Evaluation Findings for Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc. Friction Pendulum Bearings
Prepared by the Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center (HITEC), a CERF Service Center. This report summarizes the results of a detailed evaluation...
Historic American Covered Bridges
Covered wooden bridges are a visual testament to the American spirit. Originally designed with roof-like covers to protect the exposed wood from the effects of sun and rain, these bridges...
Compensation Grouting
To minimize ground movement while tunneling a sewer 5 m below Toronto's Spadina subway line, engineers used special instrumentation, tunneling control and grouting to limit...
Putting On Your Safety Cap
Geomembranes are an important part of landfill cap design. However not all geomembrane liners are created equal, and it's best to know what a liner is made of before specifying...
Dam Engineers Go Over the Top
In the 1980s, dam engineers with the Lower Colorado River Authority worried that the Wirtz Dam, near Austin, Texas, would fail in the event of a maximum probable flood. They looked to...
Multiplicity (Available only in the Geoenvironmental Special Issue)
When it comes to tracking groundwater contaminant plumes, single completion monitoring wells are the standard choice, but they aren't the only one. After four years of trying...
On Solid Ground (Available only in the Geoenvironmental Special Issue)
On four transportation projects in Portland, Ore., soil nails and micropiles are used as alternatives to conventional earth-retention and foundation systems. The use of soil nails and...
Seismic and Dynamic Analysis and Design Considerations for High Level Nuclear Waste Repositories
This committee report was created to fulfill two primary objectives: 1) to provide guidance for assessing and defining the dynamic loads that must be considered in the design of a repository...
Dampers Hold Sway
In the wake of earthquakes like Kobe and Northridge, structural engineers in seismic design have begun to consider a new tool - seismic dampers. There are many different kinds, though,...
A Dual Answer to Seismic Stress (Available only in the Structural Engineering Special Issue)
Are two systems better than one? When it comes to high-rise seismic design post-Northridge, the answer may be yes, based on studies conducted by CBM Engineers, Inc., Houston. The aftermath...
A Turnaround for Hangar Design
As the military's airplanes get larger and budgets get tighter, building hangars becomes more of a challenge. But by giving conventional rectangular hangar shapes a 90 degree...
Hydraulic Fracturing Advances (Available Only in Geoenvironmental Special Issue)
Removing contaminants trapped in clays and nonpermeable soils can be difficult if not impossible with traditional extraction methods. A look at four hydraulic fracturing case studies shows...
Containing Contaminants (Available Only in Geoenvironmental Special Issue)
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy are currently in favor of containing contaminants and either remediating on site or simply capping such materials within...
Artificial Neural Networks for Civil Engineers
Fundamentals and Applications
Sponsored by the Committee on Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence of the Technical Council on Computer Practices of ASCE. This report describes...
Bump At the End of the Bridge
Interface bumps between bridge abutments and embankments increase risk and add over $100 million to maintenance expenses every year. New research reveals effective ways to deal with the...
Optimal Fiber Optics
Fiber optics, which played a crucial role in reinventing the telecommunications industry, have historically been noted for their potential in other facets of science and technology. Yet,...
Putting the Wraps on Quakes
With bridges deteriorating all over the country at an alarming rate, state DOTs are searching for cost-effective retrofit solutions that will protect our aging bridge inventory from seismic...
The Evolution of Geosynthetics
Although the geosynthetics industry only began in the 1960s, it roots can be traced to the earliest humans. Soil stabilization, soil reinforcement, liquid drainage and leak proof barrier...
Tracking Seismic Hazards
Union Station in downtown Portland, Ore. is a historic landmark but also a seismic risk. Engineers were charged with making a priority list of hazards so that the owners could prioritize...
On Scour's Frontier
Combing both computer and physical model studies, engineers attempted to assess the scour of a new North Carolina bridge that will bear the brunt of the East coast's worst...
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