Republished from the ER-2010 conference, this paper by Michael R. Simac and David J. Elton describes the performance of two of the first geosynthetic reinforced soil walls for integral bridge abutment construction in North America after 10-years of service. [Source: Geosynthetics Magazine. Image: Geosynthetics Magazine]
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MSEW and ReSSA Updates
ADAMA Software has released update 9.2 for their Mechanically Stabilized Earth retaining wall design software, MSEW 3.0 as of December 12, 2008. They also released update 3.1 for ReSSA 3.0, a reinforced soil slope design program on January 15, 2009. The ReSSA update seems like a relatively minor one, but the MSEW update contains a number of updates related to AASHTO LRFD resistance factors and design methods. If you are involved in MSE wall design for highway structures using LRFD, be sure to click through for a few highlights from the update and the download link.
Sea-Tac Runway Nearing Completion
[Correction] Whoops, I think it’s North America’s tallest MSE Wall, not the world’s. Anyone know what the World’s tallest MSE wall is? [/Correction]
TheNewsTribune.com has an interesting article on the Sea-Tac third runway project and how it is nearing completion and an overview of the hurdles faced. This was a unique project from a geotechnical perspective because in order to construct the runway, North America’s tallest MSE retaining wall at 130-ft high was built. One thing I didn’t know is that the 13 million cu-yd of fill needed to construct the runway needed to pass careful inspection to make sure it was free of contaminants and similar in mineralogical composition to the on-site materials. The implications and reasoning are explained in this quote from the article:
“We had to find gravel that originated in the same place in Canada and that was transported here by the glaciers as the gravel that was here on the site,†said King.
The reasoning behind such a requirement is that water that leached through the fill would pick up minute traces of the minerals in the fill, drain into the creeks and confuse or damage native salmon returning to those creeks.
By way of ASCE SmartBrief.
Geosynthetics Manufacturer Posts Product Videos
Gundle/SLT Environmental, Inc. (GSE) is a manufacturer and marketer of geosynthetic lining products and services in the following markets: agriculture, aquaculture, canals, civil, golf courses, mining, power, sportsfields, stormwater retention, waste containment, wastewater, and other industrial applications. They have recently released a series of product videos on YouTube. But you don’t have to search for them yourself, you can watch them right here on GeoPrac, just read on! Thanks to Geosynthetica.net for the heads up.