Current Trends in Design and Construction of Embankment Dams
This report is concerned primarily with the embankment itself although foundation and abutment treatment are considered essential elements of the embankment. It covers a broad range of...
Guide to Investigation of Structural Failures
This guide contains a broad range of instructions and suggestions regarding structural failures. Topics include failure causes by project type, failure causes by structural type, failure...
Behavioral Factors in Selection of Technologies
Where a well-known technology is provided to a population that has long been acquainted with its use, the problems of predicting patterns of social behavior are relatively simple. The...
TVA Cuts Deep Slot in Dam, Ends Cracking Problem
In 1972, cracking in the concrete dam at TVA's Fontana project embarked TVA on a four-year program of investigation, analysis and repair. Thermal expansion in the downstream...
$70 Million for Dam Inspection
In 1972, Congress passed the National Dam Inspection Act, requiring the U.S. Corps of Engineers to inspect and inventory all dams in the United States; but few dams were inspected. Then...
Major Cause of Earthquake Damage is Ground Failure
Ground failure is one of the most destructive effects of large earthquakes. For example, about 60% of the damage during the 1964 Alaska earthquake was a consequence of ground failure....
Dam Anchored to Foundation to Withstand Floods
Federal Power Commission Order No. 315 required a safety review of Conowingo Dam and Powerhouse by an independent board of consultants. As recommended by this board, a study was made of...
Germany, Belgium and Los Angeles have Mandatory Design Review for Major Structures
The report of the engineering investigation into the causes of the collapse of the Hartford Coliseum space truss cited design deficiencies as the cause of failure. That report also says...
Geotechnical Practice for Disposal of Solid Waste Materials
The papers for this conference are grouped under the themes of four of the general sessions: 1) Geotechnical properties affecting disposal and utilization; 2) utilization in dams, embankments,...
Kamburu Dam: Diversion Conduit Designed into Spillway Saves $1,000,000
Careful coordination of dam construction operation with river stages over several seasons, and a construction sequence that called for building the spillway, in effect, from the top down,...
Polymerization of Concrete Fights Cavitation
The techniques and materials used for the repair of concrete are many and varied. The repair at Dworshak Dam utilized epoxy resins, dry pack mortar, fibrous concrete and a new technique,...
Vibroreplacement and Reinforced Earth Unite to Strengthen a Weak Foundation
Two relatively new engineering concepts in the U.S. were successfully used to solve a difficult soils problem. A highway skirting Idaho's Lake Pend Oreille was built on a...
The Field Engineer: Political and Legal Scapegoat�
The publicly-employed engineer can be in a vulnerable legal position. A case history is described in which a field engineer was indicted on criminal charges after a bridge collapse (during...
Teton Dam Failure
In June 1976, Teton Dam in Idaho failed. It was an earthfill dam 305 ft high. It failed by piping through the impermeable core of the dam. Among factors believed contributing to failure:...
Nambe Falls Dam�First Mechanically Prestressed Concrete Dam in U.S.
An unusual combination of a curved earth embankment, a concrete gravity thrust block, and concrete thin arch prestressed with embedded vertical flat jacks has created Nambe Falls Dam,...
Why Do Bridges Fail�
From the study of 143 bridge failures that occurred throughout the world from 1847 to 1975, it is found that there are nine categories of failure. The most frequent of these is failure...
The Evaluation of Dam Safety
Proceedings of the Engineering Foundation Conference on the Evaluation of Dam Safety, held in the Asilomar Conference Grounds, Pacific Grove, California, November 28 December 3, 1976....
Award-Winning ASCE Papers in Geotechnical Engineering 1950-1959
Papers, Discussions, and Closures from ASCE Proceedings and Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division
This collection of papers covers a broad range of relevant issues in geotechnical engineering. Topics include capillary phenomena in cohesive soils, final foundation treatment at Hoover...
Inflatable Dam Regulates River Level
Inflatable dams are economically feasible for maintaining a required constant water elevation on rivers and streams where flooding poses problems. Puncture resistant material, inflated...
Inverted Filter Stabilizes Soil, Stops Erosion
The inverted filter concept was invented by Karl Terzaghi to prevent dams from failing by water piping through the foundation. Laboratory and field testing have refined the necessary specifications...
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