Pumping Up Flood Defenses
Completed in April 2018, the $731-million Permanent Canal Closures and Pumps project represents the final component of the overall Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System that serves the greater...
Making It Work: Nontraditional Answers
One thousand Museum introduces a bold, new silhouette to the Miami skyline and has quickly become one of the highest-profile developments in the United States....
Reliability-Based Design (RBD) For Everyone: (No Monte Carlo Simulation Required!)
In North America, the design of earth structures for transportation applications is most often carried out using load and resistance factor design (LRFD). In the U.S., the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications...
An Unknown-Unknown Does In An Overpass: A Soil Stockpile on Soft Clay Is Too Much for a Bridge in Canada
Like most structures, bridges are designed for an array of loading conditions. Some loads are known or can be reasonably estimated with confidence (i.e., known-knowns, such as structure dead and vehicular...
The New Paradigm Of Post-Disaster Reconnaissance: Using Virtual Methods to Enhance Systematic In-Field Data Collection
Virtual reconnaissance is the act of gathering information after an extreme event through virtual means. This information could be data on damaged regions, cultural data for an impacted region, and previous...
A Combo Foundation Does the Job: Piled-Raft Foundation Design for a Supertall Skyscraper
Lotte World Tower is a 123-story, 555-m supertall skyscraper with a 6-level basement for retail and car parking located at Jamsil-dong in Seoul, South Korea. (Editor’s Note: For additional information,...
Basements On The Beach: Overcoming South Florida's Shoreline Excavation Challenges
The South Florida beachfront is awash with an ever-increasing number of high-rise condominiums. As land becomes scarcer and increasingly expensive, and building regulations change to require above-grade...
Advances In Geosynthetic Solutions For Sustainable Landfill Design: Geosynthetics Really Do Last!
Even though geosynthetics are now a well-established discipline within geotechnical engineering, ingenuity continues to play a significant role in projects involving their use. This is because it’s possible...
Immortal and Ethereal Beauty in Stone: The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal, probably one of the most beautiful structures in the world, has withstood the vagaries of history and the environment. Lengthy tomes have been written on its beauty and the details of the...
What Lurks Below: The Geotechnical Intrigue of Boston’s Back Bay
In 1858, the great filling of Back Bay began. Completed in about 20 years, it led to nearly 100 city blocks of iconic 4- and 5-story brick rowhouses. In the past 60 years, about 50 high-rise buildings...
Rapid Recovery
In May 2017, the California Department of Transportation had to contend with a massive landslide that closed a section of the iconic State Route 1 through central California’s scenic coastal region of...
Teaching Cars to Drive
The Michigan-based American Center for Mobility is located at a former World War II bomber factory, later an auto plant, that was environmentally challenged after decades of industrial use. Though the...
Student Solutions (part of "Teaching Cars to Drive")
A multidisciplinary team of students from the University of Michigan worked at the Willow Run site in 2014 on a constructed wetlands system to help remediate contaminated groundwater....
Crossing Grand Canyon: The Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge
Recently named a national historic civil engineering landmark in ASCE's Historic Civil Engineering Landmark Program, the 1928 Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge proved uniquely challenging to access, spanning...
Arena of Books
The new Qatar National Library features a folded design with cantilevered corners on the exterior, while inside, an enormous single space for reading or socializing offers terraces stacked with bookshelves....
Training for Disaster
The structural complexes used to train first responders must accommodate a wide range of theoretical and practical learning. From classroom spaces to built-to-burn assemblies to buildings within buildings,...
Turn for The Better
The Johnson Street Bridge has served as a critical link to the city of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, for many years. A single-leaf bascule bridge that is functional and visually appealing replaced...
Monumental Makeover
Visitors to St Louis's iconic Gateway Arch can now enjoy an even more monumental experience, thanks to an expanded underground museum with a new glazed entrance. The $380-million project also features...
Energy Star
The recently opened corporate headquarters of United Therapeutics is one of the largest net-zero energy office buildings in the world. Geo-exchange wells, an earth labyrinth, natural ventilation, and electrochromic...
Mixed Foundations Resolve Complex Conditions
A 46-story residential tower currently under construction in downtown Boston abuts an existing parking garage, necessitating extreme care to ensure its stability amid tight space constraints. Part of the...
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