Hayward Baker will be the geotechnical contractor for the compaction grouting. The article draws a HORRIBLE comparison between compaction grouting and the ‘top kill’ that BP tried to stop the oil leak in the gulf. Honestly, sometimes reading what the media writes about engineering is a little scary. I’m sure Hayward Baker is thrilled to have their name mixed in there with the most hated company on the planet right now! [Source: Nashville Business Journal via AGC SmartBrief]
Geologic Hazards
Ohio Sinkhole Devours Four Football Fields Of Land, Stretch Of State Highway 516 Near Dover
A sinkhole the size of 4 football fields has opened up in Dover, Ohio. The sinkhole is located near a Lake where an Asphalt company has been dredging for sand some 50 feet below the […]
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)
Press Releases
Nicholson Completes Emergency Response Grouting Operation on Major Missouri Interstate with Minimal Traffic Impact
Pittsburgh, PA – June 2, 2011 – Missouri’s Interstate 44 is considered one of the most frequently traveled highways in the central United States. In early March of 2011, Nicholson Construction was contacted to perform an emergency response grouting operation on the Gasconade Bridge, part of I-44 westbound, over the Gasconade River in Laclede County.
During construction of the drilled shaft foundations for Temporary Bent No. 6, it was determined that voids were present both beneath and adjacent to the north footing for Intermediate Bent No. 6. Test borings by MoDOT indicated that the void varied in depth from zero to five feet, but the horizontal extents were unknown upon Nicholson’s arrival to the site. [Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release from GeoPrac.net sponsor Nicholson Construction. [/Editor]