Video Source: ENR.com.
Geologic Hazards
New Orleans Repeats Deadly Levee Blunders
That is the title of a Seattle Post-Intelligencer article on post-Katrina levee issues in New Orleans (by way of ASCE Smart Brief). I think the article is somewhat sensationalized, but they do cite some interesting parallels between the levee reconstruction efforts made after Katrina and the levee construction/reconstruction that occurred after Hurricane Betsy in 1965.
The article also discusses a recent US Army audit with some disturbing although not unexpected findings:
An initial September 2010 target to complete the $14.8 billion in post-Katrina work has slipped to mid-2011. Then last September, an Army audit found 84 percent of work behind schedule because of engineering complexities, environmental provisos and real estate transactions. The report added that costs would likely soar.
A more recent analysis shows the start of 84 of 156 projects was delayed – 15 of them by six months or more. Meanwhile, a critical analysis of what it would take to build even stronger protection – 500-year-type levees – was supposed to be done last December but remains unfinished.
Standards and Codes
ASTM Updates for March, 2012
This post contains a list of new, revised and otherwise updated ASTM standards that pertain to the geotechnical engineering, materials testing and related fields. Standard C39/C39M for testing the compressive strength of concrete cyllinders was updated, as was C42/42m for obtaining and testing drilled cores and sawed beams of concrete. The month of March also saw several geosynthetic standards being updated or added, including new standards for selecting the test method for geomembrane seams, and for testing the flexural rigidity of geogrids and other geosynthetics. There are also a few updated standards related to asphalt mix design and sampling of asphalt. Click through for updated ASTM Standards relating to geoprofessionals.
Geologic Hazards
50th Anniversary of San Fernando Earthquake
I posted about the 10th anniversary of the Christchurch Earthquake, but there was another notable earthquake anniversary recently…the 50th anniversary of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. Khaled Chowdhury from the US Army Corps of Engineers […]