
Favorite Articles
- For those geotechnical engineers in the transportation sector, the 2007 AASHTO Code was a major change, moving from allowable stress design to load and resistance factor design (LRFD). My former boss, Naresh Samtani has been at the forefront of the adoption of the code, and was kind enough to contribute two LRFD articles – LRFD for Geotech – Note 1 and LRFD for Geotech – Note 2.
- Another former colleague and a former professor of mine for foundation engineering, Ed Nowatzki, contributed a fantastic article entitled “The Ultimate Geotechnical Engineering Challenge” about his work on the geotechnical aspects of the NASA Apollo lunar module or LM.
- Another great contributed article came from Robert Cummings on the topic of Aesthetic Blasting for highway slopes.
- Some of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on over the years have involved side-hill retaining walls. I wrote a two-part article sharing my experiences with these types of retaining walls, including investigation and analysis methods and a breakdown of possible wall types and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Check out Side Hill Retaining Walls Part 1 and Side Hill Retaining Walls Part 2.
Favorite Blog Posts
- Remember those trapped miners in Chile and that dramatic rescue where they drilled over 2,000 feet below ground to bring them up in a rescue capsule about 26 inches in diameter? That was awesome! Here’s my summary of the rescue with an emphasis on the drilling and driller.
- Seven Amazing Holes – This blog post started as a forwarded email I received, and it’s consistently in the top 2 or 3 articles of all time on GeoPrac!
- Geotechnical Engineering Challenges of British Columbia’s Sea-to-Sky Highway, gateway to the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. I think the rather long-winded title of this post says it all.
- Engineering Geologists vs Geological Engineers vs Geotechnical Engineers
- Indefinite "Temporary" Nuclear Waste Storage and the Need for Nuclear Power
- There and Back Again…Ed Medley. This post is about a hero of mine, a true geological engineer!
- Remembering Geology Fieldcamp – A reflective look at a pretty awesome experience during my schooling.
- North America’s Tallest MSE Wall
- 27 Years Ago: Bizarre Drilling Disaster at Lake Peigneur
- Personal Reflections on I-35 Bridge Collapse in Minneapolis
- I-70 Glenwood Canyon Rock Slide Damages Road, Bridge
- Hanging Lake Tunnel (Colorado) repair nearly complete
- The Claremont Tunnel – Designed to Survive Fault Rupture on the Hayward Fault
I could go on, and I know there is a lot of content here and it would be impossible to read all of these items, but I hope you discover something interesting that you haven’t read before on GeoPrac. If you find even one article or post to read, that would be the best way I can think of to celebrate this anniversary!
Happy Birthday GeoPrac! Love the “cake” graphic. Congratulations, Randy!
It’s been great to see your site grow because we all know how hard you’ve work and the time spent making it a great site. Congrats and here’s to another 6 years!;)
Thanks Robert and Ty for the well wishes!