Crossing the Forth
Scotland’s Queensferry Crossing spans the Firth of Forth, connecting Edinburgh and the Kingdom of Fife. Built at a cost of $1.89 billion in six and a half years, the 1.6 mi long cable-stayed bridge, with...
Designing Secret Cities
Before the U.S. government could develop the first atomic bombs in World War II, it first had to design and construct three “secret cities” at which that work would be completed. Created almost entirely...
Rapid Recovery
In May 2017, the California Department of Transportation had to contend with a massive landslide that closed a section of the iconic State Route 1 through central California’s scenic coastal region of...
Embracing Disruption
The benefits of strategically embracing technology research and development within architecture, engineering, or construction companies’ business models are varied. But at its core, doing so can enable...
Permanent Sensors Turn Construction Project into Long-term Research Study (part of "Room To Grow")
The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) at Cambridge University, in conjunction with Arup, has placed fibre-optic cables that will serve as permanent sensors on the underground structure...
A Different Angle (part of "West Side Extraordinary")
The unique, sloping shape of the VIA 57 West building is formed from cast-in-place concrete from the single, partial basement level up to the structure's 34th floor; braced galvanized steel framing completes...
Using Geophysics to Assess Geohazards Before Construction: Increase Your Odds for Success!
Understanding subsurface conditions is the key to any successful construction project, including new construction, excavation, and drilling. The consideration and understanding of the subsurface geology...
Helicopter-Based Geophysical Reconnaissance of Levees: A Faster, Cost-Effective Tool for Assessing Their Risk
As with much of the nation's infrastructure, people are becoming more and more aware of the condition of levee systems in the United States. The media cast a spotlight on the New Orleans levee failures...
What's Hiding Between the Boreholes?
Often, geotechnical explorations consist of a few, strategically placed boreholes and considerable interpolation and extrapolation by the geotechnical engineer. The information between boreholes in most...
Dry Dams in the Desert: Chasing Land Subsidence and Earth Fissures with Geophysics
Homogenous embankment dam flood retention structures (FRSs) were built throughout central Arizona desert basins in the mid-twentieth century to protect mostly agricultural lands and military installations...
Avoiding Impacts of Collapsed Mines on Railways: A Multidisciplinary Geophysical Detective Approach
The presence of abandoned mine workings can pose a significant risk to the use and development of surface structures above them, including railway lines. Typically, the adverse and often sudden effects...
State of the Practice for Laboratory Testing of Soft Soils: It's All in the Details
As with all material testing, soils testing has undergone dramatic advances in technology because of computer automation. In the 1970s, laboratories were filled with dial gages, proving rings, mercury...
A Good Cause for a Causeway: How Geotechnology and Project Delivery Restored a Roadway Embankment Crossing a Historically Challenging Soft Ground Site
As part of a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) design-build project, a causeway was constructed in 2017 to replace an aging bridge in the southwest metropolitan area of Minneapolis. The causeway...
Design of the Future Mexico City Airport: Attaining Resilience in Soft Ground
The Lake Texcoco region to the east of Mexico City is famed for its deep lacustrine deposits of compressible clay, which amplify ground shaking during seismic events. The area is also gradually subsiding...
Turning Imagination Into Reality (part of "The House That LEGO Built")
Embracing the Bricks (part of "The House That LEGO Built")
Sustainability and Resilience in Transportation Infrastructure Geotechnics: Integrating Advanced Technologies for Better Asset Management
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015, enumerates 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) to be achieved by the member countries...
Proactive Management of Landslide- and Rockfall-Prone Slopes: A New Program for Federal Land Management Agencies
Most people realize that the nation's transportation infrastructure is aging faster than federal, state, and local governments can manage with traditional methods. In fact, a national and international...
Paleoflood Analyses For Dam and Levee Safety Assessments: Was that Really the "500-Year Flood"?
What is paleoflood hydrology? How are paleofloods analyzed? What are common paleoflood results? What are the implications of paleoflood analyses?...
When Bridges, Roadways, and Dams Need Our Help: Innovative Techniques Can Help Save Our Nation's Critical Infrastructure
The nation's infrastructure is showing its age. The signs are obvious with structure distress, lack of functionality, and failure reported frequently over the last several decades. Specialty geotechnical...
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