Small Utility GIS
Geographic information systems are revolutionizing much of the civil engineering field, providing engineers and managers with a new tool to relate databases and maps. But despite the benefits...

Measured to the Max
Engineers looking to model the behavior of a structure under seismic conditions often ignore the best source of data available: the building itself. Full-scale measurements of vibrations...

Instrumenting the `Y'
Segmental bridges are still relatively new to the U.S. and questions persist about their design and behavior. To expand the knowledge base, a number of laboratory and field studies have...

The Great Chicago Flood of 1992
In April of 1992, a breach in a freight tunnel caused the river that flows through Chicago to pour into city building basements, causing the city to shut down. Critical utility systems...

Perils of Point Loma
Rupture of the Point Loma sewage outfall in San Diego on Feb. 2, 1992, sent 180 mgd of primary-treated sewage coursing into shallow waters off the city's coastline. The article...

Managing for Profit
Clients hire firms today for their ability to manage, not just design and draw. Project managers must address owner requirements for cost, quality and schedule. The three are inseparable....

Tunnel Takes Cathodic Protection
Cathodic protection is nothing new for bridges and parking garages, but it has never been installed in a tunnel�until now. As part of a $15 million rehabilitation project, the method is...

Earthquakes: A New Look at Cracked Masonry
Economics, fears of liability, and a strict damaged-buildings repairs ordinance have contributed to an extensive delay in the repair of masonry-infill buildings in earthquake-stricken...

Tensile Terminal
Few can miss a fabric roof that covers a 1.45 million sq ft area. The one covering the Denver International Airport's Landside Terminal complex (reportedly the nation's...

Seismic Assessment of Tailings Dams
A significant portion of the operating and closed large dams in North America are tailings dams used to impound wastes from mining operations. Often these dams were built by mine personnel...

Tying Back a Landslide
A slope covered with landslide debris is never the most desirable site on which to build, but sometimes it is the only one available. For the Forks of Butte hydroelectric power project,...

The Caisson Solution
Detroit is expanding its wastewater treatment plant to drastically reduce combined sewer overflows. The expansion, however, is being done on an extremely congested 4 acre tract of land...

Manholes and Microtunneling
Contractors are for the Oakwood Beach Interceptor Sewer Project, on Staten Island, N.Y., were having difficulty. Glacial tills and a high water table made working 90 ft below the ground...

Norway's Olympic Cavern
A mountainous task had been undertaken by Norwegian firms in constructing the world's largest in-mountain colosseum for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Norway. The Norwegian...

Put to the Test
In the construction industry, the concept of life-cycle cost applies not only to the infrastructure itself, but to the materials that go in to building that infrastructure. To improve...

In Too Deep
Urban excavation is fraught with risks and potential liability for engineers and contractors. Environmental issues (such as Superfund regulations and environmental impact statements),...

Landfill-Cover Conflict
Last July, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD), in Cincinnati held a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) workshop to discuss the latest technology and regulations for...

Settling Down Easy
In order to more fully participate in the international and Asian Pacific aviation network, it was decided to establish a highly efficient 24-hour a day operation at the New Kansai International...

Mining for Building Expansion
Engineers adapted mining techniques to tunnel under a vibration sensitive manufacturing operation to create new working space below. IBM workers needed more working space at their Vermont...

Underground Research: Here and There
Geotechnical research in Europe, Japan and the U.S. were compared in a study funded by the National Science Foundation. Visits to research facilities and several surveys resulted in two...

 

 

 

 

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