Adventures in Managing Water
Real-World Engineering Experiences
Sponsored by the River Basin Planning, Policy, and Operations Technical Committee of the Planning and Management Council of the Environmental and Water Resources Institute of ASCEAdventures in Managing...
State of the Practice for Laboratory Testing of Soft Soils: It's All in the Details
As with all material testing, soils testing has undergone dramatic advances in technology because of computer automation. In the 1970s, laboratories were filled with dial gages, proving rings, mercury...
A Good Cause for a Causeway: How Geotechnology and Project Delivery Restored a Roadway Embankment Crossing a Historically Challenging Soft Ground Site
As part of a Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) design-build project, a causeway was constructed in 2017 to replace an aging bridge in the southwest metropolitan area of Minneapolis. The causeway...
Design of the Future Mexico City Airport: Attaining Resilience in Soft Ground
The Lake Texcoco region to the east of Mexico City is famed for its deep lacustrine deposits of compressible clay, which amplify ground shaking during seismic events. The area is also gradually subsiding...
When Old Meets New: Railway Geotechnics and Remote Sensing
Railroad track, like any other built structure, relies on a foundation of geomaterials for support. In its most basal form, the railway track is quite simple: steel load-bearing members (rails) supported...
What Does the Crystal Ball Say? Energy and Water Issues Are Too Great to Ignore!
Over the past 15 years, the Geoprofessional Business Association's (GBA) Emerging Issues and Trends Committee has held a series of Crystal Ball Workshops (Workshops) to identify long-term emerging issues...
All About ISSMGE: An Interview with Leaders of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
This article summarizes key discussions from an interview of a select group of International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) leaders, conducted by a small group of students...
Whose "Fault" Is This? Overcoming Faulting and Ancient Landslides in a Dam Abutment
The Calaveras Dam Replacement Project (CDRP) is the largest project in the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission's (SFPUC) $4.8 billion, multi-year Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). The program...
When Things Became Muddy: TVA's Response to Seepage Discharge at Boone Dam
In October 2014, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) profited from investments in a robust dam safety program. This profit did not come in the form of money, but more importantly in the protection of...
Tailings Impoundment Closure: It's All in the Eye of the Beholder
Since the early 1900s, the mining and power-generation industries have disposed of tailings and other waste products using impoundments. The term "tailings" typically refers to the fine-grained waste product...
Where Geosynthetics Meet Mining Geotechnics: Part of the Mining Engineer's Toolbox
From enhancing stability to providing environmental containment, geosynthetic materials play an important role in mining projects and geotechnics in general. While often overlooked, advancements in geosynthetic...
Redevelopment of Aggregate and Rock Quarries: No Longer Just a Hole in the Ground
Redevelopment of former sand and gravel (aggregate) and rock quarries can be challenging, often requiring developers, quarry operators, planners, and engineers to work in tandem. As urban and suburban...
Wider and Deeper (part of "A Greater Wonder")
A key component of the recent Panama Canal expansion involved the widening and deepening of Gatun Lake, the artificial lake that serves as the canal's reservoir, and the deepening of the Culebra Cut (also...
Raising Gatun Lake (part of "A Greater Wonder")
Raising the maximum operating level of Gatun Lake was one of the four main undertakings of the Panama Canal expansion project. Its goal was to increase the storage capacity for water used for human consumption...
Testing the New Locks (part of "A Greater Wonder")
The recently completed third set of locks at the Panama Canal incorporates several civil components and hydraulic design features that are intended to reduce routine maintenance and conserve water. For...
Claims against Geotechnical Engineers: Getting it Right in the Midst of Uncertainty
Geotechnical engineering is one of engineering's riskiest professions, prone to litigation due to the inherent uncertainty associated with characterizing the subsurface. Site investigations rarely provide...
Low-Gravity Experiments: Shear Testing Takes a Nose Dive
A major challenge to making celestial soil mechanics viable is to re-engineer the profession's toolkit to provide geotechnical solutions without the luxury of ex-situ and in-situ testing as we know them...
What's New in Geo? The Future of Numerical Geo-Modeling: Is 3D Here to Stay?!
Application of soil mechanics in engineering practice has undergone remarkable changes over the past 50 years as a result of developments in computer technology. Each improvement in computing capability,...
Appraisal of Lightweight Moorings for Deep Water
This paper outlines the potential advantages of using lightweight fiber ropes for mooring floating production platforms. The influence of tether properties on mooring system response is discussed. It is...
Cracking the Nuclear Code: Finding an Alternative to the Nuclear Density Gauge
Two of the most basic quality control tests made in the field during soil construction are the soil's moisture content and density. The establishment of a uniform procedure to compare the performance of...