Dispute Resolution
No matter how responsible the consulting engineer, certain disputes will arise that are simply unavoidable. The consulting engineer interacts with a number of parties, including owners,...
Doing Our Work Better
An important skill a new engineer must learn is how to figure out the real issues affecting a project. This skill requires the ability to screen many ideas. Engineers have got this skill...
Managing Problems Associated with Using Computer Programs
Everyone says they want to use computers. Yet, there are still some people who avoid using computers whenever they can. Also, some managers still resist using the latest computer technology....
Managing Managers
Early in their careers engineers usually begin to manage small groups of people. To learn the necessary skills of management young engineers often imitate their supervisors. This approach...
Managing Work
Managers often ask engineers to do more work without providing more resources to support the requests. In response, engineers typically counter that they need more resources (time, money,...
Technician or Manager
After working awhile many engineers want to go back to school, or learn new skills. There are two reasons for this. One is that we perceive training as the key to advancement. Another...
Improving Stone Placement Specifications
Thorough preparation of stone placement specifications can go a long way toward keeping projects on track. But developing well-prepared placement specifications is not easy. It requires...
The Assessment of Armourstone for Shoreline Protection
To protect shorelines from erosion, Ontario Hydro is using armourstone at various Generating Stations along the perimeter of the Great Lakes. Armourstone is carefully evaluated prior to...
Quarry Techniques for Dimensional Breakwater Stone
On the Texas Gulf Coast, there has evolved a unique design for breakwater and jetty structures. The Galveston District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the designer of these structures,...
Quarry Inspection: A Geological Perspective
The need to use durable rock in building projects is becoming more critical as the costs of labor and materials rise. The Steering Committee of the 1991 Quarried Rock For Rubble Mound...
Design of Miel II?A High RCC Dam
Miel II Dam is a 141 m high RCC structure designed for the tropical mountains of central Columbia. Interesting features are its height (considerably higher than any existing RCC Dam),...
The Design and Construction of Shuikou Project RCC Diversion Wall
Shuikou Hydroelectric Project, currently under construction on the Minjiang River in the People's Republic of China is a concrete gravity dam having a maximum height of 101...
Lessons Learned from Elk Creek Dam
This is the third of a series of papers published on the design and construction of Elk Creek Dam. The first paper discussed design and construction concepts to provide water tightness...
RCC Dam Construction?A Contractor's View
A contractor's view of RCC dam construction is presented. It begins with the principal construction elements and the challenge created by their interrelationships. Men and...
RCC Test Specimen Preparation?Developments Toward a Standard Method
As there is no widely recognized standard for the preparation of laboratory test specimens for roller compacted concrete (RCC) mixtures, criteria for developing such a standard are listed....
Rehabilitating Small Earth Embankments with RCC
The rehabilitation of existing earth dams using roller compacted concrete (RCC) is gaining wider acceptance in the engineering and construction community. Presented herein is a discussion...
Principles of Holistic Medicine Applied to Infrastructure Maintenance: A Test Case
A humorous consideration of the question of whether holistic medicine�that is, the treatment of the entire physical and emotional configuration of the patient instead of the solely medical...
Designing Reinforced Rock
The reinforced rock arch design method has been used to stabilize coal mine excavations for 40 years, but so far has been applied to only a few tunnels. The use of rock reinforcement develops...
The Heartbeat of the Artery
One of the most ambitious infrastructure megaprojects in recent memory, Boston's $5 billion Central Artery runs the gamut of civil engineering disciplines. Design, highway,...
Staffing Up for a Major Program
A nine-member construction management section must pilot a $335 million, multi-project capital improvement program over the next five years. Should construction management duties automatically...
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