Computerizing Public Works Design
Computers are an easy way to increase engineering design productivity. This is especially important to public works departments who have decreasing budgets and increasing work loads. This...
Baltimore Borrows Bridge Beams
A look at the construction of the Baltimore Convention Center, its four domelike exhibition halls, the main lobby and its service areas. The Center's four columnless exhibit...
Vail Pass Highway�Respecter of Mountain Ecology
Environmental constraints to a large degree controlled both the design and construction of a 14-mi segment of Interstate Highway 70 through Vail Pass in Colorado and necessitated adoption...
Parrotts Ferry Bridge: Pioneer in Lightweight, Pumped Concrete
Spanning the Stanislaus River in Northern California, this bridge includes a 640-ft center span that is the world's longest span in lightweight concrete and the longest bridge...
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...
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...
Ontario Writes New Bridge Code
In 1976, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided to write its own bridge design code, breaking away from the AASHTO code, because: (1)It wanted a metric...
Intercity Bridge: First Major U.S. Cable-Stayed Bridge
The Intercity Bridge spans the Columbia River, connecting the cities of Pasco and Kennewick, Wash. It is the longest cable-stayed, concrete bridge in the U.S. (2,403-ft) and it has been...
Transportation Engineering Research Needs
In June 1979 a workshop on Civil Engineering Research Needs was convened by the National Science Foundation and ASCE. Of 10 subfields into which civil engineering was split, one was transportation...
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...
World's First Iron Bridge
In 1779, using a new man-made material, skilled English workmen built a single-span bridge of cast iron over a steep river gorge about 140 miles northwest of London. The result was a 424-ton...
Repair and Strengthening of Old Steel Truss Bridges
During the early 1900's, numerous pin jointed steel bridge trusses were constructed throughout the United States. In the intervening years, these trusses were replaced by...
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...
Pittsburgh's Troubled Bridges: What to Do About Them�
The Pittsburgh area is troubled by old bridges that are badly deteriorated. The metropolitan area has more bridges�� 1,700�� than any other. And some 66 of them have weight limits posted....
$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....
Fatigue Cracking�Problem for Welded Steel Bridges
A recent problem with welded steel bridges is fatigue cracking at welded details. Fatigue cracks begin in small flaws or discontinuities at welded connections and grow to a critical size...
Counteracting Chloride-Induced Damage to Bridge Decks with Latex and Plastic
Salt used to control ice causes deterioration of reinforced concrete bridge decks, but recent developments, though still somewhat expensive, can prevent deterioration of existing decks....
Return to search