12
Geotechnical News September 2011
GEO-INSTITUTE NEWS
Industry News
A Closer Look at the USACE
2012 Civil Works Budget
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’
(USACE)
non-military
funded
programs and project budget for 2012
provides an effective pathway for
USACE to help create jobs, support
economic development and global
competitiveness, and restore and protect
critical and vital aquatic ecosystems.
Unfortunately, as with other federal
agencies across the government, this
year’s budget is less than in prior years.
The largest percentage of USACE
resources will be used on projects
that provide the highest returns on the
nation’s investment. This includes dam
safety projects that are in the greatest
need of repair — there are 692 dams
that USACE either owns or operates
— projects that will reduce the risk of
loss of life, projects that will mitigate
environmental losses, and advance a
number of environmental missions, and
on-going projects that they can either
complete or make significant progress
on. A state-by-state breakdown of the
FY 12 Army Civil Works Budge can be
found at:
pid/pages/cecwm_progdev.aspx
2011 Tohoku Japan Earthquake
Reports
Reports from the 2011 Tohoku
Japan Earthquake may be viewed
on the Geotechnical Extreme Events
Reconnaissance (GEER) website.
This material on the website is based
upon work supported by the National
Science Foundation through the
Geotechnical Engineering Program
under Grant No. CMMI-0825734 and
through the RAPID CMMI-Proposal
No. 1034831. For information:
_
Post%20EQ%20Reports/Tohoku_Ja-
pan_2011/Cover_Tohoku_2011.html
Editors Note: Watch for the September/
October 2011 Geo-Strata magazine
whose theme is earthquake geotechnics.
State-of-the-Art Earthquake
Shake Table Model on Display
The world’s largest earthquake-
simulation shake table in Miki City,
Japan played a large role in helping
scientists design buildings that could
withstand large earthquakes. The
devastating earthquake in Japan was
evidence of the country’s preparedness
with most of the country’s skyscrapers
and steel buildings surviving the deadly
quake.
Thanks to the efforts of the Japa-
nese National Research Institute for
Earthquake Science and Disaster Pre-
vention (NIED), the University of Ne-
vada, Reno now has on display, at the
Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, a
three-dimensional working model of
the NIED’s Earth- or E-Defense shake
table, which simulates the ground mo-
tions of an earthquake. They are the
first university worldwide to display
this model.
Keri Ryan, professor of civil and
environmental engineering at the Uni-
versity stated:
“It’s a fantastic opportunity. Very
few researchers get to do research at
the best facilities in the world. Our
facility here at the University is the
best in the world for bridge testing,
and Japan’s is the best in the world
for testing full-scale buildings.” For
information:
miki_table.html
Editor
Linda R. Bayer, IOM, Manager
Geo-Institute of ASCE
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, VA 20190-4400
Tel: 703-295-6162
Fax: 703-295-6351
email:
To submit information for
Geo-Strata magazine, or
possible posting on the Geo-
Institute website at www.
geoinstitute.org, send us
brief news about your recent
honors, awards, special
appointments, promotions,
etc. High-resolution photos
must be sent as separate
pdf, tif, or jpeg files. Send to
Sales-
oriented content should be
directed to Dianne Vance,
Director of Advertising at
.
