In June, city workers conducting regular maintenance in downtown Indianapolis detected an underground sinkhole that, thankfully, had yet to reach the surface. The sinkhole was caused by a deteriorating brick manhole constructed somewhere in excess of 100 years ago. The city is now conducting a scan of its entire downtown sewer infrastructure to determine what other proactive measures it can …
Click the image above to download the file. Information and infographic courtesy of the Tulsa Welding School Click on the infographic in order to zoom in and view the information. It’s no secret that America’s infrastructure is in dire need of repair and replacement. Roads, airports and transportation systems are all in need of revitalization, as our infrastructure has been …
AASHTO – this acronym stands for American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. If you have not heard of them and build precast products for transportation-related projects, then you should. AASHTO is a non-governmental association, but the voting members are engineers and employees within all the state departments of transportation. Within this organization, there are many subgroups, which deal …
There is no doubt combinations can be great. For example, jelly is good, but it’s even better with peanut butter. Paul Simon is a talented singer, but he would have never become a superstar without Art Garfunkel. And dancing is fun, but it wouldn’t be anything without music. When it comes to our sewer systems, however, combining stormwater and raw …
A sustainability software program is available for NPCA members to use for benchmarking sustainable development. By Claude Goguen, P.E., LEED AP The NPCA Sustainability Committee has recently acquired a software program to help NPCA members determine how they are performing in terms of sustainability and monitor their progress through plant and process improvements. Why is this important? Depending on where …
Precast plays a winning role in Denver’s largest-ever storm drainage project. By Bridget McCrea The city of Denver stakes its claim to fame on the fact that it sits at one mile above sea level. However, it’s what’s going on below ground that has been generating headlines lately. The city has taken on a huge infrastructure replacement project that incorporates …
Important to the performance of parking garages is the need for drainage of surface water from rain and snow on the top level directly exposed to the weather, and by wind-driven rain and melt off from slush and snow carried into the parking garages by vehicles at the lower levels. Precast, prestressed parking structures are no different, but they do …
Concrete is a porous material that absorbs water and as a result, a floor or roof comprised of hollow-core planks is not a waterproof system by itself, and NiCore™ Planks are no exception. This is true not only for the finished system, where planks exposed to the elements must be protected by a permanent waterproof membrane, but also during construction …
When designing NiCore™ Planks by Nitterhouse Concrete Products, Inc. (NCP) for a multitude of structures such as hotels, apartments, and dormitories in Residential Group R-2 it is important not to overlook commonly encountered collateral dead loads. Such loads are not included in the IBC-prescribed minimum live loads for these types of occupancy. A typical 40 psf live load essentially includes …
A commonly encountered occurrence in parking structures is column encroachment in parking spaces. While this is perceived as problematic, or at the very least resulting in a reduced Level-of-Service (LOS), the goal of this narrative is to demonstrate that rarely should this be a concern. Nor is this a topic exclusive to precast, prestressed parking structures, as column encroachment into …
