Your Numerical Model Begins at the Site Investigation — Phase Improving the Suitability of Numerical Geotechnical Modeling
The success of an advanced geotechnical numerical analysis depends foremost on a thorough geologic and geotechnical understanding of the site, and thus the geometric definition and adequacy of input parameters...

When AI Meets DIGGS — The Birth of a New Site Characterization Paradigm?
Drilling and sampling to obtain borehole logs, together with various in-situ testing, are usually performed to determine subsurface soil and rock profiles and their associated engineering properties. However,...

Bring Your A-GaME! and Dominate the Field [Investigation] — As Newer Technologies Mature and Are Adopted More Widely — It’s A Whole New Ball Game Out There
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in collaboration with industry partners, is helping state DOTs take their existing geotechnical site characterization programs to the next level. Technologies...

Practical Aspects Of Routine Geotechnical Site Investigations — They Should Be Anything But Boring!
It’s likely that on any given day there are hundreds of geotechnical site investigations in progress in North America alone. While many of these investigations are carried out in support of large projects,...

Pay Now, Or Pay Later — Using A Risk-Informed Mindset for Site Investigation Decisions
How much subsurface investigation is adequate to aid in the planning and design of a construction project? It’s a question every geo-professional must grapple with, particularly in an era where cost efficiency...

Bob Koerner – A Retrospective of a Giant in Geosynthetics: Perspectives from Those Who Knew Him
This article is a compilation of thoughts about Koerner from five people who knew him in different ways. Each provides one or more unique remembrances that may not be well known about this giant of our...

Powering Your Electric Vehicle: Affordability Starts with Properly Engineered Geomembrane Liner Systems
Lithium is a vital battery component, and lithium-ion batteries are especially interesting because in addition to being rechargeable, they present a high-energy density and low self-discharge, which means...

Moving Down the Road of Progress: Geosynthetics Subdue Failures on Expansive Clays and Frost-susceptible Soils
Using geosynthetics in roadway projects has provided sustainable alternatives for reconstruction and maintenance and now represents a significant portion of the total geosynthetics market. Geosynthetics...

What’ll They Think of Next? Dewatering Contaminated Slurries Using Geotextile Tubes
Sediment must be dredged from the bottom of waterbodies to maintain their capacity and navigability. Dredging, by its nature, involves the removal of highwater-content slurries and also helps preserve...

Sediment Pollution: Solving "Rill" Problems Using RECPs
Sediment pollution causes an estimated $16 billion in environmental damage annually. Sediment is the most common pollutant in rivers, streams, lakes, and reservoirs, causing such negative effects as temperature...

Revolutionizing Containment Applications: Geosynthetics are Amazingly Good, But Not Magical
Geotextiles and geomembranes have been around for more than 40 years and geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) for more than 25 years. During that time, they have revolutionized the containment of fluids. Their...

Subsurface Utility Engineering and Megaprojects: Avoiding Underground Conflicts Helps Speed Project Delivery
Experienced project owners realize that utility conflicts can be risky and pose unexpected impacts on the cost and delivery of projects, especially in urban settings. To help overcome these impacts, Subsurface...

Megaproject Monitoring by Satellite — InSAR-based Settlement-time History: Measuring Hundreds of Thousands of Points, Several Times a Month, Across an Entire City
Satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar, or InSAR, has gained unequivocal importance as a routine and precise monitoring method for large and small areas alike. Historical datasets allow...

Trenchless Goes Hybrid: Old Tricks Are Finding New Applications
The International Society for Trenchless Technology defines trenchless technology as "Underground construction methods of utility installation, rehabilitation, inspection, location and leak detection,...

Building on Hudson Yards In Section: Megaproject Geotechnics: Can a Megaproject Be Big Enough to Change a Building Code?
As a young geotechnical consulting engineer working in New York City, I was always curious as to why the city’s building code prescribed a maximum allowable rock-socket skin-friction value of 200 psi for...

The Best Laid Plans: Capitol Crossing Restores L’Enfant’s Vision of "Federal City"
In 1791, President Washington appointed French engineer Pierre Charles L’Enfant to plan Federal City — today’s District of Columbia. L’Enfant’s methodical design called for the center of the city to be...

The investigations: The World Trade Center towers
On Aug. 21, 2002, the National Institute of Standards and Technology announced it would conduct a building and fire safety investigation of the World Trade Center disaster. This investigation was conducted...

The investigations: The Pentagon
On the day that terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, ASCE and its Structural Engineering Institute established a group of volunteers, known as the building performance study, or...

The impact: A World Changed
On Sept. 11, 2001, the world changed and with it so did the civil engineering profession. Over the two decades that followed, engineers and designers have worked to redesign, rebuild, and remember what...

From the Ashes: One World Trade Center

 

 

 

 

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