A supervisor just informed me that one of our techs was in the field checking on the torque of some bolts. The tech noted at some of the connections the gusset plate did not but up tight against the member being connected to. He said at some of these connections only a couple threads of the...
There is a discussion between my supervisor and I concerning rammed aggregate piers and who has the ultimate responsibility. Ultimately it comes down to the contract agreements etc, but how are many of the agreements/contracts written in your experience to establish who is responsible for the...
Thanks to an earlier question, I now have heard of the flat Dilatometer Test. How many engineers use this in their day to day geotechnical work? The company I work for only does consulting work (ie, no design). Would there be sufficient reason that we would want to purchase a setup to run...
I am looking for the Gates Dynamic Formula. A google search only found references to it, and none of my books have it. If someone could provide this I would greatly appreciate it.
I am preparing a report for a guyed tower approximately 500 feet tall. The tower has a downward load of 165kips and a lateral load at the base of 2 kips. I spoke with the engineer and contractor and they prefer to use a mat foundation at frost depth (~7'). We would prefer this as well...
I am looking for a book on setting up templates in Autocad. We use Autocad 2002 LT. Old, yes, but it is only used to open the occasional file. I would like to use it to prep site drawings with boring locations for those times a site map is not provided. I think it would be faster than...
How widespread is Finite Element Analysis in geotechnical engineering. I have thought of taking a class on this subject, but don't know how useful it would actually be. How much information from the field and lab would be required to be able to do FEA, etc. What sort of computer programs are...
I have been tasked with designing a pavement for a composting facility. The purpose will be to place bituminous pavement over an area to place compost to decompose in the open air.
My question is, will the decomposing of the compost damage the asphalt? I understand that ammonia is produced...
I need to know the weight of an oil storage tank. The tank is 8.5 feet by 8.75 feet. It is insulated with 3" of foam, and aluminum sheeting. The tank has a 7000 gal capacity. It is my understanding that the dimensions include the insulation.
I would like this for my report and settlement...
Recently a large multinational construction firm requested that we do a soil investigation for a project. What we find odd, is that they "required" soil capacity to be determined using a pocket penetrometer. How common is this elsewhere? My experience in using the pq is that it is not...
Is there a method to determine the dry density of a split spoon sample without resorting to the use of mercury or by measuring the dimensions? I don't like using mercury (I am highly accident prone), and some soils don't lend themselves well to cutting into nice even dimensions (ie: sandy lean...
I am looking for a book that has a good description of Janssens Formula for circulat tanks. I am hoping for a good explanation of theory as well as application. The latter being most important. The method we use has different variables than the one a structural engineer uses. Our values...
Does anyone know how much uplift pressure frozen soils typically exhibit? Is there a way to calculate this for a homogenous and an anisotropic soil profile?
I imagine it depends on the type of soil, moisture content, and depth of frost penetration.
Thanks
I am looking for a good book, or article, that talks about base heave in excavations. I have seen this somewhere, don't recall where and cannot locate it in any my books (2 at the moment).
I would like to go through the calculations for this. Haven't had to do this yet, but may need to in the...
I am preparing a soils report for a pole barn. The dimensions are 72' x 200' in plan view. I am planning to give 2000 psf for net allowable bearing pressure. I am assuming a maximum column load of 50kips and no load bearing walls. Soil strength won't be an issue, nor should settlement or...
I am a relatively new geotechnical engineer. The project I am now working on involves giving some recommendations regarding the pavement and subgrade for a rural general aviation airport. The airport would rather be able to rehabilitate the runway if at all possible. The airport was built in...
We are looking for a program that will calculate the stress distribution below shallow footings due to itself and from shallow footings nearby. We have an old DOS program that could calculate up to 30 different column and strip footings on a grid. We are looking for an update.
Thanks for any...
