Opportunity Knocks from Behind Bars
As more and more lawbreakers are put behind bars, more and more prisons are needed, so the opportunities for civil engineers are expanding. Three major types of construction are being...
Micro-CAD Systems: A Dream Come True
Computer-aided design and drafting systems that run on inexpensive microcomputers are examined. Several major systems (products) are covered via the users point of view. Many small civil...
Hydraulic Fill Dam Made Earthquake Resistant
San Pablo Dam, near the San Andreas fault, constructed in 1919-21 by hydraulic fill methods, was found to be susceptible in places to liquefaction under seismic loading. The dam has been...
Coping with Litigation
Engineers should learn legal philosophy, even though it seems unrelated to traditional technical practice. Monitoring changes in legal theory that may increase engineers'...
Floating Bridge for 100 Year Storm
In 1979 the west half of the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, built in 1960, in Seattle broke up and sank during a storm that lasted eight hours with winds of 80 mph and gusts over 100 mph....
Building in Space
Work on the nation's first permanently manned space station has begun. Almost $200 million in contracts for conceptual design for the station were awarded by the National...
Get Involved with Cladding Design
Structural engineers should get involved with cladding design for their buildings. Including disclaimers for responsibility in the design contract will not prevent trouble or lawsuits,...
The Tunnel That Transformed Philadelphia
The 1985 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement is the Center City Commuter Rail Connection, a 1.7 mile tunnel connecting two former stub-end railroad stations in Philadelphia. The...
A Space Age Test Center
The Air Force's Aeropropulsion System Test Facility (ASTF) is the most expensive project the Air Force has ever built. Its massive heaters, coolers and compressors will treat...
Helms Pumped Storage Project
The powerhouse at California's Helms Pumped Storage Project is 1,200 ft below the surface of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Linking existing reservoirs, the project provides...
Tapping Deep Water Resources
Lena is the first commercial guyed tower. Its jacket is the longest ever fabricated, loaded out and launched in one piece. Lena stands in 1,000 ft deep water and has a three-level oil...
LAX Engineers Beat the Clock
Foreign and domestic crowds flying in for the Olympics were no problem for the Los Angeles Airport (LAX), thanks to the expansion and improvements completed a month earlier. LAX more than...
Project Mixes Oil and Water
The Prudhoe Bay Seawater Treatment Plant was nominated for an OCEA award, for its potential to coax from Alaska's north slope 1 billion barrels of oil which otherwise would...
Bath County Pumped Storage
The Bath County Hydroelectric Pumped Storage Project provides 2,100 Mw of peak power to Virginia Electric & Power Co. and Allegheny Power Co. Called a bargain at $1.6 billion,...
Shrimp Farm Made Feasible
Engineers on a limited budget developed a facility on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, where Mexican blue shrimp are being raised commercially. A series of U shaped sections were laid parallel...
Record Bridge Replacement
Jacks Run Bridge had to be rebuilt in one year instead of the usual two to three. So the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spearheaded the quickest replacement of a major bridge...
Master Plan for Irvine
Irvine, Calif. started 24 years ago with 68,000 acres and a master plan that emphasized controlled development and a mix of public and private enterprise. More than 25,000 acres have been...
Bridging Twin Ports
The Major Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge, part of U. S. Highway 2, connects harbors at Duluth, Minn. and Superior, Wisc. The new highway link was designed to relieve congestion on nearby...
Who Should Design Bridges?
For many years Design-Build-Proposals have been common practice in Europe (except in the UK). Structures in these countries are 20% more economical than similar projects in the U. S.,...
Engineering Education: An Update
ASCE held an engineering education conference in April, 1985, entitled, Educators and Practitioners�Where Are We Going? Participants agreed that a greater interchange is beneficial between...
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