ReSSA Major Update and MSEW Update
Available Resources
FHWA NHI 2009 MSE Wall Manual
[Disclosure] NCS Consultants is the employer (day job) of Randy Post, the owner of this site. [/Disclosure]
Geotechnical engineers who encounter MSE retaining walls or Mechanically Stabilzed Earth Walls are undoubtedly familiar with the FHWA NHI manual on “Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls and Reinforced Soil Slopes”. This manual, along with the NCMA manual that is used for non-transportation projects, is virtually the bible for MSE wall design. In late summer/early fall of 2009, a revised version of this manual will hit the streets. Read on for more details.
Software Updates
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.
Conferences
Rensselaer Civil Engineering Students Take First Prize at National GeoChallenge Competition
Here’s a press release from Rensselaer about their students winning the MSE wall competition at the Geo-Frontiers conference. Congratulations guys! [Source: Rensselaer via ASCE SmartBrief. Image: RPI]