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...
Solar Energy for Heating Homes: How Practical�
There is a widespread belief that on-site solar energy for heating homes is still not a proven technology and that, in any event, it's much too expensive. The fact is that...
Multimillion-Acre Tea Bag
Just as pouring the same cupful again and again through a tea strainer makes bitter tea, so irrigating again and again with return-flow water concentrates salts in the water supply. While...
America's Covered Bridges
Soon after the Revolutionary War, bridge construction became more important in the United States. Early builders developed by trail and error an economical, permanent, long-span covered...
Computer-Aided Design and Drafting for Small Engineering Firms
As the cost of computer hardware decreases, use of the computer-aided design and drafting is becoming a cost-efficient investment for smaller engineering firms. The article includes four...
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...
Willow Island Aftermath: The Limits of OSHA
In April 1978 a natural-draft hyperbolic concrete cooling tower under construction at Willow Island, W.Va. collapsed. Fifty-one workers, suspended on a scaffold supported mainly by a layer...
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...
The Long Road to Regulatory Reform
A brief report on ASCE's actions to encourage the regulatory reform movement in Washington. Included are the resolution as accepted by ASCE's Board of Direction,...
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...
Re-decking a Bridge With Precast Concrete
Re-decking a 1627-ft deck girder bridge on the Pennsylvania Turnpike with precast concrete slabs allowed the bridge to remain partially open to traffice during the entire construction...
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...
The Fly-Over: It Unclogs Urban Traffic in A Hurry
Fly-overs are light-weight, low-cost, prefabricated steel structures that elevate only one or two lanes over a traffic-choked city intersection but dramatically reduce congestion. By removing...
Computerizing Public Works Design
Computers are an easy way to increase engineering design productivity. This is especially important to public works departments who have decreasing budgets and increasing work loads. This...
Baltimore Borrows Bridge Beams
A look at the construction of the Baltimore Convention Center, its four domelike exhibition halls, the main lobby and its service areas. The Center's four columnless exhibit...
Vail Pass Highway�Respecter of Mountain Ecology
Environmental constraints to a large degree controlled both the design and construction of a 14-mi segment of Interstate Highway 70 through Vail Pass in Colorado and necessitated adoption...
San Antonio Freeway: Social-Impact Landmark
San Antonio's McAllister Freeway, or rather its proposed construction, aroused so much furor as to generate national publicity in the early 1970s. Objections arose because...
Parrotts Ferry Bridge: Pioneer in Lightweight, Pumped Concrete
Spanning the Stanislaus River in Northern California, this bridge includes a 640-ft center span that is the world's longest span in lightweight concrete and the longest bridge...
Venezuelan Dock Features Unconventional Design, Quick Set-Up
This structure, designed by Caracas design/construct firm Precomprimido, kills two birds with one stone: a series of huge, hollow concrete cylinders both support the service deck of the...
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