Infrastructure of America's Tunnels


Book Description

Infrastructure is something that we use every day, like roads, bridges, and tunnels, but probably never think too much about. However, in the United States, many parts of the country’s infrastructure are old, falling apart, and desperately need repair and upgrading. Tunnels especially are vital to transportation, and extremely dangerous when they collapse. This book explores eight tunnels of different types that are lifelines for transportation in the US, but are now at risk. Whether its Boston’s Big Dig, the twin railroad tunnels under the Hudson River, California’s Hetch Hetchey water system, or a rail tunnel in Baltimore that’s more than 100 years old, these tunnels are very important to the entire country. Without emergency repairs and expansion, these tunnels could fail, with catastrophic results.




Rethinking America's Highways


Book Description

A transportation expert makes a provocative case for changing the nation’s approach to highways, offering “bold, innovative thinking on infrastructure” (Rick Geddes, Cornell University). Americans spend hours every day sitting in traffic. And the roads they idle on are often rough and potholed, with exits, tunnels, guardrails, and bridges in terrible disrepair. According to transportation expert Robert Poole, this congestion and deterioration are outcomes of the way America manages its highways. Our twentieth-century model overly politicizes highway investment decisions, short-changing maintenance and often investing in projects whose costs exceed their benefits. In Rethinking America’s Highways, Poole examines how our current model of state-owned highways came about and why it is failing to satisfy its customers. He argues for a new model that treats highways themselves as public utilities—like electricity, telephones, and water supply. If highways were provided commercially, Poole argues, people would pay for highways based on how much they used, and the companies would issue revenue bonds to invest in facilities people were willing to pay for. Arguing for highway investments to be motivated by economic rather than political factors, this book makes a carefully-reasoned and well-documented case for a new approach to highways.




Jacked Tunnel Design and Construction


Book Description

With the new Central Artery Project in Boston, tunnel jacking--a technique used primarily in Europe and Asia for constructing underground openings without surface disruption--has come to the US on a grand scale. Three illustrated October 1998 session papers detail developments in tunnel jacking design and above-ground movement monitoring. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




America's Bridges???


Book Description

Has anyone actually seen a bridge being built in America? This editor has travelled for almost 40 years in America without seeing a single one being constructed -- and few even being repaired. Some critics point out that America has built excellent bridges in Vietnam and Iraq which indicates that the knowledge base remains intact. Others say that individual states cannot feed their armies of bureaucrats and fund their plush pensions and health care programs and still expect to build bridges. And the federal government cannot be counted on for much of anything useful. This book presents recent reports focusing on this part of America's crumbling infrastructure.







Tunnels and Metropolises


Book Description




North American Tunneling 2004


Book Description

This publication includes papers from the North American Tunneling 2004 conference, sponsored by the American Underground Construction Association. The theme of the conference is "Underground Construction - the Sensible Solution to Urban Problems" to reflect the increasing importance of locating urban facilities in the United States underground for enhanced security, to build critical infrastructure where it is needed and to improve the function of urban areas. The papers are grouped in four major themes: - Management of Underground Projects - Public Policy and Underground Projects - Advances in Technology - Case Studies: Trials, Tribulation and Triumphs in Tunneling This work should benefit everyone involved in any aspect of infrastructure, tunneling and underground construction.




Conquering Gotham


Book Description

“Superb. [A] first-rate narrative” (The Wall Street Journal) about the controversial construction of New York’s beloved original Penn Station and its tunnels, from the author of Eiffel's Tower and Urban Forests As bestselling books like Ron Chernow's Titan and David McCullough's The Great Bridge affirm, readers are fascinated with the grand personalities and schemes that populated New York at the close of the nineteenth century. Conquering Gotham re- creates the riveting struggle waged by the great Pennsylvania Railroad to build Penn Station and the monumental system of tunnels that would connect water-bound Manhattan to the rest of the continent by rail. Historian Jill Jonnes tells a ravishing tale of snarling plutocrats, engineering feats, and backroom politicking packed with the most colorful figures of Gilded Age New York. Conquering Gotham will be featured in an upcoming episdoe of PBS's American Experience.




Structures and Infrastructure Systems


Book Description

Our knowledge to model, design, analyse, maintain, manage and predict the life-cycle performance of infrastructure systems is continually growing. However, the complexity of these systems continues to increase and an integrated approach is necessary to understand the effect of technological, environmental, economic, social, and political interactions on the life-cycle performance of engineering infrastructure. In order to accomplish this, methods have to be developed to systematically analyse structure and infrastructure systems, and models have to be formulated for evaluating and comparing the risks and benefits associated with various alternatives. Civil engineers must maximize the life-cycle benefits of these systems to serve the needs of our society by selecting the best balance of the safety, economy, resilience and sustainability requirements despite imperfect information and knowledge. Within the context of this book, the necessary concepts are introduced and illustrated with applications to civil and marine structures. This book is intended for an audience of researchers and practitioners world‐wide with a background in civil and marine engineering, as well as people working in infrastructure maintenance, management, cost and optimization analysis. The chapters originally published as articles in Structure and Infrastructure Engineering.




Introduction to Tunnel Construction


Book Description

Tunnelling provides a robust solution to a variety of engineering challenges. It is a complex process, which requires a firm understanding of the ground conditions as well as the importance of ground-structure interaction. This book covers the full range of areas related to tunnel construction required to embark upon a career in tunnelling. It also includes a number of case studies related to real tunnel projects, to demonstrate how the theory applies in practice. New features of this second edition include: the introduction of a case study related to Crossrail’s project in London, focussing on the Whitechapel and Liverpool Street station tunnels and including considerations of building tunnels in a congested urban area; and further information on recent developments in tunnel boring machines, including further examples of all the different types of machine as well as multi-mode machines. The coverage includes: Both hard-rock and soft-ground conditions Site investigation, parameter selection, and design considerations Methods of improving the stability of the ground and lining techniques Descriptions of the various main tunnelling techniques Health and safety considerations Monitoring of tunnels during construction Description of the latest tunnel boring machines Case studies with real examples, including Crossrail’s project in London Clear, concise, and heavily illustrated, this is a vital text for final-year undergraduate and MSc students and an invaluable starting point for young professionals and novices in tunnelling.