A recent study concluded that three of four recently constructed segments of a new port facility in Anchorage, Alaska were not constructed correctly and even if they were, are vulnerable to liquefaction related damage during an earthquake. The $2.2M study was performed by CH2M Hill for the US Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Maritime Commission. A draft was issued in November, and was recently approved by Anchorage’s Geotechnical Advisory Commision and the final version of the report addressing the Commission’s comments should be soon to follow. CH2M Hill is conducting an additional $500K of work to lay out options. [Source: Alaska Journal of Commerce. Image: Mark Meyer Photography]
Related Articles
Audit: Federal agency failed in oversight of port expansion in Anchorage
The U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General released a scathing audit report on the troubled Port of Anchorage expansion project and the obscure federal agency that was supposed to be overseeing it, the Maritime Administration […]
Possible Seepage at Newly Constructed New Orleans Levee
Wet spots have been detected along a portion of a new levee being constructed by a US Army Corps of Engineers Contractor. The levee is approximately 95% complete, but the Levee Board wants to establish what is causing the apparent seepage before accepting the levee. More after the break. (Photo of Katrina levee failure from greenmannowar)
China Earthquake Coverage
The regular news media as well as the geo-blogosphere are all abuzz about Monday’s 7.9 magnitude earthquake in central China. Official death toll is at 12,000 right now and that’s in Sichuan Province alone. My guess is that number will swell substantially in the coming days. If you haven’t seen photos and video yet, they are absolutely gut-wrenching. My heart and prayers go out to the victims of this disaster. (Photo by Liu Hai, AP)
Several geo-bloggers have posts about the earthquake. Harold Asmis of Ontario-GeoFish describes the earthquake as a "big valley-thrust earthquake" or what he calls the "Fist of God". Dave’s Landslide Blog has started compiling reports of landslides related to the earthquake in this landslide prone region of China. And here is the USGS info on the earthquake.