The Soil-Rock Boundary: What is it and Where is it?
A major issue in many areas of Civil Engineering practice is the boundary between earth materials that are defined as soil and those that are defined as rock. Designers, contractors, and...
Problems with Rock Excavation Specification in Alberta
As a result of contract overruns and claims from classification, measurement, and payment for 'solid rock' excavation, Alberta Transportation and Utilities embarked...
Where Does Rock Begin Beneath Philadelphia?
Philadelphia provides an excellent example of the engineering problems associated with the interpretation of saprolite/weathered rock/sound rock profiles. The bedrock beneath the city...
The U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM) Proposed Strength-Durability Classification System
Federal regulations for the surface mining of coal stress proper design and construction of stable waste rock disposal areas. A key to the long-term stability of these excess spoil fills...
Instrumentation for SASW Testing
The Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves (SASW) method is presented. Various test setups and corresponding data reduction procedures are discussed. Several instrumentation systems have been...
Recent Advances in Cone Penetrometer Measurements (Software and Hardware) and Its Application to Liquefaction Susceptibility
Some of the recent advances made in Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data acquisition system and real time processing of CPT data are presented. A key component of the new CPT data acquisition...
Use of Bender Elements in Soil Dynamics Experiments
Transducers employing piezoelectric bender elements have been found to be versatile sources and receivers of small-amplitude shear waves, with multiple potential applications. The constitutive...
Use of Piezoceramic Bender Elements in Soil Dynamics Testing
The use of piezoceramic bender elements is described to measure small strain, shear wave velocity distributions in soil models used in centrifuge and shake table testing. Experimental...
Mechanics Computing in 1990's and Beyond
This proceedings,
Anatomy of Asphalt
Two main factors will combine over the next several years to alter the composition of asphalt pavements, which make up more than 90% of the paved roads in the U.S. First, a major research...
Out of the Lab...and into the Field?
Materials experts know very little about concrete's basic structure. Now, though, engineers at a research center sponsored by the National Science Foundation are working on...
Every Penny's Worth
Value engineering has been used in the construction industry since the 1960s, but highway projects have sometimes been thought of as too simple for VE studies. Now, with the increasing...
Plastic Highway Bridges
For highway bridges, composites are most effective in cables and decks. Researchers have developed and tested cables and deck sections for strength and fatigue resistance. Link-type cables...
Caring for a Covered Bridge
Today the quaint Cornish-Windsor covered bridge (winner of this year's Outstanding Civil Engineering Merit Award) doesn't look much different than it did when...
Recent Advances in Seismic Design and Retrofit of California Bridges
This paper describes the damage and lessons learned from the most recent major earthquakes, the resulting bridge seismic design and detailing changes and the seismic retrofit program implemented...
Seismic Design and Performance of Railroad Bridges
Damage to railroad bridges during earthquakes in the United States and Japan is summarized. Research tasks are outlined to develop seismic design and retrofit criteria for railroad bridges....
Seismic Design for Port of Los Angeles, 2020 Program
Due to the Port of Los Angeles' (POLA) importance as a regional hub for transportation and commerce and the potential for a major seismic event in the Southern California...
Seismic Practices for the Air Transportation System: Evolution and Needs
The seismic performance of air transportation systems is reviewed. The evolution of seismic design criteria and practices for major air transportation system elements is discussed. The...
Seismic Retrofit of Highway Bridge Structures
The California Division of Structures began its column retrofit program in 1986. This program is a supplement to the earlier superstructure retrofit program. Analysis and design concepts...
Retrofitting Northwest Connector for Seismic Forces
Many pre-1971 bridges in California have inadequate seismic resistance due to non-ductile components or poor connectivity of superstructure elements. Caltrans has finished the first retrofit...
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