IAGI Announces 2013 Installation Award Winners

Members of the Intl. Assn. of Geosynthetic Installers (IAGI), a not-for-profit geotechnical professional association dedicated to bettering geosynthetic installation and construction technologies, announced the winners of the 2013 IAGI Installation Awards. The awards, which were presented during a special reception at Geosynthetics 2013 (1-4 April 2013, Long Beach, Calif.), recognize the exceptional work of geosynthetics installers.

“Geosynthetic technologies have become fully integrated throughout the larger, global geotechnical and civil infrastructure,” said IAGI President Todd Harman. “But they require special knowledge not only from the manufacturing and design side of the field. Experienced installers and the tools they utilize are how good designs and great materials become exceptional projects. This year’s award winners exemplify that truth.”

Four IAGI Installation Awards are given out biennially. The Award of Excellence went to American Environmental Group LLC, for its work on the Hickory Ridge Exposed Geomembrane Solar Cap. This project featured installation on a 45-acre closure system that included 10 acres of thin-film solar panels. The site is the world’s largest solar energy landfill closure. The solar energy cover generates greater than 1MW of electricity, enough to supply electricity to approximately 224 homes.

The Extreme Project Award went to Iridex Group Plastic for its work on the Voineasa Ski Mountain Resort Infrastructure—MIOARELE Water Reservoir. The challenges the installer faced in completing this job included the job site location, bad weather and a very short 27-day deadline. The project is located at the top of a mountain and no direct access road existed. This project had to be installed around bad weather that included subzero temperatures, freezing rain, windy days and an occasional blizzard.

The Innovative Project Award went to Atlantic Lining Co. for their work on the Cherry Island Lateral Expansion. Atlantic Lining had to be innovative in the methods of installing a geomembrane and geosynthetic clay liner and drainage composite when access to the site was only a 30-ft berm, which made for limited staging of equipment and materials. The access area was limited because the owner needed to enlarge the landfill footprint as close as possible to property lines bordering the Delaware River.

The Small Project Award went to Pondco Ltd for their work on the Dairy Farm Effluent Compliance Ponds. The dairy farms are in Waikato, Bay of Plenty areas. Runoff from these farms has seriously affected the health and life of the Waikato River. For farmers, compliance was a huge problem and there were not industry standards to guide them. Pondco Ltd came up with a design they called the “Centroid” to solve these issues and now farmers can cost effectively comply with the effluent requirements.

Source: Intl. Assn. of Geosynthetic Installers