Computer Aided Design of Reinforced Concrete
An interactive computer-aided design (CAD) program for the design of reinforced concrete members is herein described. The program, called ECPRS, designs reinforcement and performs all...
Retaining Walls: Competition or Anarchy?
Until the last 10 years, when a retaining wall was needed a cast-in-place concrete gravity or cantilever wall was used. Then along came Reinforced Earth, and this proprietary system began...
Lightweight Fill Helps Albany Port Expand
Lightweight aggregate was used as a soil fill in the reclamation of a marine terminal at the Port of Albany, New York in order to stabilize the dockside area. Gravel-filled steel sheet...
Restoration
After the San Fernando earthquake of 1971, California's State Capitol Building was declared an earthquake hazard and vacated. It took the most extensive structural and architectural...
In Search of Ancient Engineers
Many examples of pre-Columbian civil works have been uncovered in North and South America. Some reflect well-organized technologies comparable to those of the Old World of the same time...
Rehabbing Historic Buildings
Historic buildings often require structural upgrading before the cosmetics of restoration can be applied. Two case studies are presented here. The Four Seasons Hotel in Seattle required...
Fiber Reinforced Concrete
In the past 10 years or so, concrete reinforced with fibers one or two inches long has begun to be used, first on a demonstration and experimental basis, then in major everyday applications....
Combined Vegetative-Structural Slope Stabilization
Vegetation in partnership with structural measures provides an attractive and cost effective method of stabilizing slopes and combating erosion. An effective approach is to use contour...
Earth-Filled Slurry Walls Provide Economical Seepage Control
Slurry trench cut-off walls are often used for seepage control after structures requiring excavation are completed, but at a construction site on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway project...
The Zero-Energy House: The Bold Low-Cost Breakthrough that may Revolutionize Housing
The world is in the early stages of a revolution in housing. About 200 houses have already been built in Canada that use under $125/yr for electric-resistance space heating�� even where...
Seepage Cutoff Wall Installed Through Dam is Construction First
A new construction technique has been developed which provides a permanent solution to the foundation problems at Wolf Creek Dam. Muddy flows and sinkholes discovered in 1968 led to a...
Steel Plate Shear Walls Resist Lateral Load, Cut Costs
Two new buildings have a seldom-used stiffening system�� steel plate shear walls. Reasons for using them, rather than reinforced concrete shear walls or steel or concrete rigid frames,...
Top-to-Bottom Construction in High-Rise Buildings
This top-to-bottom construction method, called jackblock is a cousin of lift-slab. The main components are the jack and concrete block, hence the name. The top story of a building is constructed...
Symposium on Earth Reinforcement
Proceedings of the Symposium on Earth Reinforcement, held at the ASCE Annual Convention, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 27, 1978. Sponsored by the Committee on Placement and Improvement...
Retaining Walls: Taking It From The Top
Since 1958, fully anchored curtain walls have been used increasingly to retain slopes in Brazil where topographic, climatic, and geologic conditions are extremely favorable to landsliding...
Modern Concrete Structures Survive Romanian Earthquake
On March 4, 1977, 35 buildings collapsed during a severe earthquake (7.2 on the Richter scale) in Bucharest, Romania. Thirty-two of the 35 were older structures, erected before World War...
Precast Veneer Replaced By All-Precast Structure
Utilizing engineering solutions to architectural problems greatly enhanced the architectural appearance of this building. Long-span prestressed, light weight concrete beams, post-tensioned...
King Post Truss System Cuts Roof Framing Cost by 30%
The design was based on requirements for minimally obstructed sight lines (Robin Hood Dell Open-Air Theater, Philadelphia, Pa.) for outdoor seating and a tight construction budget of $4,500,000....
502-ft Diameter Laminated-Timber Dome Provides Fast, Low-Cost Cover for Arizona Stadium
Varex Dome, a 502-ft diameter engineering marveel of glue laminated timber, was built in record six months erection time. This dome shell structure forms both walls and roof for the new...
Can Trench Cave-In Deaths Be Cut�
About 100 construction workers die each year in trench cave-ins. That toll can be cut, two engineer-researchers conclude. Approach would be to make more-adequate geotechnical analysis...
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