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GeoPrac.net is a community of practitioners of geotechnical engineering, geological engineering, engineering geology, geophysics, hydrogeology and related disciplines. We offer members and visitors the foremost collection of geo-related articles, news, and online resources to keep those geo-professionals in practice at the forefront of their respective fields.

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London's Crossrail Cores Going to Salt Mine
GeoNews - Project Related
Written by Randy Post   
Monday, 13 May 2013 23:23
561 pallets of rock core for the Crossrail project will be stored in a salt mine

London't mega-project known as Crossrail that involves the construction of 118 km (73 mi) of new rail line with 42 km (26 mi) of new tunnels. The geotechnical investigation for Crossrail included rock coring, and some 561 pallets of core are going to be stored inside the mined out portion of a salt mine in Cheshire. The temperature and humidity levels remain consistent year-round making it an ideal place to store the core. According to the NCE article, this material is less than half of the core drilled during the investigation phase of the project. [Source: New Civil Engineer. Image: New Civil Engineer]

 
Unconservative designs with AASHTO LRFD for deep excavations
GeoNews - Available Resources
Written by Randy Post   
Monday, 13 May 2013 23:15

Business centre on Krasnoselskaya. Moscow, Nizhnaya Krasnoselskaya str. Retaining systems-secant piles, sheet-pile, bracing and excavation.

Dimitrios at Deep Excavation LLC wrote this article a couple of months ago for his monthly newsletter. He contends that for multi-level braced excavations, the AASHTO LRFD code could produce unconservative results. From his article:

The currently adopted design methods for AASHTO (2010) LRFD appear to produce inconsistent and possibly unsafe designs for many multi-level braced excavations. Limit-equilibrium analyses combined with LRFD methods appear to severely underestimate benchmarked wall bending moments. For this reason, analyses in this paper suggest that limit-equilibrium methods should not be used to design the wall bending resistance for multi-level-braced excavations.

[Source: Read the full article at Deep Excavation LLC. Image: NTT Stroy]

 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 14 May 2013 06:24
 
Weekend CUP for May 10, 2013
GeoNews - Weekend CUP
Written by Randy Post   
Friday, 10 May 2013 06:23

Happy Friday! If you need a break today, here are some interesting stories from the past month or so that I didn't get to blogging about. Enjoy!

 
Video: NY Second Ave Subway Project on CBS News
GeoNews - Project Related
Written by Randy Post   
Thursday, 09 May 2013 06:29

This news story aired a few weeks back.  It has some great views of the tunneling process but also focuses on some of the social issues, such as complaints about Rats, as well as noise and dust.  I guess you can’t please everyone.  Check out the video below.

 
Norway wants to build world's first tunnel for ships
GeoNews - Project Related
Written by Randy Post   
Tuesday, 07 May 2013 23:28
This computer generated picture shows the so-called Stad Ship Tunnel. Picture: AFP /Stadskipstunnel.no/NORDWEST3D

The Norwegian government wants to build a tunnel linking two fjords that would be large enough to pass 16,000 tonne cargo and passenger ships. The treacherous stretch of waterway has seen 46 accidents and 33 deaths since World War II. The 1.7 km Stad maritime tunnel would cost about 1.6B kroner ($274M USD). [Source: The Courier-Mail via ASCE SmartBrief. Image: AFP]

 
International Collaboration Delivers Pioneering Geotechnical Carbon Calculator
GeoNews - Press Releases
Written by Randy Post   
Thursday, 02 May 2013 23:04

Foundation Industry Launches Standardized Open Source Tool to Compare the Sustainability of Different Foundation Techniques

Example sustainability report from EFFC and DFI's geotechnical carbon calculator toolHawthorne, NJ (May 1, 2013): The European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC) and the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) are urging the geotechnical sector to make immediate use of their jointly-developed, pioneering carbon calculator tool, the Geotechnical Carbon Calculator.

Developed using internationally recognized standards, the Geotechnical Carbon Calculator is believed to be one of the construction industry’s first standardized and collaboratively produced carbon calculator tools at the European and international level.

Carbon measurement is at the core of the construction industry’s approach to sustainability. The Geotechnical Carbon Calculator uses a standardized emission factors database to make the analysis of the carbon footprint of a foundation project consistent and comparable across the foundation industry.

