News – Page 168 – GeoPrac.net

A plume of dust at Yosemite National park after a rock slide Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. Photo by National Park Service, Erik Skindrud.

Rockfall in Yosemite causes hotel evacuation of all 300 guests

August 29, 2009 rockman Comments Off

A landslide in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday damaged three cars in the parking lot of the Ahwahnee Hotel and left rocks, one the size of two SUV’s in the parking lot. Park officials evacuated […]

Weekend CUP August 23, 2009

August 24, 2009 rockman Comments Off

I flag tons of interesting news items over the course of a week. I usually like to summarize the article when I post about it and maybe add a photo or embed a video or […]

Recent Rockfall Stories in New Zealand, Colorado and Portugal

August 24, 2009 rockman Comments Off

There were three fairly recent rockfall events with fatalities that made the news and caught my eye. State Highway 36 in New Zealand is still closed after a major rockfall occurred in Rotura. The photo […]

Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle - Photo by Seattle PI

Tunnel Replacing Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct “a done deal”

August 24, 2009 rockman 1

Controversy was swirling around last week’s Seattle Mayoral primary race as incumbent Mayor Greg Nickels supports the tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct and challenger Michael McGinn wants to tear down the viaduct and […]

Hutchinson, Kansas Sinkhole – Site of Former Salt Mine

August 24, 2009 rockman Comments Off

The new owner of land that used to be owned and mined by the Carey Salt Company is in talks to buy out 32 homes in the area because of subsidence and sinkholes. They have […]

Mega Earthquake Could Strike Closer to Seattle

August 20, 2009 rockman Comments Off

Preliminary results from a study related to the subduction of the Juan De Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate off the coast of Washington and British Columbia indicate that the potential mega-thrust earthquake could […]

A mudslide in Kaohsiung county, Taiwan, after typhoon Morakot. Photograph: AP

Taiwan Mudslides – Death Toll As Many as 600

August 17, 2009 rockman Comments Off

According to JapanToday, the death toll from the Typhoon Morakot caused mudslides and related damage could be as high as 600 after the typhoon dumped over 2-meters of rain (79-inches!) on the island nation. The […]

Landslide Video But Not What You Think

August 15, 2009 rockman Comments Off

There is nothing funny about landslides, particularly when you consider the tremendous loss of life that happens all the time around the world, most recently in Taiwan, China, Sierra Leone and elsewhere. But the well known humor site, the Onion has taken a pretty good crack at this usually unfunny subject in their video “news” clip Reporter In Helicopter Pretty Sure Landslide Down There Somewhere. Its a very amusing video that’s really about journalists and their attempts to get the scoop about a story, not really about landslides at all. Click through for the embedded video. Happy weekend. […]

CALTRANS Publishes Guide For Design With Subgrade Enhancement Geotextiles

August 12, 2009 rockman Comments Off

Geotextiles are frequently used for subgrade improvement under roadways. Caltrans has released a document titled "Guide for Designing Subgrade Enhancing Geotextiles". This 18-page document covers what situations can be improved using geotextiles and includes a […]

Up to $331M of New Orleans Levee Reconstruction Work Awarded

August 11, 2009 rockman Comments Off

In four separate contracts, up to $331 million in levee reconstruction projects were awarded last week by the USACE to rebuild levees in some of the hardest hit areas from Hurricane Katrina, including St. Bernard […]