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Tectonics and Ancient Civilizations
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Project Related
Washington’s I-5 Bridge over Columbia River Needs Seismic Upgrade
The timber piles of the existing I-5 bridge over the Columbia River is vulnerable to liquefaction in the event of a major earthquake. And there is no shortage of potential sources for the shaking in […]
Project Related
Indonesia to Build Monumental Suspension Bridge in Ring of Fire
Indonesia is planning to build what will be the World’s longest suspension bridge to link up its two main islands of Java and Sumatra. The total length will over 30-km with a (max?) height of 70-m so ships can pass underneath. The catch is that the bridge will be located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, the boundary between the Asian and Australian tectonic plates and one of the most seismically and volcanically active areas in the world. There have been several recent earthquakes greater than magnitude 7, not to mention the earthquake that caused the 2004 tsunami. The bridge will be built to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake. Oh, and in case the seismic concerns weren’t great enough, the bridge will pass within 50-km of the volcano Krakatoa. The estimated cost of the bridge is $12 billion ($AU?). Credit to Geology.com for the story.
General
Geologists Recover Pieces of San Andreas Fault from 2 Miles Deep
As a follow up to a previous post, the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) team has announced that they have successfully completed their drilling and obtained cores of the San Andreas Fault at depths in excess of 2 miles below the surface. The zone of interest is approximately 135-ft in length. The core size is 4-in diameter. They have cemented in a 7-in casing and the next phase of the project will be to perforate the casing within the fault and install monitoring equipment consisting of seismometers, accelerometers, tiltmeters and a fluid pressure transducer. Read on for more info and links. (Image credit: EarthScope / NSF)