Foreword

J.P. GIROUD

Consulting Engineer and Expert, Paris, France

It gives great satisfaction to be associated with a knowledge-sharing project. The satisfaction is even greater when the project is the product of a collective endeavor. The satisfaction becomes immense when the project is the result of decades of innovation carried out within a dynamic community. And when the project is carried out within a discipline as essential as that of geosynthetics, then the sense of satisfaction doubles at the thought of the public good it serves.

This collective work has produced a book that blends theoretical and practical approaches. This book does not claim to be exhaustive but nonetheless offers a rich and amply illustrated database relevant to the activities of all types of readers. Thus, manufacturers, designers, constructors, and inspectors will find practical and well-laid out information, while teachers and students in engineering courses will find supporting material for their classes, and researchers will find inspiration for future endeavors.

This book comes at a time when geosynthetics are required to play an essential role in a century where it has become so important to protect our environment: conservation and equitable distribution of water, prevention of pollution, protection of coastlines, prevention of soil erosion, reinforcement and drainage of slopes to prevent landslides, reduction of construction material transport by promoting the use of local resources, optimal use of all kinds of materials (especially recycled products) in civil engineering projects, improvement and construction of roads, railways and waterways, and many other challenges.

This book also offers a historical perspective, as it bears witness to the extraordinary growth of geosynthetics in France for over fifty years now, in tandem with the growth of the remarkable French Committee on Geosynthetics (CFG). Indeed, this book is born out of the work of passionate engineers and innovators, some of whom contributed to the earliest rise of geosynthetics, in particular by participating in the development of these products, the refinement of techniques, the development of design methods and norms, the dissemination of knowledge, and the democratization of the various applications of geosynthetics. This long history allowed the authors to step back and take the long view. Thus, the information provided in this book is based on considerable experience. In fact, the last chapter is dedicated to experience drawn from the observation of the behavior of older structures incorporating geosynthetics constructed in France.

It is important to note that the authors of the different chapters in this book have engaged in diverse professional fields. At various points in their career they have been involved in all the activities that make up the geosynthetics discipline, namely: manufacturing geosynthetics, developing new geosynthetics, carrying out tests on geosynthetics and analyzing their results, conducting research on geosynthetics and their applications, perfecting and publishing design methods for applications of geosynthetics, integrating geosynthetics into the civil engineering syllabus, developing norms and quality-control methods related to geosynthetics, promoting the certification of geosynthetics, designing projects involving geosynthetics, installing and inspecting geosynthetics in the field, monitoring the behavior of projects that incorporate geosynthetics, evaluating the performance of geosynthetics in different kinds of projects, etc. The range of authors in this book illustrates a core feature of the discipline of geosynthetics: the intense cooperation between professionals with different training and competencies.

The authors of this book participate actively in international conferences on geosynthetics and are well aware of the treasures available in the international literature on geosynthetics. However, they found ample material in French publications to serve as sources of technical information and data for the preparation of this book initially published in French. As it provides an opportunity to a wide spectrum of readers to access the wealth of experience accumulated in France over decades of uses of geosynthetics, this English version of the book is an important contribution to the international literature on geosynthetics. This English version opens up the realm of French experience to the international community of geosynthetics. This Foreword cannot ignore this essential characteristic of the book and, naturally, mentions the French experience from the innovations of the era of pioneers to the modern achievements.

This book gives the reader a chance to review the essential role that France has played in developing the discipline of geosynthetics. The first impetus came from the industrial production in France, from 1967 onwards, of nonwoven fabrics, which would be known as 'geotextiles' ten years later. Thanks to their many applications, these materials quickly became indispensable in civil engineering projects. The role played by the manufacturers is essential: let us not forget that the geosynthetics discipline would not exist without geosynthetics and, therefore, without the manufacturers. French manufacturers must be credited, in particular, for the in-factory production of bituminous geomembranes from the 1970s onwards, which is unique on a global level, and for the development of innovative geosynthetics such as multilayer geotextile filters, drainage geocomposites, and geosynthetics equipped with sensors.

As a result of the initial impetus from the manufacturers, French engineers pioneered the design and implementation of a number of geosynthetic applications: unpaved roads stabilized using geotextiles (as soon as 1968), the first embankment on compressible soil reinforced by geotextile (1969), the first use of nonwoven geotextiles as in-soil filters (1970), the first use of a geotextile as a filter within a dam (1970), the first vertical wall reinforced with geotextiles (1971), the first use of a geotextile to protect a geomembrane (1971), the first use of a geomembrane in a double liner system (1971), the first double liner system using two geomembranes (1974), the first entirely geosynthetic double liner system using two geomembranes separated by a drainage geocomposite (1981), and the first use of a drainage geocomposite in a dam (1985). These French innovations inspired designers and builders around the world and contributed to geosynthetics revolutionizing civil engineering.

The success of the first applications of geosynthetics and the success of subsequent applications were only possible because of the quality of the geosynthetics used. This is again an area where France played an important role, being the arena where several novel laboratory tests were developed. For instance: shear tests using specially constructed shear boxes for testing interfaces containing geosynthetics; tests to measure the watertightness of geomembranes; tensile tests on wide specimens of geotextiles; and tests to assess the puncture resistance of geomembranes in contact with soil samples representative of the field conditions. Another example is the development in France of the certification processes for geosynthetics (to ensure their reliability), which are now an example for the international community. Several French experts have played, and continue to play, an important role in the development of European and international norms and testing standards governing the quality of geosynthetics.

The French have provided an intellectual impetus to the discipline of geosynthetics. Thus, French authors (both researchers and engineers) were pioneers in the development of design concepts and methods relating to several geosynthetic applications. These are, notably: stabilization of unpaved roads using geosynthetics, stability and anchorage of geosynthetics on slopes, criteria for geotextile filters, quantification of the resistance and deformation of geosynthetics that support loads over cavities and depressions, evaluation of leakage through geomembrane liners, and sizing of drainage layers associated with geomembrane liners. As early as in the 1970s, French engineers identified and defined the basic functions of geotextiles and formulated the concept of double liner systems using geomembranes, which are essential in protecting the environment. Similarly, the terminology of the geosynthetics discipline owes its character to France: the terms géotextile and géomembrane, first written in French and then adopted around the world, led naturally to the term "geosynthetics" as well as other "geo-" terms, and probably even inspired a certain "geomania" among other disciplines and other languages!

We would also be remiss in not highlighting that France had a considerable influence on the recognition of the discipline of geosynthetics and on organizing activities within this discipline. There is no dearth of examples: the first International Conference on Geotextiles (Paris, 1977), subsequently recognized as the first International Conference on Geosynthetics; the initiation of the first national committee dedicated to geotextiles (1978), the CFG, which was later expanded to include all geosynthetics; the French initiative (1982) of the creation of the International Geotextiles Society (IGS), which was officially founded in Paris (1983) and which then became the International Geosynthetics Society. At the time of writing, France is the only country, apart from the United States, to have organized two International Conferences on Geosynthetics (Paris 1977, Nice 2002).

It is clear...