Big Screen Debut
The Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District (GCID) encompasses nearly 150,000 acres (60,700 ha) of prime agricultural land in California's Sacramento Valley, generally considered...
Dam within a Dam
A routine inspection of the Rock Run Dam, an 84-year-old Ambursen-type structure in Chester County, Pennsylvania, revealed major stress cracks and water stains on the inside face of the...
Deep Foundations In the Future (Available in Geo-Environmental Special Issue only)
The design and construction of deep foundations has gone from an art form to a scientifically based engineering practice. Research in this field has improved over the past century and...
Three Dams, One Reservoir
The three dams that make up the 800,000 acre-ft (987 million m�) Eastside Reservoir in Riverside County, California, required extensive foundation excavation and careful placement of embankment...
Moving Mountains
The earthmoving and rock-crushing operations at the Eastside Reservoir represented one of the largest such projects in the history of the United States. The earth and rock-fill dams required...
Beyond Convention
As engineers approach the design of new and expanded convention centers around the country, they must consider not only the changing needs of convention-goers, but also the surrounding...
Sum of the Parts
As with all of the bay bridges that serve as life lines to the San Francisco peninsula, the 32-year-old San Mateo Bridge needs strengthening to withstand a maximum credible earthquake...
Scenic-Bridge Strengthening (Available in Structural Engineering Special Issue only)
Built in 1937, California's Big Creek Bridge�a double-arch crossing with half-arch side spans�was due for a seismic retrofit. Challenged by the structure's unique...
Inside Job
River Mill Dam is a large Ambursen (buttress type) dam constructed in 1911 on the Clackamas River in Oregon. The preliminary and final design phase of the seismic upgrade project coincided...
Added Protection
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is modifying the 335 ft (102 m) high Casitas Dam in Ventura County, California, to withstand a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. The modification includes strengthening...
Suspension Solution
The new bridge across the Carquinez Strait near San Francisco, California, will upgrade an important transportation link across the Sacramento River. This new bridge, which renders the...
Testing the Load (Available in Geoenvironmental Engineering Special Issue only)
The Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently began construction of a new gated dam to replace a nearly 100-year-old concrete fixed-crest dam on the Monongahela...
Historical Sediment Budget Analysis of the Malibu Coastline
Sediment supply to the Malibu coastline has been continually decreasing since development began in the Santa Monica Mountains in the 1880's due to dam construction for irrigation and recreation,...
Coastal Benefits and Impacts of Dismantling Matilija Dam
A numerical shoreline evolution model was used to examine the shoreline changes associated with the release of 2.3 million cubic meters of beach quality sediment from behind Matilija Dam....
Damn Sand Rights: Removing Rindge and Matilija Dams
Two dams built in the 1920's and 1940's within southern California coastal drainages have reached the end of their useful lives, and their decommissioning and removal is being actively...
Monitoring the Fresh Kills Landfill (Available in the Geoenvironmental Special Section only)
A unique system has been developed to assess the stability of the Fresh Kills Landfill, in New York City, using more than 260 geotechnical instruments and automatic processes. The system...
Safeguarding Los Alamos
A forest fire that burned 48,000 ac (19,500 ha) around the Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico, in May 2000, created another problem for one of the nation's most...
Blocking the Tide
The city of Venice is in peril as a result of increased tidal flooding, and a proposed system of movable gates offers the greatest promise of safeguarding the city's future....
Guidelines for Instrumentation and Measurements for Monitoring Dam Performance
Prepared by the Task Committee on Instrumentation and Monitoring Dam Performance of the Hydropower Committee of the Energy Division of ASCE. This report...
Foundation Design for the Elevated Station
The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station is located at an elevation of 2,850 m on the 3,200 m thick polar plateau, a field of ice and snow that is moving toward the ocean at a rate of 10...
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