Underground Contracts for the 21st Century
Noting that support for the guidelines for underground construction put forth by ASCE's Underground Technology Council has been eroding, the author addresses current issues...
Geotech Design Reports Get a Litmus Test
The perception among industry groups is that geotechnical design summary reports are not being used as originally intended. Can revisions and guidelines reduce the number of changed-conditions...
Guidelines for Evaluating the Performance of Highway Sound Barriers
Prepared by the Highway Innovative Technology Evaluation Center, a CERF Service Center. This report presents the HITEC evaluation plan for U.S. Gypsum's...
Residual Benefits
Stringent pretreatment and effluent standards and a lack of capacity prohibit their release into sanitary sewer systems. Landfill disposal is costly. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination...
Out of Control?
Once heroes in a popular battle against villainous despoilers of Mother Earth, to a growing chorus of observers environmental groups, EPA and other regulatory agencies have begun to look...
Greening of Ground Water
As many as 69 different organic compounds and 24 metal species can be found in ground water underlying the 85 acre Bofors-Nobel Superfund site in Muskegon County, Mich., a testimony to...
Lessons from Nonfailures
Two case histories are described in which building owners were told during rehabilitation projects that their structures were in serious trouble. In one case, the engineer told the owner...
Partnering for Success
Partnering as a method of doing business is spreading throughout the construction industry. With everyone fed up with the litigious nature of the industry, partnering represents an opportunity...
Survival Skills
Thinking of what will become of a firm once an owner leaves is an important topic what many owners of firms choose to ignore. As a result, many firms fail soon after ownership is transferred....
Light at the End of the Chunnel
While the construction of the Channel tunnel was an engineering triumph, the project also had its share of cost overruns, inadequately prepared contract documents, and disputes over safety...
Spotting Specs Offenders
About 80% of all specification related litigation is brought about by three different personality types all too common to construction projects. The problem is specifications abuse, when...
Relationships with Architects and Owners
There are many issues which affect the relationships between structural engineers and on the other, the owner clients. This paper discusses some of those issues from the point of view...
The Douglas Dam Emergency Response and Rehabilitation
Through the timely response of the Owner, the potential failure of Douglas Dam was averted, and lives and property downstream were protected. The economic losses created by loss of irrigation...
What Do You Mean by That?
The engineering and construction profession, like any other, has its own buzzwords and jargon. But as terms become ingrained in the profession's lexicon, they take on different...
Computer-Aided Decision Model for Selecting a Contractual System
An owner of a construction project often faces the problem of selecting a contractual arrangement. The process of selecting a contractual system depends on the owner's preferred risk sharing...
Metric Design: It's Real
Metric construction is coming out of the ground in the U.S. as well as in the rest of the world. It's no longer something to be considered someday, somewhere. Metric�the Systeme...
Sand Management Planning in Oregon
Under Statewide Planning Goal 18 dune grading or sand movement necessary to maintain views or prevent sand inundation is allowed only as part of an area-wide foredune management plan....
Lead is a Four-Letter Word
New regulations and strict enforcement make it difficult and expensive to remove lead-laden coatings from steel structures. Lead-based primers and paints are not considered hazardous as...
Taking the Pain out of the Punch List
Lengthy punch lists mean trouble for everyone involved, from the owner to the designer to the contractor, but the punch list doesn't have to be long and it doesn't...
Detecting Leaks in Geomembranes
A field-tested leak-location survey, now commercially-available, can provide construction quality assurance or solve a leakage problem in lined landfills, impoundments or tanks. A liner...
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