Does the Earth Have a Pulse?
It’s been assumed that major geological events such as volcano eruptions and sea level change are random and may be a result of entropy, and there is no pattern to these events. According to a SciTechDaily article, NYU researchers plotted the number of major geological events for the last 260 million years and the simple […]
Erosion or Deep Seated Slope Stability Failure?
The Jurassic Coast of the southern shores of England form a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site that is reminiscent of the California coastline with relatively high, near vertical slope faces above the beach. These shores are frequently exposed to aggressive coastal erosion and subsequent deep seated global stability failures, which pose a major hazard to […]
Highway 1 Collapse – Interconnected Infrastructure Failure
A recent catastrophic loss of infrastructure occurred on Highway 1 in California near Big Sur when a section of the road collapsed and slid into the ocean. This wash-out highlights the interconnectedness of civil engineering. The source of the failure has been reported as “overwhelmed drainage infrastructure, flowed across the highway, and eroded the road resulting in the complete loss […]
The Hudson Yards’ Creative Structural Platform
Recently, my alma mater, North Carolina State University, hosted the annual Paul Zia lecture, a distinguished structural engineering annual lecture series to highlight exceptional projects and their designers. Thornton Thomasetti presented on the Hudson Yards project in New York City. The premise of this project is fascinating because it involves development of the actual air […]
Tunnel Boring Methods in Gotthard Base Tunnel
A new high speed capacity railway tunnel is nearing completion, with the Gotthard Base Tunnel being the primary vein of the network. The two tunnels are each 35 miles in length, making it the longest railway tunnel in Switzerland. Building the tunnel required excavation of nearly 30 million tonnes of granite. Fun fact – this […]
Pressurized Injection Grouting in Fine-Grained Sands
Pressurized injection grouting can be an effective way of increasing strength and decreasing permeability of loose coarse grained soils. Grouting is typically performed using a TAM (tube-a-manchette) where a small diameter pipe is inserted into the ground and grout is pumped through the pipe, which flows out of small diameter holes in the pipe. A […]
