gINT colors
Articles

Variable Colours for Reports in gINT Part 1

gINT colors[Editor] Miles Davis of Quantum Geotechnical Ltd. and gINTDev gives us a sneak peak at a "future feature" in gINT. Of course, gINT Software is a Premier Sponsor of GeoPrac, and the article has been published with the complete knowledge of the company. We welcome this first contribution from Miles and look forward to Part 2 and future articles sharing his gINT expertise! [/Editor]

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Twitter
Rockman's Ramblings

Twitter and Widgets

TwitterI hope that GeoPrac is always near the front of the pack in the geo-industry when it comes to Web 2.0 and social media. With that in mind, I’m excited to announce that GeoPrac is finally on twitter! (http://twitter.com/geoprac/) You can use it as an alternative to the RSS feeds as each item posted to the site will show up in the twitter feed (with a little lag perhaps). But I also hope to start using it to interact with visitors and members and as a micro-blog where I post links to news items and stories that either didn’t lend themselves well to a GeoNews post or I flat out didn’t have time to write up. I admit I’m still discovering twitter, but feel free to drop me a tweet!

I also wanted to create a Widget for the items posted here, so I decided to use Widgetbox.com. I think it looks pretty slick with the teaser images I usually post showing up along with the post’s title. If you run a blog or website, by all means feel free to add it! Click through to see it in action.

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Project Related

Niagara Tunnel – Crappy rock, Horizontal stress, SLOOOOOW progress

image[Updated November 17, 2009] A few new posts from Ontario-geofish [/Updated]

Those with interest in rock mechanics and tunneling might be interested in this project. The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) company is the owner of a $600M (Canadian) construction project to create a third hydro power tunnel under Niagara Falls.  Apparently the project is having all kinds of problems with overbreak in some very difficult tunneling conditions which means very slow progress and big $$ overruns. (Photo from niagarafrontier.com)

I’ve been meaning to post something on this project for some time. I admit that my perspective is biased by the viewpoint you can find on the Ontario-geofish blog. I’ve mentioned Harold Asmis before, he’s the owner of the OG blog, and a former OPG employee if I understand correctly. He left OPG for a career doing geophysics and earthquake engineering for the Nuclear Power industry in Canada.  I highly recommend his blog, he has great insight into tunneling, earthquakes, siting of nuclear power plants not to mention opinions on all kinds of other things.  His writing style is very colorful and entertaining as well.

So, Harold has written a whole series of blog posts on the Niagra Tunnel project, including a 5-part series entitled "The Disaster of the Niagara Tunnel" and a 4-part series called "Niagara Tunnel: doing it Right".  He is not directly involved with the project, but his long career with OPG and related disciplines gives him some great insights.  I’ve collected a list of some of his blog posts on the Niagara Tunnel project as well as a few other links about the project. Click through for the good stuff.

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Geologic Hazards

Provo Utah Rock Fall Event

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The rock at left travelled nearly a mile down the slope and picked up some significant velocity before impacting a house, hitting the back wall and damaging the ceiling before dropping through the floor into the garage and damaging the garage door. In an often-overlook advantage of the current financial crisis, the house was currently in foreclosure and therefore not occupied at the time of the damage. Read on for links, more info and a map of the location so you can view the terrain. (Photo by Provo Fire Department by way of Utah Geologic Survey)

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American Society of Testing Materials Logo - ASTM
Standards and Codes

ASTM Updates April 2009

American Society of Testing Materials Logo - ASTMOur monthly ASTM standards update for those in the geotechnical, geo-environmental, hydrogeology and geo-construction fields. This month there are some new standards related to structural cementitious panels, revisions to standards related to slate and dimension stone, and a reapproved standard for monitoring well protection among others. Click through for more info.

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GeoStudio 2007 Icon
Software Updates

GeoStudio 2007 Update – Version 7.14

GeoStudio 2007 Icon GEO-SLOPE International, makers of the GeoStudio 2007 geotechnical software suite have announced a significant update to their GeoStudio 2007 software products, which includes SLOPE/W, SIGMA/W and SEEP/W, QUAKE/W and others. The update includes several new features and a large number of fixes. The last update of GeoStudio 2007 was in September of 2008. New features of interest include:

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SR 87 landslide in Arizona
Geologic Hazards

SR 87 Landslide Presentation at Roads and Streets Conference

SR 87 landslide in Arizona Last week was the annual American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona Roads and Streets Conference in my home town of Tucson, Arizona.  Its a transportation themed conference as you might guess, but there are usually a few geotechnical-type presentations. This year, there was an excellent presentation on the SR 87 Landslide that occurred about 1-year ago on the highway between Phoenix and Payson.  The presentation was given by Keith Dhalen, PE with AECOM , Wayne Harrison, RG also with AECOM and Scott Neely, PE with Terracon . Read on for my recap of the presentation. (Photo by ADOT via AZGS)

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Software Updates

New Release – Surfer Version 9 (Gridding and Contouring Software)

imageSurfer Software distributor, Rockware, Inc. posted information about Surfer Version 9 released earlier this month. Surfer is a gridding and surface mapping software that can create contour, surface, wireframe, vector, image, shaded relief, and post maps from your XYZ data. Some of the new features include…

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Screenshot from SRWall 4.0 software from the NCMA used for designing segmental retaining walls.
Standards and Codes

New NCMA Segmental Retaining Wall Design Manual and Software

Screenshot from SRWall 4.0 software from the NCMA used for designing segmental retaining walls. This summer, the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) will release the third edition of its Design Manual for Segmental Retaining Walls (DMSRW) along with SRWall 4.0 software for the design of segmental retaining walls. SRW walls with higher wall heights often make use of geotextile or geogrid reinforcement putting them in the category of mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls or MSE Walls. The first edition of the manual was published in 1993 and is routinely used for everything from landscaping walls to multi-tiered commercial and residential retaining walls. This summer is shaping up to be a busy one for those in the retaining wall business as the FHWA NHI 2009 MSE Wall Manual is set to be released around the same time frame as well. Read on for more info on the DMSRW. (Screen shot by Gabriela Mariscal from NCMA via CE News)

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