The IGS Peruvian Chapter (IGS-Perú) was founded in January, 2001, and one of its first initiatives was to create six Committees: Geomembranes, Geotextiles, Geo¬grids, Geocomposites, Educational, and Bulletin. The Educational Committee was directed by Germán Vivar, President and founder of the IGS-Perú. One of the first courses organized by the Educational Committee was the 1st Course on Geosynthetics for Geotechnical Engineering Pro-fessors which had participation from 17 Peruvian universities. The course was conducted over two days, May 18-19, 2002, in La Hacienda Best Western Hotel in Miraflores-Lima. It was sponsored by Maccaferri de Perú S.A.C., an Organizational Member of the Peruvian Chapter, who covered all expenses of Eng. Jaime Durán (Brazil) and 17 other invited professors (Picture 1). The objective of the course was to disseminate knowledge of geosynthetics to related disciplines.
Between November 28th and 29th, 2002, the Educational Committee developed the 1st Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Geosynthetics Overview, which was held in the “Centro de Convenciones SENCICO” (Picture 2). The course was sponsored by its Organizational Members (Maccaferri, SL, PAVCO, TDM and CIDELSA) who brought specialists from Chile (Eng. Mauricio Ossa), Colombia (Eng. Enrique Alvarez), and Perú (Engs. Augusto Alza and Néstor Sifuentes). The curriculum of this course was based on the first part of Robert M. Koerner’s book: Designing with Geosynthetics, the “Geosynthetics Overview” segment, translated (with copyright permission) into Spanish by members of the Educational Committee.
Picture 1. Former President of Peruvian Chapter, Germán Vivar and Former Treasure, Virgilio de la Piedra with participants at First Course on Geosynthetics for Geotechnical Engineering Professors in May, 2002.
The 2nd Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geotextiles, was held on May 30th and 31st, 2003, in the Auditorium of the National Engineers Society (Picture 3), and was based on the 2nd part of the Robert M. Koerner’s book: Designing with Geosynthetics, the “Geotextiles” segment, translated (with copyright permission) into Spanish by members of the Peruvian chapter. It was sponsored by Organizational Mem¬bers: AMAN¬CO, TDM and GEOTECNIA & PAVIMENTOS. This course was dictated by Eng. Néstor Sifuentes from Perú and Eng. Javier Calderón from Colombia.
Picture 2. Former President giving a present to Eng° Néstor Sifuentes, at 1st. Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Geo-synthetics Over-view, held in November 2002.
The 3rd Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geogrids and Geonets, was held on September 5th and 6th, 2003, in the Auditorium of the National Engineers Society (Picture 4), and was based on the 3th and 4th parts of the Robert M. Koerner’s book: Designing with Geosynthetics, the “Geogrids and Geonets” segments, translated (with copyright permission) into Spanish by several members of the Peruvian chapter. It was sponsored by Organizational Members: TDM, Maccaferri, CIDELSA and GEOTECNIA & PAVIMENTOS. This course was dictated by Eng. Augusto Alza from Perú, Eng. Enrique Alvarez from México, Eng. Rodrigo Valencia from Colombia, Pablo Porri from Argentina, and Eng. Alexandre Texeira from Brasil.
Picture 3. Eng° Néstor Sifuentes’s presentation at 2nd Specializa-tion Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geotextiles in May, 2003.
The 4th Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geomembranes, was held on December 5th and 6th, 2003, in the Auditorium of the National Engineers Society (Picture 5), and was based on the 5th part of the Robert M. Koerner’s book: Designing with Geosynthetics, the “Geomembrane” segment, translated (with copyright permission) into Spanish by several members of Peruvian chapter. It was sponsored by Organizational Members: TDM, CIDELSA, AMAN¬CO, SL, and GEOTECNIA & PAVIMENTOS. This course was dictated by Eng. Fred Rohe from the USA, Engs. Fernando Castillo and Mauricio Ossa from Chile, Eng. Scott Elfen from the USA, and Eng. Sean Currie from Perú.
Picture 4. Participants at 3rd Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geogrids and Geonets, in September, 2003.
Picture 5. Eng° Sean Currie showing a practical case of geomembranes weld in 4th Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with Geomembranes, in December, 2,003.
The 5th Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with GCL, Geopipes, and Geocomposites, was held on April 2nd and 3rd, 2004, in the Auditorium of the National Engineers Society (Picture 6), and was based on the 6th to 8th parts of the Robert M. Koerner’s book: Designing with Geosynthetics, the “GCL, Geo¬pipes, and Geocomposites” segments, translated (with copyright permission) into Spanish by several members of Peruvian chapter. It was sponsored by Organizational Members: TDM, and GEOTECNIA & PAVIMENTOS, and by CETCO, EMIN, and DS. This course was dictated by Eng. Fernando Castillo from Chile, Eng. Alexandre Texeira from Brasil, Engs. Gerardo Freiberg and Néstor Sifuentes from Perú, and Eng. Ignacio Pérez from the USA.
Picture 6. Participants at 5th Specialization Course on Geosynthetics: Designing with GCL, Geopipes, and Geocomposites, in April, 2004.
Upon conclusion of these Specialization Courses, the Peru¬vian chapter completed the translation into Spanish of Robert Koerner’s text book: Designing with Geosynthetics, 4th edition. The translated book is now being used by students in Geosynthetics courses at the Catholic University and National Uni¬versity of Engineering in Peru.
Reported by
Germán Vivar, IGS Council Member
