News – Page 186 – GeoPrac.net

Johannasburg Sinkhole Opens after Tunnel Collapse

July 10, 2008 rockman Comments Off

A 12m long sinkhole opened up on Oxford Road in northern Johannesburg South Africa after a partial tunnel collapse in the Gautrain rail tunnel being constructed underneath the road. Eyewitness accounts say there was a broken water pipe flooding the sinkhole, but no word on which occurred first. The road is expected to be closed for 2 weeks. Gautrain representatives said the tunneling would resume after geotechnical/geological investigations into the collapse are completed, which could take "several weeks". (Photo credit: Werner Beukes, Sapa via News24.com)

Via The Star (Zambia) and News24.com (Johannesburg?)

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Wolosick receives 2008 Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award

July 10, 2008 rockman Comments Off

John R. Wolosick, P.E., M.ASCE, of Hayward Baker Inc. has been named the recipient of the 2008 Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award.

Odenton, Md. (Vocus/PRWEB ) July 9, 2008 — John R. Wolosick, P.E., M.ASCE, has been named the recipient of the 2008 Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award. The Geo-Institute Board of Governors of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) selected Wolosick for this award, noting his valuable contributions to micropile design and development, slope stabilization and retaining wall repairs.

The award citation presented to Wolosick cited his work for â€œnovel and innovative design and construction applications for micropiling, earth retention, slope and dam stabilization works and the dissemination of this experience through publications, presentations, seminars and tireless promotion of new technology for acceptance in industry and government.â€

[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release [/Editor]

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Lasers, Software and the Devil’s Slide

July 1, 2008 rockman Comments Off

[Editor] National Science Foundation (NSF) Press Release – June 30, 2008. Screenshot Credits: Jeramy Decker, Kiewit Corp [/Editor]

Running for more than 1,000 kilometers along picturesque coastline, California’s Highway 1 is easy prey for many of the natural hazards plaguing the region, including landslides.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is currently building a kilometer-long tunnel to bypass one of the most landslide-prone stretches of the highway, the Devil’s Slide, to help ensure drivers’ safe passage.

Using a new software package developed by researchers at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., project engineers are getting a detailed 3-D view of the rock exposed in the excavation, adding a new tool for improving both safety and construction progress.

[Editor] Click through for the rest of the press release. [/Editor]

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Midwest Flooding – Collection of Links

July 1, 2008 rockman Comments Off

The Association of State Dam Safety Officials has a nice collection of links and article summaries for the recent devastating flooding that has hit the Midwest U.S. They do a nice job of breaking it down by state as well. (Image of flooding in Cedar Rapids, IA on 6/13/08. Photo by USGS)

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Geokon Demos New Vista Data Vision Site Monitoring Software

July 1, 2008 rockman Comments Off

Geokon has a new demo site for their implementation of Vista Data Vision software. It uses real data from a bridge monitoring project but the identity of the bridge has been witheld. The company uses the third party software to provide real-time data and alerts from their dataloggers for a variety of site monitoring applications, including tiltmeters, strain gauges, extensometers, pressure transducers and more. Check out their newsletter for instructions on how to use the demo site if you have trouble. (Screen capture credit: Geokon)

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Sea-Tac Runway Nearing Completion

June 30, 2008 rockman Comments Off

[Correction] Whoops, I think it’s North America’s tallest MSE Wall, not the world’s. Anyone know what the World’s tallest MSE wall is? [/Correction]

TheNewsTribune.com has an interesting article on the Sea-Tac third runway project and how it is nearing completion and an overview of the hurdles faced. This was a unique project from a geotechnical perspective because in order to construct the runway, North America’s tallest MSE retaining wall at 130-ft high was built. One thing I didn’t know is that the 13 million cu-yd of fill needed to construct the runway needed to pass careful inspection to make sure it was free of contaminants and similar in mineralogical composition to the on-site materials. The implications and reasoning are explained in this quote from the article:

â€œWe had to find gravel that originated in the same place in Canada and that was transported here by the glaciers as the gravel that was here on the site,â€ said King.

The reasoning behind such a requirement is that water that leached through the fill would pick up minute traces of the minerals in the fill, drain into the creeks and confuse or damage native salmon returning to those creeks.

By way of ASCE SmartBrief.

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380,000 Jobs Now in Jeopardy Because Congress Fails To Rescue Americaâ€™s Transportation Account

June 30, 2008 rockman Comments Off

[Editor] From American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials, released June 26, 2008. [/Editor]

An estimated 380,000 thousand jobs and hundreds of construction projects are in jeopardy across the nation after Congress failed this week to fix a 3.3 billion dollar deficit in the Highway Trust Fund. The House and Senate dropped a provision from a three-month aviation tax extension bill that would have provided $8 billion to keep the nationâ€™s transportation account solvent.

AASHTO Executive Director John Horsley expressed his strong disappointment saying, â€œIf members of Congress believe that this failure to act has no consequences, theyâ€™re wrong.â€ Most states depend on federal funding to support transportation projects, but states wonâ€™t know if their federal highway funding will be cut by 34 percent until their fiscal year begins. For many states, the fiscal year starts on July 1.

This failure to act sets the stage for a last minute effort in late September to rescue Americaâ€™s Transportation Account. If that does not occur, the federal-aid highway program will be reduced by $13.5 and $20 billion.

This loss would be another blow to the transportation industry, which is suffering from a stagnant economy, high fuel prices, inflationary pressures, and natural disasters.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is the â€œVoice of Transportationâ€ representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. AASHTO is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association serving as a catalyst for excellence in transportation.

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Wind Turbine Foundations and Massive Off-Shore Turbines

June 29, 2008 rockman Comments Off

Within the span of a few days I had two wind turbine foundation items to post. First, an old U of A Geological Engineering colleague, Eric Ntambakwa sent me a link to a paper written by him and a colleage (Kirk Morgan). Both of them work for Garrad Hassan America, Inc., one of the preeminent authorities on wind turbine design. Their paper entitled "Wind Turbine Foundation Behavior and Design Considerations" was a very interesting look at foundations in this specialized industry. The other item came from ENR, and was about massive, "behemoth" off-shore wind turbines with an interesting foundation design. Read on for the rest of the details. (Photo by brentdanley)

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Ohio DOT to use EQuIS for Geotechnical Data Management

June 25, 2008 rockman Comments Off

June 19, 2008. EarthSoft today announced that it has received a contract from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) for an Enterprise version of EQuIS for geotechnical data management, including support of new DIGGS (Data Interchange for Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Specialists) EDDs.

[Editor] Read on for the rest of the press release. Screen capture credit: EarthSoft, Inc. [/Editor]

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