GeoPrac sponsor Moretrench was very active at the recent Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference in New Orleans earlier this month. VP Paul Schmall helped teach a short course on grouting in underground construction, and Director of Ground Freezing Technology, Joe Sopko, co-chaired the Grouting and Ground Modification technical session, and there were three technical papers presented on Moretrench projects. [Source: Visit the Moretrench Blog to read more about the conference and see what projects were featured there. Image: Moretrench]
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Niagara Tunnel – Crappy rock, Horizontal stress, SLOOOOOW progress
[Updated November 17, 2009] A few new posts from Ontario-geofish [/Updated]
Those with interest in rock mechanics and tunneling might be interested in this project. The Ontario Power Generation (OPG) company is the owner of a $600M (Canadian) construction project to create a third hydro power tunnel under Niagara Falls. Apparently the project is having all kinds of problems with overbreak in some very difficult tunneling conditions which means very slow progress and big $$ overruns. (Photo from niagarafrontier.com)
I’ve been meaning to post something on this project for some time. I admit that my perspective is biased by the viewpoint you can find on the Ontario-geofish blog. I’ve mentioned Harold Asmis before, he’s the owner of the OG blog, and a former OPG employee if I understand correctly. He left OPG for a career doing geophysics and earthquake engineering for the Nuclear Power industry in Canada. I highly recommend his blog, he has great insight into tunneling, earthquakes, siting of nuclear power plants not to mention opinions on all kinds of other things. His writing style is very colorful and entertaining as well.
So, Harold has written a whole series of blog posts on the Niagra Tunnel project, including a 5-part series entitled "The Disaster of the Niagara Tunnel" and a 4-part series called "Niagara Tunnel: doing it Right". He is not directly involved with the project, but his long career with OPG and related disciplines gives him some great insights. I’ve collected a list of some of his blog posts on the Niagara Tunnel project as well as a few other links about the project. Click through for the good stuff.
Ground Freezing Goes Mainstream with Popular Mechanics
GeoPrac sponsor Moretrench is a specialty geotechnical contractor known for their expertise with a variety of geotechnical construction methods. But they are probably best known for their niche work with ground freezing technology. Popular Mechanics […]
Thomas J. Tuozzolo, P.E. joins the Board of ADSC
[Editor] Moretrench [/Editor] Vice President Thomas J. Tuozzolo was elected to the Board of the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ASDC) at the IFCEE Conference held in March, 2009. Mr. Tuozzolo, who has overall responsibility […]