Sand to Sandstone: Foundation Strengthening with Chemical Grout
A large school in San Francisco, built in 1930, was in need of structural rehabilitation to eliminate earthquake hazards. Founded on loose, windblown fine sand, the footings were subject...
Steel Plate Shear Walls Resist Lateral Load, Cut Costs
Two new buildings have a seldom-used stiffening system�� steel plate shear walls. Reasons for using them, rather than reinforced concrete shear walls or steel or concrete rigid frames,...
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...
Top-to-Bottom Construction in High-Rise Buildings
This top-to-bottom construction method, called jackblock is a cousin of lift-slab. The main components are the jack and concrete block, hence the name. The top story of a building is constructed...
Design and Construction of Long-Span Metal Culverts
Long-span metal culverts are built of corrugated-metal plates bolted together. They have spans exceeding 15 ft. Principal applications include use as drainage structures, grade separations,...
Concrete Microwave Tower is Award Winner
A microwave tower in Florida was built of cast-in-place concrete instead of steel, because: (1)Concrete was considered more esthetic than steel; and (2)concrete was more resistant than...
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...
Largest Inverted Shell Houses Two Theaters
A meeting center in Albany, New York, has such a complex shape that it took months just to design its surface mathematically. Perched on a pedestal, it is nearly elliptical in plan. From...
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...
Fighting Fire With Concrete
Fire departments have been required to handle an increasing number of fires in multi-story buildings. A fire department in a rapidly developing suburb of Indianapolis, Ind., undertook...
Regulations: More is Less
Federal regulations have mushroomed since 1969. Agencies to write and enforce regulations have grown as well. Now, say engineers in industry, it is increasingly not economically feasible...
Testing Concrete in Place
Although modern concrete construction has developed during the past 60 years, one aspect has remained essentially unchanged�the use of molded cylinders tested in compression to estimate...
Jacked Pipe Provides Roof for Underground Construction in Busy Urban Area
Construction of a major underground station for the metro in Antwerp, Belgium was done in a busy downtown area employing a method that virtually eliminated ground subsidence. The method...
Redesigning the Auto: A Key to Solving the U.S. Energy
The automobile is a tremendous consumer of energy. The entire transport sector uses 26% of the energy used in the U.S.�� and half the oil. In fact, the American auto alone consumes one-ninth...
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...
Structural Design of Tall Concrete and Masonry Buildings
This is the first of the ASCE five-volume series on Tall Buildings. Though the tallest skysrapers are of steel, the majority are of concrete?? nearly 65 percent. The selection, analysis...
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...
Epoxies � Miracle Materials Don't Always Give Miracle Results
In civil engineering applications, in the past 15 years epoxies have become widely used and have given excellent performance in floor surfacing, corrosion protection, repair of cracked...
Highway Widening Proceeds Behind Concrete Median Barrier
Precast concrete median barrier curb is being used temporarily to protect both workmen and traffic through the 3.1-mile long construction zone of a widening project along the Garden State...
Full-Depth, Full-Width Design, and Prestressed Concrete Pave the Way for Arizona's Highways
In an attempt to resolve design problems of Arizona's non-reinforced portland cement concrete pavements, a series of test installations are being made involving a comparison...
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