Two-Day National Symposium on Geosynthetics for Highways and Railways Inaugurated at CSIR-CRRI, New Delhi

The two-day National Symposium on “Geosynthetics for Performance Enhancement and Distress Mitigation in Highways and Railways” officially commenced today at the CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) Auditorium in New Delhi. Jointly organized by CSIR-CRRI and the Geosynthetics Society (GS), Pune, the symposium convenes leading policymakers, infrastructure authorities, geotechnical specialists, and industry experts to address critical engineering solutions for national highway networks, high-speed rail lines, and strategic mountain corridors.

Inaugural Highlights

The symposium was inaugurated following the ceremonial lighting of the lamp and the national song and national anthem. Opening the session, Ms. Minimol Korulla, Vice President of Geosynthetics Society, Pune, presented an overview of the symposium’s goals, emphasizing the necessity of standardizing field practices and adopting advanced geosynthetic materials to improve durability of geotechnical structures.

In his Welcome Address, Dr. Chalumuri Ravi Sekhar, Director, CSIR-CRRI, underscored CRRI’s leadership in applied transportation research, observing:

“Geosynthetics are no longer supplementary construction alternatives; they have emerged as core design imperatives for sustainable, resilient, and high-performance transportation corridors in India’s multimodal infrastructure growth story.”

Prof. G.L. Sivakumar Babu, President of the Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) and Chairman of the CSIR-CRRI Research Council, highlighted the strategic imperative of integrating geosynthetic applications with resilient, eco-efficient engineering practices. Guest of Honour Shri Vivek Bhushan Sood, Executive Director, Railway Board, addressed Indian Railways’ modernization initiatives, considering geosynthetics as an efficient reinforcing material for infrastructure advancement.

Delivering the Chief Guest address, Shri Amarendra Kumar, Director, National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), elaborated on the deployment of geosynthetic ground engineering solutions in challenging terrains, particularly their application in the construction and stabilization of retaining structures. . The inaugural session concluded with formal felicitations and a vote of thanks proposed by Dr. K. Ravinder, Head, International Liaison and Training (ILT), CSIR-CRRI.

Key Technical Themes and Day 1 Deliberations

The technical agenda for Day 1 addressed key operational challenges and innovations across highway and railway sectors:

• Mainstreaming Reinforced Soil Walls in India – Policy, Codes, and Best Practices: A panel discussion moderated by Prof. Ashish Juneja (IIT Bombay) brought together senior experts from NHAI (Mr. L.M. Padhy), MoRTH (Mr. Bidur Kant Jha), IIT Gandhinagar (Prof. Amit Prashant), CSIR-CRRI (Dr. Kanwar Singh), and one of the leading consultants G Cube consulting engineers LLP (Ms. Dola Roychowdhury) to deliberate on diagnostic evaluations, forensic investigations, and repair methodologies for RS retaining structures.
• RS Wall Success Stories: Technical session was chaired by Dr. Ratnakar Mahajan from Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd., brought together different expert lectures delivered by Prof. B.V.S. Viswanadham (IIT Bombay), Dr. P.S. Prasad (CSIR-CRRI), Dr. Alok Bhowmick (B&S Engineering Consultants), and Ms. Atasi Das (G R Infraprojects Ltd.) showcased real-world case studies, best practices, and dos and don’ts in geogrid-reinforced walls.
• Geosynthetics for Resilient Rail Infrastructure: Chaired by Mr. Vivek Kapadia (IIT Gandhinagar), the session focused on geosynthetic design in high-speed rail systems (Prof. Amit Prashant, IIT Gandhinagar) and vibration isolation via closed-cell polymeric foams (Dr. Nasim Aktar, CRRI).

 Look Ahead: Day 2 Highlights (8 September 2026), the second day of the symposium will feature:

• Geosynthetics for Resilient Rail Infrastructure: The session will be continued in addition to the Day 1 by Mr. Vivek Kapadia (IIT Gandhinagar), case studies from industry experts Dr. Apoorva Aggarwal (Geoquest India Pvt. Ltd.), Dr. Ratnakar Mahajan (Maccaferri Environmental Solutions Pvt. Ltd.), Mr. Shailesh Garg (TechFab India Industries Ltd.), and Mr. Suraj Vedpathak (Strata Geosystems India Pvt. Ltd.).
• Sustainable Pavement Stabilization & Performance Enhancement: Technical sessions on granular and bituminous layer reinforcement, geogrid-reinforced asphalt overlays, end-of-life plastic geocells for green pavements, and subsurface drainage solutions. The session will be chaired by Shri Saurabh Vyas from TechFab.
• President of the Geosynthetics Institute (GSI) Prof. David Frost, Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology will be delivering an online lecture on “Cradle to Grave Considerations for the Resilient Performance of Geosynthetics in Transportation Infrastructure”.
• ngineering Ground Solutions Using Geosynthetics: This technical session will be chaired by Ms. Shabana Khan from Strata. This session will focus on case histories on sloped embankments, rockfall protection embankments, and ground improvement using geosynthetics, presented by researchers from IIT Bombay, IIT Jammu, LASA, and different industry practitioners.
• Ground Improvement – Challenges, Innovations & Field Applications: The panel discussion, moderated by Mr. Atanu Adhikari, Geoquest, will bring together distinguished experts from academia, research, testing, and industry, namely Dr. Anil Dixit (LRL); Dr. Prashanth Vangla (IITD); Prof. G.L Sivakumar Babu (IGS), Sandeep Sahu (SAS); Himanshu Kotak (CPhi). The panellists will share valuable insights on emerging challenges, innovative practices, and future directions in geotechnical engineering, highlighting the importance of collaboration and sustainable solutions for infrastructure development.

Followed by that different industry presentations will be a part of this symposium highlighting the critical role of different industry partners in the field of geosynthetic application.