tai’an Modern Plastics Co., Ltd., Weifang Tuowang Industry Co., Ltd., Shandong Innovative Material Technology Co., Ltd., and HOCK Technology Co., Ltd.
Nearly 300 people, including company representatives from the upstream and downstream industrial chains of the geosynthetics industry, attended the conference.
Speakers included Li Lingshen, vice president of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC); Liu Fengmei, deputy mayor of Tai’an Municipal People’s Government; He Yanli, former director general counsel of the Industry Department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); Li Guimei, president of China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA); Li Xinfu, secretary of Shandong Textile and Apparel Association; Cai Lixia, director of Tai’an Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology; Sam Allen, president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS); Peter Atchison, chairman of ISO/TC 221 Geosynthetics; Marines Lagemaa, scientific and technical affairs director of the International Association Representing the Nonwovens and Related Industries (EDANA); Daniele Cazzuffi, past president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and president of the Italian Chapter; Hong Kwan Kim, vice president of the Korean Geosynthetic Society; as well as experts and scholars from well-known universities, research institutes and industry organizations at home and abroad.
Liu Fengmei, deputy mayor of Tai’an Municipal People’s Government, said that after more than 40 years of accumulation and development, the Tai’an geosynthetic materials industry’s level of production technology and industrialization has made great progress, and cultivated a number of advantage enterprises such as new road materials, Feicheng Lanyi, Tai’an Modern Plastics, Taipeng Environmental Protection, etc., forming a good ecology driven by leading enterprises, high-quality enterprises gathering, and industrial coordinated development.
The products involve geogrids, geotextiles, geomembranes, geonets, etc., and the comprehensive strength is in the forefront of the same industry. With significant geographical advantages and industry development foundation, geosynthetics has become a beautiful industrial business card in the city. Tai’an will take this conference as an opportunity to further strengthen its support service capabilities and promote industrial optimization and upgrading.
Marines Lagemaa, scientific and technical affairs director of the International Association Representing the Nonwovens and Related Industries (EDANA), said in his speech that following the last EurAsia Geosynthetics Symposium held in 2019, this time the event was co-organized with China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA) to gather with the industry in Tai’an. Over the past five years, EDANA has organized many professional conferences dedicated to the development of geosynthetics. With the increase of environmental protection requirements for the development of the industry, the association pays more attention to the impact on the environment. EDANA looks forward to working with the industry to build a better future for the industry.
Li Lingshen, vice president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), pointed out in his speech that geosynthetics and construction textiles are one of the earliest and most mature fields in industrial textiles, which greatly supports the development and application of China’s infrastructure and construction fields. China’s geosynthetics play a key role in global engineering construction, and their material properties are increasingly recognized, and have been widely used in water conservancy, railways, highways, airports, urban construction, land reclamation, ecological restoration and other projects.
Focusing on the innovation and sustainable development of the textile geosynthetic materials industry, Li Lingshen put forward three suggestions: enhance the ability of scientific and technological innovation and improve the collaborative innovation system; promote the green development model and explore the path of sustainable development; and strengthen the connection between production and demand with international cooperation to build a “community with a shared future” for the industry.
Li Guimei, president of the China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA) introduced the current situation of scientific and technological innovation and green development of China’s geotextile textiles in the report: “The Status and Trends of Geosynthetics and Building/Construction Textiles in China.” Taking projects in railway, highway, water conservancy, mining area, port, municipal, construction and other related fields as cases, the specific application of geosynthetics and building/construction textiles in engineering is analyzed. She said that green manufacturing empowerment, intelligent technology assistance, standard quality improvement, and engineering application expansion will become important directions for the development of geosynthetics and building/construction textiles in China. In the future, the industry needs to continue to forge the “long board”/strengths of the industry, expand crossover applications, and form a revolutionary alternative with the blessing of intelligent technology; enhance the endogenous power of development; assist the “Belt and Road” and stabilize the momentum of industrial development; improve the quality of standards and promote healthy and sustainable development; cultivate innovation platforms; carry out advanced applications and demonstration projects; and better promote the high-quality development of the industry.
Sam Allen, president and director of TRI Environmental Group, and president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), shared “Measuring the Sustainability Benefits of Geosynthetics.” He said geosynthetics can extend the service life of roads, reduce the use of aggregates, conserve water resources and control soil erosion. IGS has been carrying out education and science popularization for a long time to promote the sustainable development of geosynthetics from multiple dimensions such as quality, design and manufacturing. He introduced the application of geosynthetics in sustainable development and innovative solutions, and the IGS Sustainability Calculator as an excellent tool for planning and designing sustainable infrastructure and evaluating the carbon reduction and energy saving benefits of its application.
