Bump at the end of a bridge approach slab.
Journal Article Reviews

Scary: Things that go bump…at the end of the bridge

Bump at the end of a bridge approach slab.[Update 2008-11-03] The Link to the Journal’s homepage requires you to purchase the article. Too bad. Try the CDOT report instead I guess. [/Update]

First off, sorry for the cheesy Halloween tie-in. The other day I read an interesting paper in the Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 2045, of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).  The paper was titled: “Evaluation and Recommendations for Flowfill, and Mechanically Stabilized Earth Bridge Approaches.” I’ll post the full citation below. (Photo from FHWA NHI Soils and Foundation Course Slides, NHI Course No. 132012)

The authors describe the standard of practice for Colorado DOT (CDOT) projects for the last 16 years with regard to the construction of bridge approaches in an attempt to eliminate the problem with the “bump at the end of the bridge”. They discuss some of the common reasons for problems with approaches, and some possible solutions. Click through for more.

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Software Updates

ReSSA and FoSSA Updates

Earlier this month, ADAMA Software released updates to their Embankment/Footing Stress and Settlement program and Reinforced Soil Slope software packages. Update 3.1 for ReSSA 3.0 was posted on the 26th and update 15.1 to FoSSA 2.0 was posted on the 12th. Click through for the download link.

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Ralph B. Peck - 1912-2008
In Memoriam

Geoengineer.org: New Ralph Peck

[Update 10/29/08 10pm] See below. [/Update] The Geoengineer.org website is developing a website honoring the memory of Professor Emeritus Ralph B. Peck. As you no doubt read previously on Geoprac or elsewhere, Ralph Peck passed […]

Google Earth for iPhone
Software Updates

Google Earth for iPhone Released

Google Earth for iPhoneGoogle announced on Sunday that it had released Google Earth for the popular iPhone device. So far it doesn’t have access to all of the content layers that you can view in the desktop version of your software, but it does have panoramio photos and Wikipedia articles and most impressively, the 3D terrain option. You can view the surrounding terrain in 3D by simply tilting your phone from horizontal.  It also lets you search for nearby businesses and appears to pull in other content related to those businesses from the web, such as reviews etc.  Now, if only I could come up with the $$ to spring for an iPhone!  More info at CNet and Google Earth blog. Or click through for a video demo. (Photo credit: Google by way of CNet).

 

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No Picture
Uncategorized

Special Features

Besides the news and articles that we publish here on GeoPrac, there are a few other items that don’t fit in any of the other menus.  We refer to these gems as “Special Features”. Downloads […]

Standards and Codes

ASTM Standards Updates – Sep/Oct

For those of you are interested, there were a number of ASTM standards updated in the last two months that apply to geotechnical engineering, soils testing, concrete, aggregate and other materials testing topics. Unfortunately the only way to see what changed is to buy the updated standards.  If there are any significant changes that affect the state of the practice in our industry, I hope someone will let us know and we can post a summary here on GeoPrac for the benefit of all.  In the mean time, I only highlight newly approved standards or re-approved standards, not work items. Click through for a list.

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