- Dam Safety News for January and February – Association of State Dam Safety Officials
- Illustrated Guide to Nonprofit GIS and Online Mapping – Slashgeo
"The Guide includes: * a brief introduction to mapping and GIS (geographic information systems) technology and concepts. * examples of successful nonprofit projects using GIS and/or mapping technologies. * helpful strategies for planning your own mapping/GIS project. * a review of public data sources with freely available data. * a brief review of free and low-cost tools for nonprofit mapping and GIS projects." - New Training Video on How to Heat Seam and Field Test Geomembranes – Cadwaller Technical Services via GeosyntheticsMagazine.com
See the techniques of hot wedge welding, extrusion welding, hot air welding, destructive testing, and non-destructive testing demonstrated and discussed by one of the industry’s most experienced and qualified training teams. Includes information relevant to all geomembrane materials and all forms of heat seaming and heat seaming equipment. $80 plus $10 shipping for an 80-minute DVD broken up into 25 sections. - Polk County US-64 Rockslide Update – WTVC NewsChannel 9
- Lessons to be learned from Haiti’s tsunami – BBC News via Ontario-geofish
- New Survey Shows Increased Use of Twitter, Facebook by State DOTs – AASHTO Press Release
- Indonesia Landslide Photos – CBS News
- ADSC Elects Directors and Officers, Presents Civil Engineering Scholarships and Annual Awards – ADSC
"Seven new directors joined the 18 member board. They are Robert Carnevale, MSCE, P.E., DBM Contractors, Federal Way, WA; Mark McDermott, MSEG, McKinney Drilling, Lansdale, PA; Dan MacLean, P.Eng, Con-Tech Systems, Elizabethtown, Ontario, Canada; Rick Marshall, Richard Goettle, Inc., Cincinnati, OH; and Dan Uranowski, P.E., Brayman Construction Corp., Saxonburg, PA. New officers are President, Tom Witherspoon, PhD, Diplomate: Geotechnical Engineering, P.E., S&W Foundations, Richardson, TX; Vice President, Ralph Capelli, Posillico Drilling, College Park, NY; and Luke Schuler, MSCE, Hayes Drilling, Olathe, KS. These gentlemen are members of the association’s Executive Board, along with Immediate Past President, Tom Armour, Diplomate: Geotechincal Engineering, P.E., DBM Contractors, Federal Way, WA; and Tom Bird, MSMM, Williams Form, Golden, CO." Read the whole PDF summary of the 2010 ADSC Annual Meeting. - DoT budget isn’t keeping up with need for road, bridge repairs – FederalTimes.com
- Tree clearing suspected in Indonesian landslide – washingtonpost.com
"CIWIDEY, Indonesia — A tea plantation owner may have helped cause a landslide that killed up to 45 people in central Indonesia by cutting down too many trees, a Cabinet minister said Thursday." - FHWA to Shut Down March 1, Federal-aid Payments to States Will Be Suspended – AASHTO News
Because of the impending expiration of the Federal Highway and Transit Programs at midnight on March 1, the Federal Highway Administration will be required to suspend Federal-aid payments to the States. - Geotechnical and hydrogeologic test holes for San Luis Obispo area Desalination Plant Delayed – SanLuisObispo.com
- Sinkhole-damaged Plant City (Tampa Bay, Florida area) road to reopen by late March – Tampa Bay Online
This is another sinkhole related to extensive groundwater withdrawal by local citrus growers to protect crops from freezing temperatures in early January. In a previous CUP, I wrote about multiple sinkholes that damaged a Plant City, Florida elementary school. This one will be fixed with grouting by specialty geotecnical contractor, Hayward Baker at a cost of almost $200k to the City. - Geology Students tour 150-ft tall rockslide on I-40 that is currently being stabilized – Asheville Citizen-Times
I like the headline of the story, "I-40 rock slide an aspiring geologist’s dream", I think most geologists and geological engineers think like that! The article also mentions a few details about the rock-bolting that’s going on to stabilize the slope. Almost 600 rock bolts will be installed, some up to 130-ft long. Currently the contractor has installed about a quarter of them. - Work to conclude Saturday on Kalihi hillside where boulders fell – The Honolulu Advertiser