Germany, Belgium and Los Angeles have Mandatory Design Review for Major Structures
The report of the engineering investigation into the causes of the collapse of the Hartford Coliseum space truss cited design deficiencies as the cause of failure. That report also says...
Subway Designs and Construction Methods That Cut Costs
The high cost of subway construction in the United States can be reduced by adopting station and track structure configurations, structural systems, and construction techniques best suited...
Gophers Go Underground
A major facility, Williamson Hall, was constructed to be almost entirely below grade on the East Bank Campus of the University of Minnesota. Heating and cooling energy requirements will...
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...
Reliable Structural Weldments for Critical Service
Fracture control plans are considered in light of weldment rather than base material alone. Data are presented on the probability of base materials (i.e., plate) having adequate toughness...
Energy Facilities Going Underground
Environmental pressures, combined with continuing development of hard-rock excavation techniques, have turned attention to the placement of major engineering facilities underground. Primary...
Proceedings Volume I
Polyphase Flow Transients Pressure Recovery Devices Intake Structures Cooling Water Systems
The papers presented in these proceedings represent a variety of disciplines from many countries. This unique jointing of three major societies has created a collection of papers with...
Filter Fabrics in Shore-Protection Structures: Save Money, Ease Installation
Over the past decade, plastic filter fabrics have seen growing use in shore-protection structures (e.g. revetments, breakwaters, jetties), river-bank protection schemes, and other areas...
Exxon's Offshore Platform Nearly Doubles Water-Depth Record
In 1976, Exxon erected near Santa Barbara (Los Angeles metropolitan area) the Hondo platform, in 850 ft of water. This is nearly twice the previous record depth established in the North...
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....
Ecology and the Past
Archaeologists and paleontologists have gathered an overpowering amount of evidence to show that modern methods of construction, both in the field of highways and in that of architectural...
Fabric Roofs Feel the Pressure
Plastic-coated fabric roofs have been growing in popularity with uses ranging from covering a football stadium in Michigan to housing satellite-tracking stations. Article takes a look...
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...
Rebar Splices: Cutting Costs, Avoiding Errors
Practical advice for cost-cutting in reinforced concrete construction suggests improvements in accepted design and specifications, procedures and specific items. Brief recommendations...
Computer Slashes Time and Cost of Structural Design
An existing computer program for designing floor framing was modified to simplify usage. A preprocessor program was written to reduce the amount and complexity of the input data. A description...
The Modernization of a Small Hydro Plant
The Cornell Hydro in Northern Wisconsin was torn down, rebuilt, re-equipped and put into profitable operation. After extensive structural modifications to the old plant, three new 10,000...
Milestones in U.S Civil Engineering
Under the general titles of structures, transportation, water resources and sanitary, milestones in American civil engineering are listed in chronological order. An emphasis is placed...
1842: Old Croton Aqueduct Brings Water, Rescues Manhattan From Fire, Disease
From 1774 to 1835 Manhattan experienced tremendous growth but needed better water supply to protect public health and to fight fires. Several proposals for providing water were forwarded...
Why Do Bridges Fail�
From the study of 143 bridge failures that occurred throughout the world from 1847 to 1975, it is found that there are nine categories of failure. The most frequent of these is failure...
Return to search