Standardization News

ASTM International, together with the Bombay Textile Research Association, will conduct a one-day workshop on geotextiles on Jan. 22, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at BTRA's facilities in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

The technical workshop will feature two speakers: Sam Allen, vice president of TRI/Environmental Inc., Austin, Texas, and a longtime member of ASTM Committee D35 on Geosynthetics; and V.K. Patil, senior scientific officer in charge of the geotextile lab at BTRA.

Allen, an ASTM International member since 1994, has served as chairman of Committee D35 and has led the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 221 on Geosynthetics (D35.96) since 2000. Allen will present two sessions during the workshop: one on the GRI GM13 and GM17 specifications, which rely extensively on ASTM test procedures, and a second session on geosynthetic reinforcement and the test procedures that result in measured design reduction factors.

Patil's lecture will focus on BTRA's experience with testing geosynthetics. He has nearly a decade of experience in testing of geosynthetics and product development in nonwovens, and is closely associated with standards formulation and test method development for geosynthetics in India.

The workshop is expected to conclude with a tour of labs and demonstration of select tests, time permitting. Geotextiles is an important topic in this geographical area, as India plans for extensive highway and railway construction in the near future.

For more information, contact P. Rathakrishnan (phone: +910-222-500-3651) or V.K. Patil (phone: +919-96901-1046). There is no fee to attend the workshop.