Preventing Another Sunshine Skyway Bridge Disaster
America will not soon forget the tragic collapse of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge into Tampa Bay almost two years ago. That accident was a costly lesson in the crucial importance of protecting...
A Cost-effective Shallow Foundation Accommodates Three Feet of Settlement
An automotive maintenance facility to be built at the Anacostia Naval Station in Washington, D.C. had two major foundation problems: the probability of large settlement and the possibility...
Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Proves Worth for Airport Pavements
Laboratory and field tests indicate that fiber-reinforced concrete has higher flexural and tensile strength, higher impact resistance, and improved resistance to spalling and joint deterioration...
Steel Cable-Stayed Bridges: Can They Compete in the U.S.?
During the past decade, concrete bridge designs have been winning more bids for contracts than steel cable-stayed bridges. Reasons for this trend are examined. A brief evolution of bridge...
Computer-Aided Drafting in Civil Engineering
Computer aided drafting (CAD) is defined as an interactive computer graphics system suitable for the generation of engineering documentation. The development of CAD is reviewed. The computer...
Minicomputers in Structural Optimum Design
A problem dealing with the weight optimization of girders without transverse stiffeners is demonstrated. Constraints follow the 1978 AISC Specification. Actual programming is done in BASIC...
Emerging High Performance Structural Plastic Technology
Structural plastics have forced their growth by better performance over conventional materials in hostile environments. Demand by industry for increased life of process equipment and structures...
Bloomington Lake�Potomac River Water Resources Project
The recently completed $174 million Bloomington Lake project has improved flood control and water quality to the benefit of millions of people downstream. The headwaters of the Potomac...
Orlando International: Airport of the 21st Century
The latest technology in airport design from the apron overlays to the terminal itself was incorporated at Orlando International, the nation's fastest growing airport. Now...
Denny Creek: The Toughest Bridge Washington State Ever Built
The story of how highway planners and engineers in Washington State's Department of Transportation were stopped from building a highway and viaduct through a pristine wilderness...
Structural Safety
Future building codes will go far beyond the classical emphasis on dimensioning, calculations, and specification writing. Emphasis will shift from scientific thinking to strategic thinking,...
Some Proposals for Reducing Structural Failures
Illinois is one of the few states requiring a Structural Engineer's License: a P.E. alone is not enough to practice structural engineering there. Unfortunately, even in Illinois,...
Urban Creekside Design Features Parallel Streets
Waterflow in cities�natural streams and rivers surrounded by wildlife, or concrete channels�must be controlled to prevent devastating flooding. Proper landuse restraints and creative designs...
Steel Structures Provide Flexibility
The steel structures of several major buildings are evaluated by the structural engineers responsible for the design and construction. Included are the Park Avenue Atrium in New York;...
Inspecting Town Bridges in Connecticut
A federally financed inventory and inspection program for town bridges was carried out in Connecticut. This article describes how the authors' firm inspected 343 bridges of...
Knoxville's Junction Functions
The urban highway system in Knoxville was originally built as a local expressway in the early 1950's. It was designed to significantly lower standards than Interstate and...
Engineers Notebook: Checking Capacities of Eccentrically Loaded Columns on an Existing Bridge
This article focuses on the structural analysis of eccentrically loaded columns. A simple and novel graphical technique for determining the load-carrying capacity of the columns is presented....
Replacing Corroded Cables on a Cable-Stayed Bridge
The cable-stayed bridge across Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo is among the longest bridges of its type. But after years of service, corroded cables threatened to snap, which would...
Gravity Sanitary Sewer Design and Construction
This Manual provides both theoretical and pracctical guidelines for the design and construction of gravity sanitary sewers. The initial chapter introduces the organization and administrative...
How Did These Firms Grow in Face of a Depressed Economy?
Despite a decline in construction physical volume of about 25% in the past five years, some engineering firms have grown. Profiles of three such firms are presented. Management decisions...
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