Stop the World-- I Want to Get Off!
The essays that won first and third prizes in the 1981 Essay Contest are presented. The first-prize essay, by John Huston, is entitled Stop the world�� I want to get off. It is a satire...
Roof Design: Avoid Ponding by Sloping to Drain
Roofing contractors recommend that roofs possess enough slope to permit complete drainage within 48 hours of rainfall. Otherwise ponds will form which can cause leakage and even contribute...
West Virginia Cooling Tower Collapse Caused by Premature Form Removal
The collapse of a reinforced concrete cooling tower under construction at Willow Island, W.Va. in April 1978 resulted in 51 fatalities, making it the worst construction accident in American...
Hartford Coliseum Roof Collapse: Structural Collapse Sequence and Lessons Learned
As with all structural failures, the collapse of the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum roof has raised many questions about design and analysis procedures. The profession should learn from...
The New Energy Boom: Hydropower
Based on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers estimate, there are 49,500 dams in the U.S. that could produce around 9,000 MW of power. The government has been subsidizing demonstration projects...
Research Needs in Hydraulics, Coastal Engineering and Irrigation
Last June an ASCE/NSF team gathered at Warrenton, Va., to prioritize research needs in civil engineering. They split the field into 10 subcategories, one of which is Hydraulics, Coastal...
Basics in Failure Analysis of Large Structures
Failure analysis procedures can usually determine the most probalbe cause of a structural failure. Then it is possible to determine why the initial design, materials selection, and fabrication...
TVA's Pumped Storage Plant
TVA's Raccoon Mountain Plant is one of the U.S.'s largest with generating capacity of 1530 MW for 20 hours. The project, nominated for a 1980 OCEA, consists of...
Don't Always Put Dam in Narrowest Part of Valley
Hydraulic factors must be taken into account in dam planning and design, because the best structural design is not always the most economical. When the potential for downstream flood damage...
Part Two: Basics in Failure Analysis of Large Structures
Part two of a article, with part one appearing in May, 1980. Part two begins with microscopic examination which includes the use of scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Covers...
Value Engineering and Cement-Bentonite Cutoff Wall Save Dam Project for Arizona Indian Tribe
Value engineering showed how it was possible to save $1 million in construction costs for the San Carlos River Dam, east of Phoenix, Ariz. The proposed dam site was moved to take advantage...
Reducing Failures During Earthquakes
There are common building design and structural errors that result in unnecessary building failures during earthquakes. The failures are the result of design errors, changes and economies...
Inspecting Dam Construction
Through and competent inspection during construction is crucial to assure dam safty. Inspection for dam construction is more important than for other types of structures because plans...
Tarbela Dam�Problems Solved by Novel Concretes
While constructing the world's largest embankment dam, Tarbela in Pakistan, the designers and contractors faced unprecedented flow volumes and velocities, causing severe cavitation...
Seepage Cutoff Wall Installed Through Dam is Construction First
A new construction technique has been developed which provides a permanent solution to the foundation problems at Wolf Creek Dam. Muddy flows and sinkholes discovered in 1968 led to a...
Highway Embankment Doubles as Dam
By slightly modifying the design of a highway and its drainage, Pennsylvania engineers were able to reclaim about 100 acres of former swampland for residential use. Without extra cost...
Modern Engineering Saves Troubled Dam
A badly deteriorated and potentially unsafe dam has been recycled. The 135-ft-high, 300-ft-long LaPrele Dam is a concrete slab-and-buttress structure. Its sloping face slab has leaked...
Has Metrication Run Out of Gas�
The U.S. is the only major country not to have adopted the International System of Units (SI) as its official measurement system, but the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 established official...
Winter Roof Collapses: Bad Luck or Bad Design�
An overview of the collapses in 1978 and 1979 in Chicago and in the Northeast shows that, in most instances, the design codes are adequate. Designers, however, have not paid sufficient...
Current Geotechnical Practice in Mine Waste Disposal
Papers Collected by the Committee on Embankment Dams and Slopes of the Geotechnical Engineering Division
The purpose of this volume is to define the current state of geotechnical practice in various aspects of mine waste disposal, an area of increasing interest to the geotechnical engineering...
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