Han Xiaomei, senior engineer of the General Institute of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Planning and Design, Ministry of Water Resources, briefly described the classification and function of geosynthetics in the report entitled “Application of Geosynthetics in Hydraulic and Hydropower Engineering.” She summarized the application of geosynthetics such as geomembranes, geotextiles, drainage boards, geogrids, concrete-filled geomembrane bags and geocells in water conservancy and hydropower projects. At the same time, combining with the detection and test of geomembrane and geogrid, the performance of geosynthetics was illustrated, and four problems in the application of geosynthetics in water conservancy and hydropower engineering were discussed and relevant suggestions put forward.
Daniele Cazzuffi, past president of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and chairman CEN TC 189, presented the elements of sustainability with a focus on the possible release of microplastics from geosynthetics in soils and the environment. The report also cites specific historical cases to illustrate the significant effect of the use of geotextiles in reducing CO2 emissions and microplastic emissions and highlights the advantages of using geosynthetics in mountainous areas to cope with the growing problem of climate change. Combined with the practical application case, it is shown that the use of geomembranes to store water in the reservoir of the artificial snow plant can effectively reduce the melting of glacier ice and snow.
Matthias Maisner, engineer for materials engineering in the construction materials section at the Federal Institute of Waterway Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) shared “Aspects of Geotextiles with Consideration of Hydraulic Engineering for Navigable Waterways Construction in Europe.” The European Union has one of the longest navigable networks of inland waterways in the world, and geotextiles have outstanding advantages as the filters needed for waterways. He introduced the declaration of CE marking of building materials products in the EU internal market, the regulations and product function requirements for building materials products, and the characteristics and performance requirements of geotextiles for water conservancy projects. Combined with relevant products and technical standards, he interpreted a number of application cases of geotextiles in waterways.
Liang Xunmei, chairman of Shandong Road New Materials Co., Ltd., reported on “Innovation and Engineering Application Solutions for High-performance Geosynthetics.” It was application-oriented, combined with the development status of geosynthetics in China, and introduced how a number of innovative products independently developed by new road materials can break the international monopoly and achieve import substitution. At the same time, the company’s superior products have realized high-strength, intelligent, lightweight and multi-functional products, which can meet the engineering needs of engineering structure reinforcement, early warning safety, snow melting and ice suppression under complex geological conditions, solving engineering construction problems, and providing more perfect solutions for engineering construction.
Sun Fenghua, general manager of Tiandingfeng Polypropylene Material Technology Co., Ltd., introduced the main innovation points and application promotion of “Key Technologies and Industrialization of High-strength Coarse Denier Polypropylene Spunbonded Needle-punched Geotextiles.” The project has overcome the stranglehold key technology of high-strength coarse denier PP spunbonded needle-punched geotextile, breaking the monopoly of foreign technology and filling the domestic gap. The research and development of key production technologies and equipment has driven the development and industrial upgrading of upstream and downstream industries, and is a model for the application of industrial textiles in the field of geosynthetics application for construction. The performance of the product has reached the international advanced level, which meets the needs of major engineering construction in the field of cutting-edge national defense and national economy and people’s livelihood, and provides a strong guarantee for national security and people’s security.
Peter Atchison, chairman of the ISO Geosynthetics Committee, reported on “Current Status and Prospects for Geosynthetics Standards.” He said that the annual global trade volume has grown from about $5 trillion in 1996 to $25 trillion today, and that international standards are the basis for the growth of international trade. The report introduces the origins, overall objectives and specific work of ISO, as well as the specific work of the ISO TC221, highlighting the ISO focus on sustainability and how to enhance the concept of sustainability in all standards, especially geosynthetics standards.
Chen Yumin, dean of the School of Civil Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology and technical advisor of Feicheng Lianyi Plastics Co., Ltd., introduced the project “Research and Application of Full-Strength Smart Geosynthetic Composite Materials Applicable to High-intensity Zones.” The materials combine topology optimization and artificial intelligence technology to develop the optimal geogrid shape with omni-directional strength applicable to high-intensity zones, and uses the new geogrids to produce the foundation in a desaturated state, solves the systematic problems such as the structure and application of geosynthetic materials in the high-intensity zone, and promotes the industrialization of full-strength intelligent geogrids.
Hong Kwan Kim, vice president of the Korean Geosynthetics Society (KGSS) and executive vice president of FITI Testing and Research Institute, introduced “Reliability Assessment of Geosynthetics.” He discussed the improvement of market openness, the diversification of product selection opportunities, and the increasing quality requirements of consumers, which requires standardization and evaluation systems to recognize product quality and reliability. He said that with the shortening of the product development cycle and the increase of uncertainties, it is difficult to ensure the reliability of parts and materials. The report introduced various test methods for the reliability evaluation of geosynthetics, including accelerated life testing, quality evaluation, etc., and how to adopt reliability evaluation in line with international standards.
