News

News, announcements, policy updates, spotlighted websites, software updates and other info that may be of interest to practicing geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, geophysicists, hydrogeologists and related professions.

Peridotite, possible means of carbon sequestration
Miscellaneous

Carbon Sequestration as Hard Rock

November 6, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Carbon Sequestration as Hard Rock

Most carbon sequestration approaches focus on injecting CO2 underground for storage in porous aquifers and hoping the gas doesn’t escape. There are other problems with this approach as well, including chemical reactions that create Carbonic […]

Bump at the end of a bridge approach slab.
Journal Article Reviews

Scary: Things that go bump…at the end of the bridge

October 31, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Scary: Things that go bump…at the end of the bridge

Bump at the end of a bridge approach slab.[Update 2008-11-03] The Link to the Journal’s homepage requires you to purchase the article. Too bad. Try the CDOT report instead I guess. [/Update]

First off, sorry for the cheesy Halloween tie-in. The other day I read an interesting paper in the Journal of the Transportation Research Record, No. 2045, of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).  The paper was titled: “Evaluation and Recommendations for Flowfill, and Mechanically Stabilized Earth Bridge Approaches.” I’ll post the full citation below. (Photo from FHWA NHI Soils and Foundation Course Slides, NHI Course No. 132012)

The authors describe the standard of practice for Colorado DOT (CDOT) projects for the last 16 years with regard to the construction of bridge approaches in an attempt to eliminate the problem with the “bump at the end of the bridge”. They discuss some of the common reasons for problems with approaches, and some possible solutions. Click through for more.

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Software Updates

ReSSA and FoSSA Updates

October 29, 2008 rockman Comments Off on ReSSA and FoSSA Updates

Earlier this month, ADAMA Software released updates to their Embankment/Footing Stress and Settlement program and Reinforced Soil Slope software packages. Update 3.1 for ReSSA 3.0 was posted on the 26th and update 15.1 to FoSSA 2.0 was posted on the 12th. Click through for the download link.

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Ralph B. Peck - 1912-2008
In Memoriam

Geoengineer.org: New Ralph Peck

October 29, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Geoengineer.org: New Ralph Peck

[Update 10/29/08 10pm] See below. [/Update] The Geoengineer.org website is developing a website honoring the memory of Professor Emeritus Ralph B. Peck. As you no doubt read previously on Geoprac or elsewhere, Ralph Peck passed […]

Google Earth for iPhone
Software Updates

Google Earth for iPhone Released

October 27, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Google Earth for iPhone Released

Google Earth for iPhoneGoogle announced on Sunday that it had released Google Earth for the popular iPhone device. So far it doesn’t have access to all of the content layers that you can view in the desktop version of your software, but it does have panoramio photos and Wikipedia articles and most impressively, the 3D terrain option. You can view the surrounding terrain in 3D by simply tilting your phone from horizontal.  It also lets you search for nearby businesses and appears to pull in other content related to those businesses from the web, such as reviews etc.  Now, if only I could come up with the $$ to spring for an iPhone!  More info at CNet and Google Earth blog. Or click through for a video demo. (Photo credit: Google by way of CNet).

 

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