Civil engineering
This ‘earthquake lab’ is designing buildings to withstand natural disasters
At Spain’s Institute of Science and Concrete Technology, engineers are trying to find ways to keep buildings and bridges from falling down. The lab is getting attention after the deadly earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February.
Missouri: Flooding Farmland to Save a Town
The Army Corps of Engineers blew up a section of a Mississippi River levee to try to protect an Illinois town from rising flood waters. As a result, nearly 130-thousand acres of Missouri farmland were flooded. Amanda Jones lives in Dexter, MO. She says that her main concern is the explosives that are being used […]
Toxic Sludge: Coming to a Neighborhood Near You
What’s in a name? Whether you call it toxic sludge, or bio-solids, treated waste from America’s drainpipes is being used as farm fertilizer these days and there continues to be debate on the benefits versus the possible health risks. Eric Westervelt of New Hampshire Public Radio has this report.
Still a Few Bugs in the System
Living on Earth’s George Homsy reports from Boston on the problems of Combined Sewer Overflows, which plague 1200 communities around the country. Remnants of the days before sewage treatment plants, CSOs allow sewers to overflow into local waterways during heavy rainstorms. Municipalities are appealing to Washington for help in meeting the estimated $200 billion cost […]