This video in Terracon’s video sequence on site characterization discusses lab testing. [Source: Terracon YouTube Channel. Image: YouTube]
Site Characterization Services: Step 4 Laboratory Testing
Geologic Hazards
New Zealand city council bans entry to 500 homes over geotechnical hazards
The Christ Church City Council has issued a notice banning entry to over 500 homes because of risks associated with rockfall, landslides, cliff collapse and other geotechnical problems exacerbated by recent earthquakes. [Source: Scoop News]
Project Related
Foundations and Geotechnical Engineering for the Burj Dubai – World’s Tallest Building
The Burj Dubai Tower has recently reached it’s final height of 818m (2,684-ft or almost exactly 1/2 a mile!). The foundation system for the Burj Dubai is comprised of 192 bored piles (drilled shafts in my practice) 1.5-m (approximately 5-ft) in diameter and approximately 50-m deep (164-ft). A 3.7-m (12-ft) thick raft foundation sits on top of the piles under the full footprint of the structure. (Image from BurjDubaiSkyscraper.com)
The geotechnical investigation for the Burj Dubai (now to be known as Burj Khalifa after the UAE President) is described in detail in a paper by the geotechnical engineer of record, Grahame Bunce of Hyder Consulting (UK) and the independent technical reviewer for the geotechnical design, Harry G. Poulos of Coffey Geotechnics. Click through for the link to the paper and more details. […]
Miscellaneous
Terracon Foundation Awards $100,000 Grant for Geotechnical Laboratory
The Terracon Foundation announced a $100,000 grant to the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois) for a new geotechnical laboratory planned as part of the CEE […]