General Principles for the Stability Design of Metal Structures
The Structural Stability Research Council (SSRC) Technical Memorandum No. 5 is explored; this memorandum includes the general principles that form the bases of various SSRC recommended...
GAO Finds Massive Failure of Wastewater Treatment Plants
A year-long study by the General Accounting Office of 242 wastewater treatment plants in 10 states concluded that discharge permit violations are the norm, not the exception. The failures,...
Sulfer Extended Asphalt
Since the 1973 oil embargo, the Federal Highway Administration has researched and promoted the experimental use of a new pavement binder, sulfur-extended asphalt (SEA). In SEA paving mixes,...
ASTM�Number One in Consensus Standards
The biggest of the private standards writing organizations, the American Society for Testing and Materials is profiled. Originally a writer of materials specifications, ASTM has grown...
Wicks, Fabrics and Sawdust Overcome Thick Mud
A new Dumbarton bridge is replacing the original which was built in 1927 to cross San Francisco Bay at its southern end. The bridge approaches are constructed on top of salt ponds, with...
Management Keys: Freedom to Create, Responsibility for Failure
Management policies for inventors and engineers are reviewed in this interview with Professor Dan Pletta, University Distinguished Professor of Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute...
Geotechnical Research Needs
A National Science Foundation-ASCE workshop on research needs looked at, among other subfields, geotechnical engineering. The study identified a number of research needs�based on society's...
A Probability-Based Load Criterion for Structural Design
Load factors and load combinations are explored which are compatible with the loads in the proposed 1981 revision of American National Standard A58 (Minimum Design Loads for Buildings...
Structural Plastics for the 80s
Engineers in non-civil fields have been using more and more light-weight, high-strength structural plastics and plastic composites every year, but civil engineers have barely begun to...
Swiss Bridge Design Spans Time and Distance
Having long played crucial roles in Switzerlands history, modern bridges there now lead technical innovation in design and construction. Two recently completed Swiss Bridges bridges of...
Structural Failures
A relatively few, spectacular failures of new buildings have caught the public attention. Despite the publicity, the track record of structural designers is generally outstanding. Nevertheless,...
Mix Design Formulas for Recycled Hot-Asphalt Plant Mixtures
The design of recycled asphalt paving mixtures is compounded by the amount of asphalt and its properties in the reclaimed asphalt pavement. Formulas are presented for proportioning the...
Stop the World-- I Want to Get Off!
The essays that won first and third prizes in the 1981 Essay Contest are presented. The first-prize essay, by John Huston, is entitled Stop the world�� I want to get off. It is a satire...
Limit Equilibrium, Plasticity and General Stress-Strain in Geotechnical Engineering
Papers and discussions from the workshop on limit equilibrium, plasticity, and generalized stress-strain in geotechnical engineering are presented. The papers address aspects of the problems...
Construction of Power Generation Facilities
The impact of the present construction practice, codes, standards and regulations on the construction of power generation facilities is reviewed and examined in papers presented at the...
List of Sources and Reference Material on Pipeline Design
Sources of information and reference material on pipeline design are listed. The bibliography is compiled for engineers with limited experience in the pipeline field, and the references...
Roof Design: Avoid Ponding by Sloping to Drain
Roofing contractors recommend that roofs possess enough slope to permit complete drainage within 48 hours of rainfall. Otherwise ponds will form which can cause leakage and even contribute...
West Virginia Cooling Tower Collapse Caused by Premature Form Removal
The collapse of a reinforced concrete cooling tower under construction at Willow Island, W.Va. in April 1978 resulted in 51 fatalities, making it the worst construction accident in American...
Post-Tensioned Foundations as Economical Alternative
Although post-tensioned (p-t) foundations have been utilized in the U.S. since the early 1960s, the last five years have witnessed a substantial increase in their implementation. Used...
The Concrete Canoe: A Technological Challenge
In 1970 the first concrete canoe was built, and since that time many colleges and universities have built and raced concrete canoes. The Union College (Schenectady, NY) Stone Boat Club...
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