Video Source: ENR.com.
Geologic Hazards
Corps Delivers 100-year Protection Plan for New Orleans
The US Army Corps has issued conceptual plans with elevations for proposed improvements to New Orleans flod protection system. Levees, floodwalls and closure structures will be designed for a 100-year storm surge. Achieving the conceptual […]
Miscellaneous
Profile of James Demby, Head of FEMA National Dam Safety Program
Came accross and interesting profile of this gentleman from FEMA who is their top Dam Safety expert. James Demby is the senior technical and policy adviser and program manager for the FEMA National Dam Safety […]
Journal Article Reviews
Mitigation of Karst and Sinkholes for New Hospital Structure
The site for the new Harrison County Hospital, approximately 25-miles west of Louisville, Kentucky had 15 sinkholes formed by limestone dissolution, a geomorphologic process referred to as Karst topography. There were a number of geotechnical engineering and geological engineering challenges associated with the characterization, excavation, backfilling, foundation engineering and other mitigation measures as described by Peggy Hagerty Duffy, P.E. in her article entitled “Karst and Complications” in the August 2008 issue of Civil Engineering Magazine (Duffy, 2008b).
Mitigation measures for the sinkholes included use of graded filters with geotextiles, careful inspection of rock socket foundations along with pilot holes and careful geotechnical inspection throughout the construction process. One particularly interesting aspect of the project is that several of the sinkholes were used as drainage facilities to receive surface water runoff. Read on for a summary of this interesting article. (Photo of sinkhole in Karst Topography being used as a drainage feature, from Duffy (2008b), Civil Engineering Magazine)