The timber piles of the existing I-5 bridge over the Columbia River is vulnerable to liquefaction in the event of a major earthquake. And there is no shortage of potential sources for the shaking in the area. A slip along the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate could be one potential source, as could a major fault zone along Portland’s west hills. These considerations are one of the reasons a new Columbia River Crossing project is being pursued. [Source: The Columbian via AGC SmartBrief. Image: The Columbian]
Related Articles
New fault discovery in California could burst dam
June 26, 2011
rockman
Geologic Hazards
Comments Off on New fault discovery in California could burst dam
Oso landslide: differences of opinion about the landslide mechanisms
July 31, 2014
rockman
Geologic Hazards
Comments Off on Oso landslide: differences of opinion about the landslide mechanisms
Professor Petley, the author of the Landslide Blog, has an interesting discussion about a controversy in the geoengineering / geology community regarding the Oso landslide in Washington State. The Geotechnical Engineering Extreme Events Reconaissance (or […]
Kansas Geological Survey uses Geophysics to Find Border Tunnels
February 5, 2008
rockman
Geophysics
Comments Off on Kansas Geological Survey uses Geophysics to Find Border Tunnels
The Kansas Geological Survey has some interesting seismic equipment that they have used on behalf of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to look for drug tunnels along the US-Mexico border. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. The sensors all appear to be placed within an old fire hose and mounted onto a Bobcat Toolcat utility machine. On the front of the vehicle is a cyllinder with a 60-lb weight that gets dropped. Read on. (Photo by Richard Gwin, LJWorld.com)