News – Page 135 – GeoPrac.net

The death spiral of testing and inspection in construction

January 31, 2011 rockman Comments Off

This is a commentary written by Jaye Richardson, a materials operation manager with AMEC Earth and Environmental, Inc. It appeared in CE News in August of 2010, but I just came accross it in CENews.com’s […]

Failing retaining wall pushes building sideways

Failing Retaining Wall Pushing Building

January 31, 2011 rockman Comments Off

A failing retaining wall in Cincinatti is applying enough pressure to an adjacent brick apartment building to actually move portions of the building sideways by about 1-inch. You have to love brick buildings for forensic […]

MACTEC Rejects Allegations Made in Delaware Department of Transportation Lawsuit

January 31, 2011 rockman Comments Off

ALPHARETTA, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In response to a Jan. 28th lawsuit filed by the Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) in connection with the Indian River Inlet Bridge (IRIB) replacement project against bridge design firm Figg Bridge Engineers, Inc. (Figg), MACTEC, a sub-consultant to Figg, denies the allegations in the lawsuit and cites DelDOT’s actions, project management, and decision-making as the factors that led to increased costs for the bridge. MACTEC is confident that a truly objective, fact-based review of the chronology of events, DelDOT’s responsibilities, and DelDOT’s decisions, including withholding of key information from Figg and MACTEC with the approval from the highest level in DelDOT, will result in dismissal of the complaint.

[Editor] For the rest of MACTEC’s press release, click through. [/Editor]

[…]

Zarnani and Bathurst display the geogrid and geofoam they are using in earthquake mitigation research

New earthquake mitigation material – geofoam and geogrid

January 30, 2011 rockman Comments Off

Graduate student Saman Zarnani and Dr. Richard Bathurst of the Royal Military College have developed a new application for geofoam and geosynthetics, to mitigate earthquake damage by improving the foundation subgrade. Initial shake table testing […]

DelDOT Indian River Inlet Bridge in late 2007 or early 2008

Delaware sues geotechnical firm MACTEC for $19.6M

January 30, 2011 rockman 1

The lawsuit filed in Sussex County Superior Court claims breach of contract by Florida-based Figg Bridge Engineers and its subcontractor, Atlanta-based MACTEC Engineering related to alleged geotechnical engineering errors. It also accuses MACTEC of providing […]

T. William Lambe - Renowned Geotechnical Engineer, 'Geo-Legend'

Geo-Legend T. William Lambe

January 28, 2011 rockman Comments Off

In recent Geo-Strata magazines published by the ASCE’s Geo-Institute, there is a new recurring feature called ‘Geo-Legends’ where a student interviews a well known person in the field of geotechnical engineering. The second in the […]

Whale forming in tailings pond over peat

Whales in Geomembranes: Stronger than Concrete

January 27, 2011 rockman 1

Geosynthetica has some interesting photos of so called ‘whales’ in geomembranes. These giant bubbles are caused by a variety of things, but are essentially gas trapped underneath the geomembrane that can have significant buoyant force, […]

Blast shield being lowered into Hudson River

Port Authority Covers Hudson Subway Tunnels with Blast Shields to Protect Against Terror Attacks

January 27, 2011 rockman Comments Off

The century-old PATH subway tunnels underneath the Hudson River were not excavated through bedrock, but rather under a thick layer of silt and clay. Apparently there is a a sufficient security concern to warrant protecting […]

Lateral resistance function for micropile in clay socketed into bedrock

Micropiles for Slope Stabilization

January 27, 2011 rockman Comments Off

In an August 2010 article in ADSC’s Foundation Drilling Magazine, Eric Loehr and Dan Brown of Dan Brown and Associates summarized the key findings from a report they authored on the use of micropiles in […]

Weekend CUP for January 25, 2011

January 25, 2011 rockman Comments Off

Iranian cultural site, Persepolis vulnerable to earthquakes – Source: Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS) Highway Trust Fund Rescue Effort – Source: Bond Buyer via AGC SmartBrief kcICON Project Opens Ahead of Schedule – Source: […]