Detecting the Defects
According to estimates, for every dollar spent on preventive maintenance of the infrastructure, $10 will be saved by avoiding emergency repairs after major structural failures. Technologies...
Preventive Maintenance: Fixing What Ain't Broke
Municipalities are often caught in the cycle of built-neglect-rebuild. For bridges, the solution is preventive maintenance: keep the bridges clean and painted, and they'll...
Parking Garage Crisis
Corrosion in reinforced concrete parking garages is reaching crisis proportions. The rehabilitation market for these structures is estimated to be as much as $750 million a year, or 30%...
Guidelines for Failure Investigation
The
Fast Track, Instant Track
There is a newly constructed railroad bridge over the Wilamette River in Portland, Oregon. The 499 ft. clear maritime channel allows the world's largest ships to navigate...
Box Segmentals: Refining Design
Officials at the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), which has built more precast concrete segmental box girder bridges than any other state, say their troubles with that design...
Cautious Risk Taking
Traditionally, the design engineer could bear virtually unlimited liability for design failure. Now he is less vulnerable. The concept is less than 20 years old, but since the early 70s,...
Grouting Trends
The grouting industry is discussed and North American practice compared to European practice. There has been more innovation in this field overseas, but there have also been failures....
High-Strength Concrete: Weighing the Benefits
Russell, Gebler and Whiting describe the properties of high-strength concretes, the current state of knowledge on freeze/thaw effects, and procedures for batching, mixing, transporting,...
Effect of Planning Errors on Construction Safety
A discussion of the planning phase of the building process associated with all the activities that are accomplished during this phase is presented. The different types of errors that occur...
The Great Quake: On Site Reports
Written within two weeks of the Oct. 17, 1989 California earthquake, these comments cannot be considered definitive. But they do stress two points: 1) Earthquake codes do work. Buildings...
Classic Wood Structures
Wood has been used in a wide range of structural applications. When properly maintained, these structures can have a useful life from 50 years to several centuries. Thirty-seven unusual...
Reliable Operation of Hydro-Thermal Power Systems
The demonstrated model allows planners to account for both operating and shortage costs, subject to a constraint on the system failure rate. In addition, the optimal long-term operation...
Dam Safety Emergency Action Plans?A TVA-State Responsibility
The Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety requires each dam owner to prepare and maintain emergency action plans (EAP) for each of structure. These plans are necessary (1) to identify problems...
Milltown Powerhouse Rehabilitation
The Milltown Powerhouse and dam are over 80 years old. The powerhouse and other structures were built in 1906 and are owned by the Montana Power Company. The plant is located on the Clark...
Major Hydraulic Turbine Operation and Maintenance Problems Experienced by the Corps of Engineers
The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is the largest owner/operator of hydroelectric power generating facilities in the United States with 344 generating units, having an installed capacity...
Synopsis of Harry S. Truman Turbine Repair
The Harry S. Truman Powerplant was designed and constructed under the supervision of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and is located on the Osage River near Warsaw, Missouri. During 1981...
Influence of Surface Finish on Thrust Bearing Life
The original pivoted pad thrust bearing installed and fitted at the Holtwood Power Station in 1912 by A. Kingsbury has been operating continuously since that time without any difficulty....
Accelerated Life Testing of Generator Coils
This paper presents a step-by-step procedure for doing a 400 hour, 60 Hz, 90 degree C accelerated life test on generator coils. Test procedure is as follows: 1. Initial coil examination...
Fretting Corrosion on Large Split Thrust Bearing Runners
In the early fifties interfacial slip was measured on laboratory models. Design improvements, resulting from these tests, were incorporated into later machines. These improvements appreciably...
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