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.
Standards and Codes
ASTM Updates September 2009
This post contains a summary of geotechnical, materials testing, geosynthetic and related testing standards that were updated by ASTM during the month of September. This month there were not as many updates as the last couple, but a few that caught my eye are a new standard for measuring geosynthetic-soil resilient interface shear stiffness, a revision to the standard practice for laboratories testing concrete and concrete aggregates for use in construction and criteria for laboratory evaluation and a revision to the standard for measuring slump flow of self-consolidating concrete.
Geologic Hazards
Amazing video of 2011 magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Japan
Via @davely on Twitter.