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.

Available Resources

New FHWA Publication: Design and Construction of Continuous Flight Auger Piles (GEC No. 8)

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on New FHWA Publication: Design and Construction of Continuous Flight Auger Piles (GEC No. 8)

[Update October 24, 2007] And only about 6 months later, the FHWA has finally posted it on their website [/Update]

There is a new FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) publication. GEC Number 8 is titled "Design and Construction of Continuous Flight Auger Piles". Read on for more info and a link to download. (Photo from GEC No. 8)

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Miscellaneous

Seismic Firms see Business Booming thanks to “Big Oil”

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Seismic Firms see Business Booming thanks to “Big Oil”

"The age of easy oil is over," Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Andrew Gould said at a recent energy conference in New Orleans. This fact and rising oil prices has led to a dramatic surge in oil exploration, and therefore work for seismic firms. According to Yahoo! news, WesternGeco, Schlumberger’s seismic division has over $1.1 Billion (yep, Billion) in backlog work. (Image by EnviroScan Inc.)

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Geologic Hazards

Residents of Astoria Oregon Learn Hard Lesson on Landslides

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Residents of Astoria Oregon Learn Hard Lesson on Landslides

Update: Feds approve disaster relief funding for Astoria Slide

Some of you might remember Astoria Oregon as the picturesque backdrop for the movies Goonies or Kindergarten Cop. But now it might be known for something else: being the most landslide prone city on the northern Pacific coast. (Photo by ALEX PAJUNAS – The Daily Astorian)

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Miscellaneous

From Utah: March a “disaster for snowpacks”

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on From Utah: March a “disaster for snowpacks”

Abysmal may be the best description of the spring runoff, with no part of the state retaining more than 50 percent of the typical snowpack for this time of year. For some places, "it’s a new record-low snowpack," said Randy Julander, snow survey supervisor with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Salt Lake City. Read on for more info. (Photo by tuchodi)

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Press Releases

High-tech Earthquake Monitoring Instruments Reveal Expansion of San Gabriel Valley After Heavy Rainf

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on High-tech Earthquake Monitoring Instruments Reveal Expansion of San Gabriel Valley After Heavy Rainf

New and intriguing information identified by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research. For the first time, researchers have identified large-scale surface uplift and expansion in the San Gabriel Valley directly caused by groundwater recharge, due to near-record rainfall in 2004-2005. The San Gabriel Valley rose almost 2 inches (47 mm) in less than four months, and the margins of the basin were pushed outward by almost half an inch (10 mm). The expansion was five times larger than slight oscillations observed since 1998.

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Available Resources

Geothermal Energy in Arizona

April 18, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Geothermal Energy in Arizona

Arizona’s State Geologist, Lee Allison has posted some interesting information on geothermal energy in Arizona on his blog. He was commenting on a March 23, 2007 meeting of the Arizona Geothermal Working Group. The biggest thing he took away from the meeting is that geothermal energy in Arizona has greater potential than people think. Read on for links. (Image from SMU Geothermal Lab)

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Standards and Codes

Updated ASTM Standards and Work Items

April 17, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Updated ASTM Standards and Work Items

ASTM has released some updated standards. From here on out, I will post a list of some of the ones that are related to our fields. Sometimes their relativity may be a stretch, but I’ll let you folks decide. This time around one that caught my eye was D4719 – Standard Test Method for Prebored Pressuremeter Testing in Soils. Read on for links and a full list.

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Geologic Hazards

New Madrid Fault Zone Controversey

April 17, 2007 rockman Comments Off on New Madrid Fault Zone Controversey

Geologists and seismologists have long studied the New Madrid Seismic Zone after three magnitude 8 earthquakes struck the area in the Winter of 1811-1812. However a forthcoming report by Seth Stein and published by the American Geological Society contends the hazard has been overstated. His colleagues at the USGS and the University of Memphis disagree.

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Regional

Sheet Piling Controversy in New Orleans

April 17, 2007 rockman Comments Off on Sheet Piling Controversy in New Orleans

An article by the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that some of the sheet piles used in the levee along the 17th Street Canal are only 4.5-ft below sea level. The US Army Corps of Engineers say they have done "the most extensive technical analysis ever performed" on the drainage canal, but at least one person is not finding comfort in that claim. (Photo by pixelshutter20)

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