The new owner of land that used to be owned and mined by the Carey Salt Company is in talks to buy out 32 homes in the area because of subsidence and sinkholes. They have offered homeowners the appraised value of the homes plus $10,000 and closing costs. Carey Salt Company mined the area from 1903-1998, before modern regulations. (Image and story by KWCH)
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Landslides in China – Sichuan and Guangxi
In Sichuan Province, China, they were still in the recovery process from the devastating 2008 earthquake when a series of landslides, rockfall, mudslides and flooding has hit the region. Dave’s Landslide Blog has excellent coverage as usual on the slide pictured here, which blocked a major road, hindering rescue efforts. (Photo Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing)
A remarkable video of the aftermath of a bridge destroyed by one of these rockfall / landslide events is shown below. The destruction is pretty profound. (Via Geology.com)
Also on Dave’s blog, a landslide in Guangxi caused a train to derail, killing 4 people and injuring 50. My heart truly goes out to the people of those portions of China, particularly in Sichuan as they have been through so much.
Nortex and TerraThane Stabilize Houston Area Highways
Houston’s Highways, Some of Busiest in Nation, Use Innovative TerraThane Polyurethane Foam Technology to Repair Bad Bridge Approaches, Uneven Joints, and Roadway Depressions.
MOUNT AIRY, NC—Highways around Houston, TX, known as one the nation’s worst cities for traffic behind Los Angeles, D.C., and Atlanta, need constant repair, but can’t be closed while the work is done. Nortex Concrete Lift and Stabilization, Inc., a Ft. Worth, TX company, recently completed a whirlwind repair project on one of the city’s busiest corridors in the NE quadrant where I-10, 610 Loop, I-59, and I-69 feed millions of cars daily to, from, and around Harris County.
Normal groundwater erosion beneath the highways causes the concrete highway slabs to drop, roadway depressions, uneven bridge approaches, and uneven joints that make driving bumpy and uncomfortable, dangerous, and causes severe wear and tear on automobiles.
To make the repairs, the Texas Department of Transportation, TXDOT, brought in Nortex. The company carefully planned out the repairs for the half million pound project, and sent out four crews each with it’s own box truck rig to use a relatively new technology called “foamjacking.” Foamjacking uses high-density polyurethane foam to fill the subterranean voids, and lift the concrete slabs to proper level. “We’ve been lifting and stabilizing roadways with polyurethane foam since we got into the business back in 2003,” says Casey Derosa, asst. gen. mgr. of Nortex. “It’s a far superior method versus the old way of mudjacking.” Mudjacking is a ubiquitous term for a mix of mud, sand, cement, crushed limestone, and water hydraulically pumped into large holes drilled into the concrete slabs to fill voids and level the slabs. Mudjacking uses more and much larger equipment, and requires larger holes to be drilled. It typically requires the roadway to be closed much longer than foamjacking, and takes more time to clean up.
[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release from GeoPrac sponsor NCFI Polyurethanes. [/Editor]
NCFI Polyurethanes Rolls Up Family of Branded Websites Into Single Online Community: www.ncfi.com
MOUNT AIRY, NC—NCFI Polyurethanes officially launched its new online informative and educational content presence today: www.NCFI.com. The new website replaces the former corporate site, and eight former brand-specific sites.
“We found we need to roll everything up under the NCFI umbrella,” says Chip Holton, President of NCFI. “We turned fifty last year, and our name is well-known and trusted for experience producing the highest quality American engineered and manufactured products. We wanted our web presence to reflect that, and help our customers around the world get what they need quickly and with ease.”
[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release from GeoPrac.net sponsor, NCFI Polyurethanes [/Editor]