Yang Bai, director of the Department of Civil Engineering, School of Architecture and Transportation Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, reported on “Large-scale Model Tests on Bilaterally Wrapped Geogrid-reinforced Embankment in Railway Engineering.” He introduced the general situation of the relying project; detailed the experimental design and operation process, including model design, model making, loading system, and test system; and obtained relevant test results and analyzed the main conclusions.
Guo Yonglian, president of Anhui Shengdian Mesh Weaving Co., Ltd., introduced the sand control measures and the application of geosynthetic materials in a report on the “Qinghai-Tibet Railway Tsonaq Lake Sand Control Technology.” He shared the design experience of sand hazard control in high and cold areas. The project adopts the methods of dam building, water interception, sand fixation and scouring, and innovatively turns sand into materials to control sand with sand. At the same time, the combination of high vertical PE sand control fence, PE large sand control grid, low vertical PE sand control grid, and hanging (plugging) plate sand retaining wall combined with protection measures were also adopted, and part of the sand fixation facilities were renovated to achieve the effect of sand prevention, sand stopping, sand blocking and sand fixation.
Liu Qingqing, chief engineer of Shandong Innovative Materials Co., Ltd., reported on “Innovative Application of New High-end PP Continuous Filament Nonwoven Geotextile in Highway Engineering.” She said that with the rapid development of urban transportation construction and the continuous increase of highway traffic, the problem of pavement reflective cracks is super serious. Through the analysis and research of its physical and chemical properties and the actual engineering application verification, the role of PP continuous filament needle-punched geotextile in reinforcement and delaying reflective cracks in highway engineering is introduced. The presentation detailed that PP filament needle-punched geotextile as an anti-cracking material can increase the service life of the road, which has obvious economic and social benefits.
Zheng Airong, professor-level senior engineer of CCCC Tianjin Harbor Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd., reported on “M Waterstop and Its Structure Research.” M waterstop is rubber slab which acts as a temporary waterstop for the final join in the construction process of immersed tunnels. It is a new type of water-block curtain structure, which was first applied to the Shenzhen-Zhongshan link project and promoted in the Dalian Bay undersea tunnel project. In order to solve the problems of bulkiness, installation and uncontrollable tunneling trajectory of the existing waterstop, a new type of suspended M waterstop structure was developed in this study. This innovation can provide a new sealing solution for the field of underwater engineering.
Sun Gemei, chief engineer of special projects in the Engineering Inspection Center of Shanghai Investigation Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., reported on the “Analysis of Key Testing Points and Influencing Factors of Geosynthetics in Domestic Engineering Applications.” According to the technical background of geosynthetics and the application and test requirements in domestic engineering, the relevant influencing factors of some performance and quality testing were analyzed, including sampling, sample preparation, environmental conditions, instruments and accessories, testing personnel, test methods, test rates and other factors. The report points out that understanding the unfavorable factors in the testing process will play an important role in preventing and controlling the quality risks of geosynthetics-related projects, reducing detection errors, and ensuring the quality of projects.
The EurAsian Geosynthetics Symposium is a leading international high-end conference in the field of geosynthetics. The conference includes two parts: the conference and the tabletop exhibition, the EAGS invites well-known experts, scholars and entrepreneurs with many years of practical experience at home and abroad to carry out full range multi-level, wide-field and stereoscopic analysis of the geosynthetics industry around development opportunities, market analysis, technical research, application expansion, engineering services, testing standards and methods.
The supporting units and co-organizers of the conference, as well as Broadenwin Machinery Jiangsu Co., Ltd., Guangshan White Shark Card Clothing Co., Ltd., Tai’an Best Project Material Co., Ltd., Jinan Yangbetter Trade Co., Ltd., etc., displayed the latest technologies and products of geosynthetics in the exhibition area.
In order to introduce the operation of China’s geosynthetics and construction textiles industry and the application results in engineering construction, CNITA has organized the publication of the book Geosynthetics and Building/Construction Textiles and Application Examples in Infrastructure Projects. The new book rollout ceremony was held at the conference.
With the theme of “Innovation Shaping Sustainability,” the conference discussed the future sustainability of geosynthetics through face-to-face in-depth exchanges and exhibitions, promoted industrial innovation and development and mutually beneficial cooperation among countries, and created a new future for the prosperity and development of the industry.
21st Plenary Meeting of ISO/TC 221
On November 21, the 21st Plenary Meeting of ISO/TC 221 hosted by China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA) was successfully held in Tai’an, and representatives from 31 countries and regions including China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Poland, and South Korea participated in the meeting in a hybrid way. The meeting was chaired by Peter Atchison, chairman of ISO/TC 221. The plenary meeting was preceded by working groups WG2, WG3, WG4, WG5 and WG6.