Preserving the Past: Recovering the Destroyed Buddha Statues and Niches in Bamiyan Afghanistan
For millennia, civilizations have built monuments to honor their gods, leaders, or founding principles, and with time those monuments that still exist have become revered treasures. Take, for example,...
Risky Business: Identifying an Acceptable Rockfall Standard
For many parts of the U.S. highway system, cut slopes in rock are as common as bridges and embankments. These cut slopes, as well as some natural ones, produce rockfalls that pose risks to highway conditions...
Stabilizing the Cliffs of Alcatraz Island: It My Be "The Rock," but it Still Needs Attention!
California's Alcatraz Island was described by some early explorers as an unusually lush rock sticking out of the sea. The rock on the island consists of shale and sandstone members of the late Mesozoic-aged...
Rock Glue Gets the Job Done: Reducing Rockfall Hazards along the G.W. Parkway
After a large rockfall damaged the road and disrupted traffic along the George Washington Memorial Parkway in 2002, the National Park Service was looking for solutions to stabilize the slope against additional...
Photogrammetry for Rock Engineering: A Snapshot of State-of-the-Art Rock Mapping
Generally speaking, photogrammetry is the science of turning photographs into 3D models. While flashy advertisements may convey the idea that it's as simple as pushing a button (e.g., on a drone remote)...
Borehole Geophysics: Tools to Characterize Rock Properties
Effective design and construction in rock requires characterization of the engineering properties of the rock mass, as well as any associated geological features such as joints, faults, and bedding planes....
Low-Gravity Experiments: Shear Testing Takes a Nose Dive
A major challenge to making celestial soil mechanics viable is to re-engineer the profession's toolkit to provide geotechnical solutions without the luxury of ex-situ and in-situ testing as we know them...
A Sunken Submarine Full of Mercury: Safe, Controlled Construction of a Counter Fill for Seabed Slope Stabilization at about 155 to 177 Meters
On December 5, 1944, with World War II still raging and peace in Europe still six months away, the German submarine U-864 set out on her maiden voyage on a secret mission to deliver strategic war supplies...
Eyes in the Heavens: Satellite Technologies in Remote Site Monitoring
Installation and maintenance of instrumentation to monitor geotechnical projects in remote locales is usually more challenging than sites in urban areas for both technical and logistical reasons. In most...
Difficult-Access Rockfall Mitigation: Design and Construction Way Up High!
Rockfall mitigation projects frequently require work at elevated positions. This is not something that comes naturally for many engineers and geologists. Palms sweat, knees knock, and voices may start...
Remote Mapping in Alaska's Wilderness: Accessing Resources in the Last Frontier
The rich, natural resources of Alaska have long been the focus of many pioneers seeking fortune in the Last Frontier. As captured in historical images of dedicated Klondike Gold Rush miners seeking their...
What's New in Geo? The Future of Numerical Geo-Modeling: Is 3D Here to Stay?!
Application of soil mechanics in engineering practice has undergone remarkable changes over the past 50 years as a result of developments in computer technology. Each improvement in computing capability,...
Fire in the Hole: Emergency Repairs to the Robinson Creek Tunnel
On the eve of April 26, 2014, an arsonist set fire to the CSX Transportation (CSXT) Robinson Creek tunnel. The tunnel is located about 120 mi. southeast of Lexington, near Pikeville, KY. The 742-ft-long...
When Old Meets New: Railway Geotechnics and Remote Sensing
Railroad track, like any other built structure, relies on a foundation of geomaterials for support. In its most basal form, the railway track is quite simple: steel load-bearing members (rails) supported...
Railroad Tunnel Clearance Improvement and Linear Replacement: What Happens with Unexpected Ground Conditions during Tunnel Construction?
To increase the capacity and efficiency of transporting waste by rail to an existing landfill, Enviro Solutions Inc., the landfill owner, and CSX Transportation (CSXT), the rail line owner, sought the...
Railway Geotechnical Asset Management in Great Britain: How Modern-Day Techniques Help Monitor Railway Infrastructure Dating to the 1800s
This article discusses asset management, risk management, and earthworks failures as experienced by Network Rail (NR), the owner, operator, and asset manager of the majority of the rail network of Great...
What Does the Crystal Ball Say? Energy and Water Issues Are Too Great to Ignore!
Over the past 15 years, the Geoprofessional Business Association's (GBA) Emerging Issues and Trends Committee has held a series of Crystal Ball Workshops (Workshops) to identify long-term emerging issues...
All About ISSMGE: An Interview with Leaders of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
This article summarizes key discussions from an interview of a select group of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) leaders, conducted by a small group of students...
The Wait Is Over…DIGGS Is Here!
The roll-out of Data Interchange for Geotechnical and GeoEnvironmental Specialists (DIGGS) has started, and the Ohio DOT (ODOT) has already announced that it will be required beginning January 2018. This...
Restoring Steinbeck's Carmel River: The Removal of San Clemente Dam
If you've read John Steinbeck's 1945 classic "Cannery Row," then you're already familiar with the Carmel River, which he described as "…a lovely little river. It isn't very long, but in its course it has...
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