Provo Utah Rock Fall Event

April 27, 2009 rockman 1

The rock at left travelled nearly a mile down the slope and picked up some significant velocity before impacting a house, hitting the back wall and damaging the ceiling before dropping through the floor into the garage and damaging the garage door. In an often-overlook advantage of the current financial crisis, the house was currently in foreclosure and therefore not occupied at the time of the damage. Read on for links, more info and a map of the location so you can view the terrain. (Photo by Provo Fire Department by way of Utah Geologic Survey)

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Standards and Codes

ASTM Updates April 2009

April 27, 2009 rockman Comments Off

American Society of Testing Materials Logo - ASTM Our monthly ASTM standards update for those in the geotechnical, geo-environmental, hydrogeology and geo-construction fields. This month there are some new standards related to structural cementitious panels, revisions to standards related to slate and dimension stone, and a reapproved standard for monitoring well protection among others. Click through for more info.

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Software Updates

GeoStudio 2007 Update – Version 7.14

April 23, 2009 rockman Comments Off

GEO-SLOPE International, makers of the GeoStudio 2007 geotechnical software suite have announced a significant update to their GeoStudio 2007 software products, which includes SLOPE/W, SIGMA/W and SEEP/W, QUAKE/W and others. The update includes several new features and a large number of fixes. The last update of GeoStudio 2007 was in September of 2008. New features of interest include:

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SR 87 Landslide Presentation at Roads and Streets Conference

April 17, 2009 rockman Comments Off

Last week was the annual American Council of Engineering Companies of Arizona Roads and Streets Conference in my home town of Tucson, Arizona. Its a transportation themed conference as you might guess, but there are usually a few geotechnical-type presentations. This year, there was an excellent presentation on the SR 87 Landslide that occurred about 1-year ago on the highway between Phoenix and Payson. The presentation was given by Keith Dhalen, PE with AECOM , Wayne Harrison, RG also with AECOM and Scott Neely, PE with Terracon . Read on for my recap of the presentation. (Photo by ADOT via AZGS)

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New Release – Surfer Version 9 (Gridding and Contouring Software)

April 16, 2009 rockman Comments Off

Surfer Software distributor, Rockware, Inc. posted information about Surfer Version 9 released earlier this month. Surfer is a gridding and surface mapping software that can create contour, surface, wireframe, vector, image, shaded relief, and post maps from your XYZ data. Some of the new features include…

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Screenshot from SRWall 4.0 software from the NCMA used for designing segmental retaining walls.

New NCMA Segmental Retaining Wall Design Manual and Software

April 14, 2009 rockman 4

Screenshot from SRWall 4.0 software from the NCMA used for designing segmental retaining walls. This summer, the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) will release the third edition of its Design Manual for Segmental Retaining Walls (DMSRW) along with SRWall 4.0 software for the design of segmental retaining walls. SRW walls with higher wall heights often make use of geotextile or geogrid reinforcement putting them in the category of mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls or MSE Walls. The first edition of the manual was published in 1993 and is routinely used for everything from landscaping walls to multi-tiered commercial and residential retaining walls. This summer is shaping up to be a busy one for those in the retaining wall business as the FHWA NHI 2009 MSE Wall Manual is set to be released around the same time frame as well. Read on for more info on the DMSRW. (Screen shot by Gabriela Mariscal from NCMA via CE News)

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Ad van Zwieten lived on the Vijzelgracht until his house was declared unfit for habitation, after subsidences caused by the metro construction work. Photo Maurice Boyer, nrc.nl

Amsterdam Looking at Cologne Tunnel Collapse – Project Similarities?

April 8, 2009 rockman Comments Off

City officials and residents in Amsterdam, Netherlands are looking at the recent Cologne tunnel collapse and wondering if the construction of their fourth metro line could have similar problems. Although the tunnels themselves have not […]

JTFAP Document Will Affect Every Geotechnical Engineer and Engineering Geologist

April 7, 2009 rockman Comments Off

A document entitled “Engineering and Geology Practice Guidelines” has been prepared by the JTFAP or Joint Task Force on Areas of Practice. The JFTAP was comprised of representatives from The American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG), the Association of Environmental and Engineering Geologists (AEG) and the Geo-Institute (G-I) of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). A draft of the document was published in February of 2009 and members of AEG have already been providing comments to their board through the Section Chairs for possible revisions to the document or for opinions on whether or not AEG should adopt it. A recent email to AEG Members from the President of AEG, Mark Molinari, indicates that the G-I has released the document to their membership for review and comments. Read on for more info.

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Cologne Tunnel Contractor’s and Engineers’ Offices Raided

April 6, 2009 rockman Comments Off

According to a Reuters article, Cologne State Prosecutors raided the offices of various contractors, engineers, and even the Cologne Public Transport company to collect evidence in an investigation into the cause of the collapse of […]

GeoPrac.net turns two! Geology cake stratigraphy by Khol-y (Flickr) after original design by Tim Babb.

GeoPrac Turns Two!

April 5, 2009 rockman Comments Off

GeoPrac.net is now well into its toddler years! Today marks the second anniversary of the site. The past year has seen a major upgrade to the content management system, a new design, Geothreads, Delicious geotech, […]