It seems that in the past few years, the Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR) has perhaps turned into the key document for construction. The GBR not only assigns much of the risk involved with the work, it serves as the basis for bid prep and is used widely in resolving disputes during construction. The use of GBR’s for contractually defining anticipated ground conditions has become a widely accepted practice in the construction business. The importance and the significant nature of these reports have increased the inquiry they receive to unparalleled levels. The basic premise of a contractual GBR has been well developed and corresponded to the industry. Despite the acceptance of GBRs, there is always opportunity for improvement. Engineers and geologists struggle to develop specific numerical baselines from a many of geotechnical properties. This especially where the geologic environments are highly inconsistent. Contractors are frustrated because they feel they are not constantly provided with the baselines they need. Owners feel taken advantage of when baselines are used to validate their claims in a manner not intended or the baselines are not valued in the dispute resolution process. It seems that there are four areas or categories the GBR’s. These could result in for a better, more useful product. These are (1) Establishing baselines (2) Ground behavior/performance assessments (3) Construction considerations (4) Use of the GBR during construction for establishing the baselines there are two considerable challenges. These would be to determine the condition of the ground that are needed to be baselined and how to quantify them. The goal of a GBR is to convert what the geotechnical engineers found into an easy to read product for...
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...osal. Some contractors keep an engineering geologist or geotechnical engineer to help them in evaluating the GBR during their proposal preparation. Others only review the GBR well into the construction and then keep engineering geology or geotechnical engineering help when they want to track a DSC claim. Perhaps this has to do with the narrow period for preparing the bid. No matter what the reason, this latter approach is counterproductive and is not in keeping with the goal of the GBR. In a reasonably short time GBRs have become an established practice within the industry. Therefore, it is essential to make these reports as effective as possible. Logical baselines need to be included into the GBR. Stay away from unnecessary or redundant baselines. In addition, conservative baselines or efforts to place unnecessary risk on the contractor may not be successful.
4. Identify the layer of the Earth in the diagram to the right which makes up 70% of the Earth’s mass and is mostly solid but capable of flow, causing changes in the Earth’s surface. (S6E5a)
Canyonlands National Park, immense amounts of wilderness and rock, is located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau (Canyonlands National Park-Geology). Millions of years have formed specific features to the rock and surrounding wilderness that make it so special. Throughout the park, you will find that the sedimentary rock has formed many features such as hundreds of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches, and spires. The Green and Colorado rivers have played a major role in the formation of many of these features. These rivers cut through the park forming two massive canyons. This further splits the park into three distinct zones. “Island in the Sky” sits to the north while “The Maze” sits off to the west and “The Needles” to the east (Canyonlands National Park Information Guide). “Island in the Sky” serves as Canyonlands’ observation tower; it allows tourists to see overwhelming vistas of the rest of the land. “The Maze,” as hinted at by the name has been described as a “30 square mile puzzle in sandstone” (NPS: Nature & Science» Geology Resources Division). This section of the park often ranks as one of the most remote and inaccessible areas of the United States. Lastly, “The Needles” is known for its diversity in rock features. Throughout this land, features such as sculptured rock spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes can be seen. The varying names hint at the diversity of the land as a whole. As said by The National Park Service’s Geology Resources Division, “Traces of the Anasazi can be found in almost every canyon in the Needles. Many of their stone and mud dwellings and storehouses are remarkably well-preserved. Tower Ruins, built high on a cliff ledge in a side canyon of Horse Canyon, is an outstanding ex...
