Nantucket's Endangered Maritime Heaths
Heaths, though common in northern Europe, are of disjunct distribution and limited development on the east coast of North America. In contrast, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts supports...
Sonoma County: Success Story of California's Coastal Development
The Sea Ranch second home development, agricultural and timber land preservation, the need for better commercial fishing facilities, and recreational and visual access to the coast were...
Civil Engineering Productivity�Can It Be Boosted?
In the past 20 years, construction labor productivity has declined while private business productivity has risen. And construction's percent of U.S. GNP has dropped nearly...
Dome
Roofed with the worlds largest diameter wood dome at 530 ft., the Tacoma Dome, a multi-purpose sports and convention center has helped revitalize a blighted part of that Washington state...
Harmonizing Organizational and Personal Needs
A system is presented for result-oriented allocation of time, energy and resources between the three important forces controlling any manager's life: himself, his family and...
Managing Today's Craftsmen
Labor is better than it was in the past, and managers must adopt new techniques in the quest for productivity improvement. Management's responsibility has six parts: (1) Be...
Productivity in Civil Engineering and Construction
According to one analysis, United States construction productivity has been declining for the last ten years. The percent of construction dollar volume going to research and development...
Better Trained Construction Supers Would Boost Productivity
Everyone complains about poor productivity in construction. One way to improve it, says a recent Business Roundtable report, is to provide better training of first and second level supervisors....
Union Construction is Fighting Back
To meet the threat of open-shop construction, union labor and contractors in several cities around the nation are working together in joint labor-management committees to improve the productivity...
Rehabbing Historic Buildings
Historic buildings often require structural upgrading before the cosmetics of restoration can be applied. Two case studies are presented here. The Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle required...
Earth Reinforced Dams: First in U.S.
Earth reinforcement has in recent years been applied in the restoration and construction of dams. Earth reinforcement has been used to raise dam heights, replace traditional earth embankments...
The Performance Evaluation
Effective performance evaluations set goals for professional advancement and also bridge individual and corporate values. The four specific stages of a performance evaluation consist of:...
Pier Stabilization Eliminates Need to Reconstruct Damaged Bridge
After an ice jam near a six-span bridge restricted normal water passage, the ensueing high velocity water caused underscouring of one of the piers, leaving it ineffective as a bridge support....
Labor-Contractor Dialogue Transforms Worksite Atmosphere
In a climate of three-way communication between management, contractors and labor, the project owner saved money, increased productivity, cut down on time off the job for illness and injury...
Structural Lumber: An Overview of Research Needs
Structural performance of lumber is influenced by the processing steps from forest to final end-use and by the end-use environment. Research needs in processing include: 1) selection of...
Mechanical Fastening of Structural Wood Members?Design and Research Status
A brief overview is provided of the current mechanical fastening research base as background for a discussion of future research needs and priorities. A summary is presented of the current...
Heavy Timber Structures and Bridges
Development and application of treated glued-laminated timber is a landmark event in structural engineering history. The inertia of this event has produced continued, rapid and dramatic...
An Overview of Structural Panels and Structural Composite Products
Plywood has been the principal structural panel for construction since the late 1940s. Today, structural panels are evolving into products such as composite panels, oriented strand board,...
Reliability-Based Design for Wood Structures: Potentials and Research Needs
Wood as a renewable resource is briefly discussed to provide an understanding of the complex nature of the relationship between its availability and its efficient use for engineered construction....
Structural Wood Research
State-of-the-Art and Research Needs
Timber is an abundant and renewable natural resource and its use exceeds all other construction material. Structural wood represents a challenge of vast dimensions and attention to various...
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