The January newsletter was really late, so I just decided to wait until the beginning of this month and combine it with February. Highlights include Haiti Earthquake coverage, Top Content for December and January and more. You can find this newsletter and all the others in our Newsletter Archive and you can subscribe using the form on this site or directly through Constant Contact.
Articles
Maine Bridge Uses First GRS Wall in a Marine Environment
The City of North Haven is located on an island off the coast of Maine. This town was faced with a unique challenge when a bridge needed replacing. Looking for an economical option, designers decided on a Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil – Integrated Bridge System (GRS-IBS). This solution allowed the town and DOT to re-use an existing bridge pier, beat the construction deadlines, and provide a modern bridge solution for this small town.
[Editor] Read on for more on this fascinating project in a contributed article by Lindsey Manthei O’Connor of Redi-Rock! [/Editor]
Rockman's Ramblings
GeoPrac Turns One!
I can hardly believe it, but today marks the one year anniversary of the launch of GeoPrac! It has been a good ride so far, things haven’t exactly gone quite like I planned, but when has that ever happened? I’m grateful to all of the visitors who frequent the site and particularly to the people who have contributed an article or geonews item. I intend to do a wrapup of the most popular articles/news items of Q1 2008 and a "state of the union" type post with some thoughts about where I intend to take the site in the coming year. But I’ve just been out of gas with the newborn in the house. I’ll try to get to it this weekend.
Here’s to a good first year and many more to come! Cheers!
— Randy (Rockman)
(Cake photo…and actual cake by Khol-y after an original T-Shirt design by Tim Babb. Thanks to Rock Bandit for finding the photo)
Project Related
Video Tour of NY Subway Mega-Projects
The New York MTA is in the midst of a “golden era” of tunneling for the New York subway. Three separate mega-projects are currently underway totaling some $15 Billion: The Second Avenue Subway, The East Side Access Project (which features the new Grand Central Terminal), and The Number 7 Subway Line Extension Project. The short video below was published by the NY Post and included in an AP Article. It is tantalizingly short, but gives a great perspective on what the underground construction project at Grand Central looks like and a sense of the scale…the amazing huge caverns being constructed. The article says that from underneath Grand Central Terminal alone, the construction crews have removed enough material to cover Central Park almost a foot deep!
[Source: KOMO News (Seattle) via ASCE SmartBrief. Image: AP Photo/Mary Altaffer via KOMOnews.com]
Click through for the video.