The dawn of a new engineering technique called geoengineering aims to save the Earth via large-scale manipulation of the environment to counteract global warming. “The Geoengineering Gambit” by Kevin Bullis, is an article about some of the ways geoengineering could solve the climate crisis and the problems that could be created by those solutions. Bullis gained knowledge of geoengineering and the climate problem from his work as energy editor for the journal Technology Review. Bullis' job as an editor builds for him a strong base of believability in the field, and demonstrates the basis for his credibility while building his ethos. The proposed geoengineering solutions are in relation to the current climate problems. Bullis’ purpose was to bring attention to the current geoengineering proposed solutions. Bullis talks about the current solutions that geoengineering offers but also the perceived problems as well. Bullis also brings up the ethical problems that can arise from these solutions. For example, problems nations would have with another nation launching things into the atmosphere is one of the many problems Bullis finds cause to study. Bullis also brings up his feelings on geoengineering and how it would be better if mankind were able to lessen the impact on our environment instead of applying temporary or artificial fixes. Bullis intentionally aimed this article at everyone given the worldwide impact on people that some claim through geoengineering. Bullis unintentionally aimed the article at the US Government and other leaders from influential nations. The tone of the article is really saying that geoengineering could possibly help but more tests and results are necessary before drawing important conclusions. ...
There are three clear landslides; the southwest landslide is stream-laid sand and gravel from the quaternary that was located on a steep slope resulting in gravity pulling sediments down the steep slope. The northeast landslide appears to be tuff sediments that have fallen upon biotite-quartz diorite rocks. The northwestern landslide is the largest of the landslides. The landslide occurred just south of the creek; erosion must have lowered the creeks elevation creating a steep decline resulting in Bena gravel to fall.
There are many process that made Connecticut’s surface and landscape get its shape. The Plate tectonics, the glaciers, and weathering and erosion are the main causes to the change to connecticut.
Tallulah Gorge is one of Georgia’s most popular outdoor destinations. It’s a state park for hiking, biking, fishing, swimming, camping, and kayaking. The gorge itself is around 2 miles long. There is great hiking along the rim and down into the gorge creating several miles of trails. Through the trails you can see the dam, several waterfalls, a suspension bridge, and lots of diverse plants and wildlife. There are water release weekends in April and November. Kayakers flock to the park for the high-speed whitewater reaching up to 700 cubic feet per second.
Texas Instruments, based in Dallas, Texas, founded in 1930 under the name Geophysical Service Incorporated by Eugene McDermott and Clarence Kracher. Back than, GSI was one of the pioneer companies to deal and provide seismic exploration for the petroleum industry. The oil and petroleum market wasn’t stable back than leading GSI to search for other directions. In 1939, GSI had made some major setting changes and became a subsidiary of Coronado Corporation, an oil company. After being a part of Coronado Corporation for three years, Eugene McDermott and three other GSI employees, Erik Jonsson, H.B. Peakcock, and Cecil Green bought full ownership back from Cornado Corporation. During that time GSI was a pioneer of electronic engineering market, and when World War 2 started, GSI had already signed a significant contracts with the U.S military. In 1951, after few years providing contracts to the U.S. military, GSI have decided to made few more setting changes and went under reformatting. Ultimately, the company name was changed to Texas Instruments, and the company incorporated by Eugene McDermott, Erik Jonsson, Cecil Green, and Patrick Haggerty, who has join GSI shortly after World War 2 ended. Since then Texas Instruments has been considered to be the pioneer of electronic industry. Texas instruments have been known for its many innovations, theses innovations has change the world from one side to the other, and without these unique innovations, the world would have probably looks different. What would the world have done without the radio transistor, or without handheld calculator we would never know, but we do know that these kinds of innovations have put Texas Instruments on the world map. Early in 1954 Texas Instruments have inven...
Many solutions have been developed to stop climate change in the last 30 years. One in particular called geoengineering has, apparently, gained reputation as a good way to slow down this environmental harm, because there are not one possible technique. These technological fixes have increased the support of many organisations because they are reliable and the consequences for the environment are less than it has been thought. However to build geoengineering-based projects it is necessary to adopt an ethical thinking, in this case an environmental one, that preserves the ecosystem. Therefore Shallow and Deep ecology, as environmental ethics, can tip the scales in favour due to the complexity of these fixes.
