Cracking the Nuclear Code: Finding an Alternative to the Nuclear Density Gauge
Two of the most basic quality control tests made in the field during soil construction are the soil’s moisture content and density. The establishment of a uniform procedure to compare the performance of...
Translating the Language of Soils: Developing a Soil Classification System for International Engineering Projects
Soil classification systems are used to help predict soil behavior and provide information to farmers, engineers, builders, agricultural extension agents, homeowners, community planners, and government...
Remote Sensing: A New Revolution in Geotechnical Engineering
Remote sensing in the form of satellite imagery has become part of our everyday life—from displaying boring locations at a job site to the various mapping apps on our smart phones that help us get there....
A Faculty Internship: Reconnecting with the Profession
After spending eight years as a full-time academic administrator at Lafayette College in Easton, PA – one of only a handful of institutions where discipline-specific engineering programs are embedded in...
Soil Nailing in the 2010s: Its Evolution and Coming of Age
While the early 2000s witnessed soil nailing as a well-established method in the U.S. for providing temporary and permanent support of excavation (SOE), the technique has since continued to evolve thanks...
Stabilizing Variable and Sloping Ground: Achieving Innovation Through Adaptation
We all know the high price of land development these days, so it's more important than ever for owners and their designers to maximize available land area. Occasionally, this demand is constrained by topography...
Highway Retaining Walls are Assets: A Risk-Based Approach for Managing Them
Throughout history, retaining walls (RWs) have served a vital role in supporting civil infrastructure. The ruins of dry stone walls that purportedly supported the hills and slopes of ancient Rome can be...
Optimized Drilled Shaft Design through Post-Grouting: Shorten That Shaft for Better Performance
Tip post-grouting is a technique used to inject, under pressure, a neat cement grout beneath the base of a drilled shaft. This method enhances or improves axial load-displacement performance by increasing...
Foundation Reuse and Enhancement: A Viable Option for Bridge Widening and Replacement Projects
The transportation system in the U.S. includes over 607,000 bridges for grade separations, interchange configurations, and stream crossings. As governmental entities embark on the rehabilitation and rebuilding...
What Does the Case Law Say? Geotechnical Risk on Design-Build Projects
The growth of design-build (DB) contracting, particularly on public-sector civil projects, has generated a great deal of industry discussion over the age-old question of who should bear the risk of unforeseen...
Geotechnical Delivery on Mega Transportation Projects: Challenges of Accelerated Delivery
Transportation projects have traditionally been delivered through the design-bid-build (DBB) delivery model, which continues to be the preferred method of delivering the majority of smaller and more traditional...
Improving Cost and Schedule Performance on Municipal Pipeline Projects: Realizing the Benefits of the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Alternative Project Delivery Method
The water and wastewater infrastructure in the United States is failing. In its 2013
The Evolution of Launched Soil Nails: A 30-Year Retrospective
Launched soil nails are a unique remedial technology in the geotechnical construction toolbox. These 20-ft-long, 1.5-in.-diameter nails are installed in a single shot using a compressed air "cannon" at...
A History of Deep Vibratory Methods for Ground Improvement: A Cost-Effective Foundation Solution for 80+ Years
Deep vibratory ground improvement methods, collectively referred to as vibro systems, have been utilized by the construction community in one form or another for the past 80 years. Development of the equipment,...
Ground Improvement for Underground Construction: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Underground construction is "special" because the work may be performed at great depths and under high groundwater pressures. All too often, it seems to take place in urban areas where there is limited...
The Rise of UAVs Signals a New Era in Geotechnics: Big Data in Geotechnics is Coming from Above
If you have been following the news, browsing the internet, or even gazing up in the sky, it is likely that you have seen an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also commonly known as Unmanned Aircraft System...
Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering: What Can It Do for You?
There's been a lot of talk, and some confusion, lately about performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE). Many geotechnical engineers wonder -- what is it, how does it differ from what I've been doing,...
Post-Earthquake Reconnaissance Using Digital Imagery: A Bird's-Eye View
Over the last decade, remote sensing has played an increasing role in geotechnical earthquake reconnaissance through the use of satellite imagery, LIDAR, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). These techniques...
You Designed It for the Big One, Right? Illustrating and Communicating Uncertainty in a Deterministic Seismic Hazard Analysis
In seismic regions of the U.S. and worldwide, engineers design structures to withstand seismic ground motions resulting from a large, rare earthquake. But definitions of "large" and "rare" depend on who...
Biogeotechnical Mitigation of Earthquake-Induced Soil Liquefaction
Three biogeotechnologies currently under development show promise for cost-effective remediation of liquefaction under existing facilities....
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