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.

hydraulic fracuturing for natural gas extraction
Miscellaneous

Fracking Chemicals in Your Water

November 18, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Fracking Chemicals in Your Water

The good folks at Geology.com have pointed out a very interesting and alarming article on hazardous chemicals that may be used in the Hydrofrac process of natural gas extraction and their impact on groundwater. The […]

USGS Logo
Geologic Hazards

What Would a Large Earthquake Do to Downtown L.A.?

November 7, 2008 rockman Comments Off on What Would a Large Earthquake Do to Downtown L.A.?

USGS LogoFrom the USGS Newsroom:

USGS scientist Ken Hudnut fills us in on how science created the theoretical magnitude 7.8 earthquake behind the Great Southern California ShakeOut—the largest earthquake preparedness drill in U.S. history, coming Nov. 13—and what such an earthquake would do to downtown Los Angeles.

Seems like they did it right wiith this study. They had multiple teams independenlty come up with the ground shaking model, then had different structural engineers who are experts in seismic design of large buildings review the tall buildings in the L.A. area for the design earthquake. They say that buildings would likely come down in the 7.8 magnitude event. Click through to watch the video interview from the USGS.

 

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Mill Creek Dam near Walla Walla Washington
Failures

Mill Creek Dam near Walla Walla, WA Leaking, Receives Corps Worst Rating

November 7, 2008 rockman Comments Off on Mill Creek Dam near Walla Walla, WA Leaking, Receives Corps Worst Rating

Mill Creek Dam near Walla Walla WashingtonThe Mill Creek Dam near Walla Walla, Washington has served its purpose admirably for over 67 years but according to a recent report by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the dam received a Dam Safety Action Category (DSAC) rating of 1 out of 5 which means that the risk to public safety is too great when Bennington lake which is formed by the dam is more than 17% full for an extended period of time. More after the break. (Photo by USACOE)

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Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Owego, NY
Press Releases

GEI Consultants Completes Site at Proposed New Nuclear Plant for AREVA and UniStar Nuclear Energy

November 7, 2008 rockman Comments Off on GEI Consultants Completes Site at Proposed New Nuclear Plant for AREVA and UniStar Nuclear Energy

Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Owego, NYUniStar Submitted NRC License Application September 30 for Potential New Reactor in New York

BOSTON, Mass. – GEI Consultants, Inc., a leading national geotechnical, environmental, water resources, and ecological science and engineering firm, announced today it has completed the geotechnical and hydrogeological investigations for UniStar Nuclear Energy’s proposed new nuclear reactor adjacent to Constellation Energy’s Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station near Oswego, New York. These investigations were required to develop the final design of the planned reactor and to support UniStar’s September 2008 submission of a Combined License Application (COLA) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). [Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release. (Photo of the existing Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station. (Photo from Contingency Management Associates, Inc.) [/Editor]

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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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