Valuable lessons can be learned and possibly applied to modify U.S. seismic design codes and practices from the behavior of structures during the magnitude-8.8 earthquake that rocked Chile on Feb. 27, said the leader of a team representing the Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers, which visited Chile from April 5-12. In April, ASCE also sent assessment teams from its Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute (COPRI) and its Technical Council on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering (TCLEE). Photo: ASCE/SEI Assessment Team In Concepción, one side of the Torre O’Higgins Office Building is undamaged as the walls are
BP began conducting the first pressure and diagnostic tests on a five-story blowout preventer (BOP) atop its Macando well bore on May 25 in preparation for a “top kill” attempt to stop the oil that has been gushing from the well and into the Gulf of Mexico since the April 20 explosion. In the “top kill” operation, a vessel will pump drilling mud at a rate of 40 barrels to 50 barrels a minute into two 3-in. choke-and-kill lines at the bottom of the BOP. If the mud stops the oil from coming up the well, concrete then would be
A memorable date for Nashville’s water department will be Memorial Day Weekend, when it expects to put back online the K.R. Harrington Water Treatment Plant, which was under water after the city’s May 1-2 flooding. Image: Nashville.gov City’s future biosolids facility site, rendered above, is adjacent to Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves the downtown area hit by the flood. Northeast of downtown and near the Cumberland River, the plant has a rated capacity of 90 million gallons per day (mgd). Since the plant has been down, the city has been under a mandatory water conservation order because the only
As the consequences unfold of the Deepwater Horizon oil-rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the flow of information has become as critical as the movement of the oil slick. One firm’s web-based information management system is having some success in crisis communication for those affected and is gaining wider play among infrastructure managers as an employee-management and business-continuity tool. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard U.S. Coast Guard was the first client of the PIER system. Related Links: Louisiana Starts Pushing Sand To Block Oil BP Considers Options To Plug Gusher, Investigates ‘Complex Accident’ BP Cleanup Subs Were Using Undocumented Workers
The Tennessee Valley Authority will permanently store on-site coal ash that is recovered during the second phase of its cleanup of a failed dredge cell at its Kingston powerplant in Harriman, Tenn. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the plan, which TVA announced on May 18. Photo: TVA Near the TVA powerplant site with a failed ash-disposal cell, dredging of the Emory River is almost complete after 18 months. The first phase of the cleanup, removing coal ash from the nearby Emory River, is wrapping up, with more than 3.32 million cu yd of ash removed from the river
With the rapid advance of work on a surge barrier on New Orleans� eastern flank, the city has substantially more protection against storm surge than it had just a year ago. Photo: Angelle Bergeron/ENR Vic Zillmer, USACE resident project manager atop the surge barrier stretching away toward its land tie-in to Chalmette levees. Photo: Angelle Bergeron/ENR New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu saluted the Corps for being �on task and on time� with the project and for building levees �better than before.� Left to right behind are Col. Robert Sinkler, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers� Hurricane Protection Office
A proposal to build “sand booms” to help keep the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from fouling Louisiana wetlands may help jump-start long-dreamed-of schemes to re-nourish Louisiana’s barrier islands. Photo courtesy of Baggerwereld.com Van Oord’s 9-year-old hopper dredge Rotterdam has a 21,500 cubic meter capacity and can dredge in waters as deep as 60 m, and up to 120 m, with extensions. Van Oord has 100 vessels worldwide and claims its fleet is three times the size of the entire U.S. dredging fleet. Related Links: Oil-Spill Battlefront Spreads From Gulf to Washington, D.C. Setting Oil Spill Liability Limit:
While natural disasters may be inevitable, disastrous consequences are not, if policy-makers, designers and builders plan successfully. This theme was explored on May 12 at a one-day workshop in Washington, D.C., convened by the National Building Museum, which is laying the groundwork for a major exhibition in fall 2011 to examine how communities can improve planning to resist the consequences of natural disasters. Event planners looked for guidance from the museum’s Industry Council for the Built Environment, comprising about 60 owners and association representatives. BLUMENAUR “Disasters don’t have to be unmitigated disasters,” said U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenaur (D- Ore.), vice
Is $10 billion too much legal exposure for oil spills? While Obama administration officials work to encourage Congress to bolster the resources available for the oil disaster response and recovery efforts, one proposal that included a measure to raise the liability cap for oil companies, as the President also favors, has already taken a beating on the Senate floor. But Jeff Liebman, acting deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget says the administration should still find opportunities and a bill that can be used to attach its proposals to. Related Links: Oil-Spill Battlefront Spreads From Gulf to Washington,
The rig owner is claiming progress on capping a deepsea well gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, but, as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said on May 17, “We are nowhere close to the finish line. This disaster will not be over for Louisiana until our water and our shores are completely clean and our wildlife, our communities and our coastal industries are 100% restored.” + Image Illustration: Deepwater Horizon Recovery Team BP says it is managing to capture about 20% of the oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon well by inserting a new drill tube into the fallen
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