Sand to Sandstone: Foundation Strengthening with Chemical Grout
A large school in San Francisco, built in 1930, was in need of structural rehabilitation to eliminate earthquake hazards. Founded on loose, windblown fine sand, the footings were subject...
Land-Use Planning: Grows More Exact with the Help of USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey has turned its considerable talents and resources towards providing earth-science information for urban planners and, consequently, developers. This article...
Ontario Writes New Bridge Code
In 1976, Ontario's Ministry of Transportation and Communications decided to write its own bridge design code, breaking away from the AASHTO code, because: (1)It wanted a metric...
Design and Construction of Long-Span Metal Culverts
Long-span metal culverts are built of corrugated-metal plates bolted together. They have spans exceeding 15 ft. Principal applications include use as drainage structures, grade separations,...
Underground Buildings Save Energy
While properly designed underground buildings use less energy for heating and cooling, that's not always the reason they're underground. For example, San Francisco's...
Intercity Bridge: First Major U.S. Cable-Stayed Bridge
The Intercity Bridge spans the Columbia River, connecting the cities of Pasco and Kennewick, Wash. It is the longest cable-stayed, concrete bridge in the U.S. (2,403-ft) and it has been...
Space: A Place to Work
An overview of the nation's space program as space shuttle capability nears reality. The cargo truck aspects of the shuttle will transform our efforts in space. In the near...
Building Skyscrapers in Orbit
NASA plans to build a host of large structures (communications antennas, remote-sensing radiometers, solar power satellites, etc.) in space. Three ways to build them are: (1)Fabricate...
Industry Upgrades Technician Training
Here is one example where regulations were imposed by industry�voluntarily. The Washington Area Council of Engineering Laboratories, Inc., developed a program to certify technicians testing...
Facelifting City Streets
Augusta, Georgia rebuilt a four-block, 10-acre section of the main street (Broad Street) to improve traffic flow, beautify the street, provide safe, efficient and convenient parking and...
New Use for Filter Fabric: Highway Construction
A growing area of filter fabric use is road construction, both secondary and superhighway. The article focuses on one case history in Cambridge, Maryland where, after a one-year test,...
Environmental Engineering Research Needs
In June 1979 a National Science Foundation�ASCE workshop was convened to prepare a report suggesting top-priority research needs in civil engineering for the 1980s. The field was split...
Testing Concrete in Place
Although modern concrete construction has developed during the past 60 years, one aspect has remained essentially unchanged�the use of molded cylinders tested in compression to estimate...
Stub Girders Cut Steel Use
One innovation in steel building construction, now 10 years old, is the steel stub girder floor framing system. By using a girder that is a composite of steel girder, metal deck and lightweight...
Nuclear Testing of Utility Trench Backfill
For many years, Westchester County municipalities were resigned to the fact that compaction of utility trenches could not be done satisfactorily and that settlement and road failure would...
Jacked Pipe Provides Roof for Underground Construction in Busy Urban Area
Construction of a major underground station for the metro in Antwerp, Belgium was done in a busy downtown area employing a method that virtually eliminated ground subsidence. The method...
World's First Iron Bridge
In 1779, using a new man-made material, skilled English workmen built a single-span bridge of cast iron over a steep river gorge about 140 miles northwest of London. The result was a 424-ton...
Research Needs in Structural Engineering
Here are some highlights of the state of Research Needs in Structural Engineering, prepared at National Science Foundation�ASCE workshop in June 1979. Overall, the statement says, U.S....
Civil Engineering in the Oceans IV
This conference on Civil Engineering in the Oceans is sponsored by the Technical Committee on Ocean Engineering (TCOE) of the Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Division of ASCE in cooperation...
State-of-the-Art Report on Air-Supported Structures
A structure with a structural system which is dependent on pressurization, either positive or negative, is termed a pressure preloaded structure. Most pressure preloaded structures intended...
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