[Editor] Click through for the rest of this interesting press release from the Deep Foundations Institute! [/Editor]

Last Updated on Thursday, 02 May 2013 23:12
 
Landslide Insurance Very Rare
GeoNews - Geologic Hazards
Written by Randy Post   
Wednesday, 01 May 2013 23:27
2005 La Conchita Landslide

There were just a few sentences in this article/blog post about landslide insurance. Most geoprofessionals realize that home-owners insurance does not cover landslides, floods or most other geologic hazards. But what I found interesting in this article was a quote from an insurance agent that gave a rough estimate of the cost of "very rare" landslide insurance. He gave an estimate of $1,000 per year for a $300,000 house. I'm sure it depends on lots of factors, but at least that could get you in the ballpark. [Source: Central Illinois Proud. Image: USGS Landslides Page]

 
Kurt R. Fraese, L.G. Is New ASFE/GBA President
GeoNews - Comings and Goings
Written by Randy Post   
Sunday, 28 April 2013 23:24
Kurt R. Fraese, L.G. is new ASFE/GBA President

ASFE, The Geoprofessional Business Association has elected a new president, Kurt R. Fraese, L.G. Kurt is the CEO of GeoEngineers, Inc. Click on over to the ASFE/GBA website to read more about him and the other officers for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. [Source: ASFE: The Geoprofessional Business Association. Image: ASFE/GBA]

 
Keynetix Expands KeyLAB Functionality for Concrete Testing, ATSM and Australian Standards
GeoNews - Press Releases
Written by Randy Post   
Tuesday, 23 April 2013 06:18

22nd April 2013, Redditch, UK - Keynetix are pleased to announce that an upgrade to KeyLAB has been released today that includes a number of new features requested by users to help them manage their geotechnical and concrete laboratory. The new build expands the functionality of the system to assist laboratory managers who are conducting concrete testing, working in a NATA accredited laboratory or with the ASTM standards and is available free of charge to all users who have an in-date maintenance agreement.

As well as the new features in this release, KeyLAB have produced a large number of free test definitions and input and report sheets for companies who are implementing KeyLAB within a laboratory, conducting tests to BS or ASTM standards. These worksheets and reports have been designed by Peter Keeton from Keynetix, who has over 30 years experience of managing large geotechnical laboratories.

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

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 April 2013 06:32
 
Geophysics successfully detects void beneath Missouri Taxiway
GeoNews - Geophysics
Written by Randy Post   
Sunday, 21 April 2013 15:54
Excavation of void under a taxiway in Kansas City. The void was detected using geophysics.

Airport authorities at the Charles B. Wheeler airport in Kansas City, MO were concerned about a leaking CMP joint 22-feet beneath the taxiway. The sand that was coming through the joint was detected on a video inspection of the culvert. They were concerned about possible voids above the leak and commissioned a geophysical survey. Two geophysical methods were used, ground penetrating radar and multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW). The void was detected using the methods, and subsequent excavation of the airport taxiway confirmed the presence of the voids with about the same dimensions as what was indicated by the geophysics. The work was performed by the St. Louis office of Geotechnology, Inc. [Source: CE News. Image: CE News]

 
Is the Bingham Canyon copper mine landslide the most expensive single mass movement in history?
GeoNews - Failures
Written by Randy Post   
Sunday, 21 April 2013 15:53
Haul trucks damaged by the landslide toe at Bingham Canyon Mine, UT April 2013.

Dr. Dave has some financial analysis of the Bingham Canyon Mine Landslide in Utah. His interpretation of some of the financial data being thrown around is a financial loss of $770M, ouch! [Source: Read the full post at The Landslide Blog. Image: The Landslide Blog]

 
Amazing aerial photos of the Bingham Canyon Landslide
GeoNews - Failures
Written by Randy Post   
Sunday, 21 April 2013 15:53
Bingham Canyon Mine Landslide in Utah April 2013

There is a great collection of aerial photos and other photos from last week's Bingham Canyon Mine Landslide at Kennecott Utah Copper's Flickr Photostream. Thanks to my colleague Wolfgang Knudson at Golder for sending the link. There's a great couple of shots of the radar monitoring equipment that allowed the mine to monitor the slide with great accuracy, and safely evacuate the areas prior to its triggering. [Source: Kennecott Utah Copper's Flickr Photostream. Image: Flickr Page of Kennecott Utah Copper]

 
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