Tennessee has an endless supply of historical and interesting attractions on your RV trip across the Volunteer State. Starting in the west, the home of the King of Rock and Roll has been a favorite for decades. Located in Memphis, on the Mississippi River, Graceland was home to Elvis Presley for 20 years beginning in 1957. Tours are offered at the home, where you can see how he lived while making his famous music. It includes his music room, collections and even his grave.
As applications of geospatial technologies continuously break the disciplinary barrier, the need for books on these technologies to reach diverse audiences is greater than ever. The challenge, however, is to write a book on this complicated subject that incorporates the knowledge of multiple disciplines and makes it valuable for those who may or may not have diverse educational backgrounds, but require using these technologies. Most books on geospatial technologies target a specific audience. Contrary to this, Geographical Information Science tries to target three different audiences (users, students, and engineers) by using formats and languages comfortable to them. While this effort is laudable, maintaining the balance and attractiveness to all the three audiences is challenging. The author, Narayan Panigrahi, has accomplished this balancing act but with mixed outcomes. His computer science background is clearly seen in the structure and contents of the chapters.
When starting construction on a new building, there are plenty of things that can and will go wrong. You will start to lay out the plumbing and find that it clashes with a wall or beam that cannot be moved. To finish your project, you must take more time and more money to adjust to the new layout. Another scenario is the owners won’t let you start construction because they can’t see the end result or where the specific design implements that had asked for are located. For the past few decades the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry has been looking for a solution to this problem. Projects would be set back due to design oversights. Without anything to predict these problems before they happen, these little setbacks were a common occurrence. Once building information modeling (BIM) was born, it was like their prayers had been answered. The future was here.
Chapman R.J, 2001, “The Controlling Influences on Effective Risk Identification and Assessment for Construction Design Management”, International Journal of Project Management.
Benefits of utilizing an EPS-block geofoam embankment include: (1) ease and speed of construction, (2) placement in adverse weather conditions, (3) possible elimination of the need for preloading, surcharging, and staged construction, (4) decreased maintenance costs as a result of less settlement from the low density of EPS-block geofoam, (6) reduction of lateral stress on bridge approach abutments, (7) use over existing utilities which reduces or eliminates utility relocation, (8) excellent durability, and (9) ability to be recycled. In a soil removal and replacement situation without the use of surcharging, the use of EPS-block geofoam may result in cost savings compared to other types of lightweight fill materials and conventional fill materials because the density of geofoam is 1/10th to 1/30th of the density of foamed concrete, 1/55th to 1/145th of the in-place density of boiler slag, and 1/100th of the density of conventional granular fill
... although we may never be able to understand exactly what soil failures can occur when a natural disasters take place, as time goes on and testing instruments and materials advance we will hopefully have a better understanding of what we can do to avoid soil failures and come up with a better and more sufficient method of improving the soils structure and strength permanently. While researching the information for this report I feel I have a much better understanding for construction geo-technics and foundations especially regarding the deformation, liquefaction and pile information related to this specific event. I hope to carry the information I have learned from this event into the construction field and apply them towards an authentic project that’s taking place and know that the information, regarding soils, I have given input on will be precise and accurate.
Throughout my lifetime, I have never had to think very much about the working world and everything that went with it. All through high school I took classes I liked or thought would be interesting to me, but never thought that all of those classes were preparing me for what was to come. Before I knew it, it was time to go to college. The four years of high school had flown by and now it was time to choose a major for college. I had never given much thought as to what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The only real occupations that I had really gotten to experience were teaching, the jobs that my parents had, and others such as doctors, dentist, most of the occupations that everyone sees while they are growing up. When I finally decided on my major, I chose engineering, but I didn’t know if I would like it or not. The only prior knowledge I had about it was the fact that my grandfather was an electrical and chemical engineer, and that my parents and teachers said that I would be good at engineering. Recently I have been interested in civil engineering, but what does one do with such a degree? What opportunities are available to a person with a degree in civil engineering on the job market? The broad curriculum that covers many different fields of engineering make civil engineering a major that allows a person to work in nearly any field they wish.