Video: Under a Collapsed Building
I’m in Mexico City a week after the earthquake and this is our first day assisting a local engineering team. A seven-story concrete office building has collapsed. They call it Site 286. More than 40 people died here, probably the largest number of fatalities in a single structure. “Let me radio in for them to stop throwing concrete debris in our pathway.” “Alto! (Halt!),” a Spanish urban search-and-rescue (USAR) officer yells at me. “Let me radio in for them to stop throwing con...
Civil Engineers Gather Resilience Data in Mexico Post Earthquake
Mexico City – The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD) has a team of experts in Mexico City, Mexico this week to gather information on infrastructure resilience in earthquakes, following the Sept. 19 quake. The IRD team will investigate the performance and recovery of the infrastructure systems impacted by the 7.1 earthquake. The group will be collecting data in Mexico from Nov. 12 to Nov. 18, led by Craig Davis, Ph.D., G.E., P.E., and Allis...
Motherboard Investigates the Uncertain Future of Nuclear Cleanup in America
Inside Colorado's Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, a former Superfund site that embodies the painful past and uncertain future of nuclear cleanup in America. The Raid Dominick "Dom" Sanchini wasn't sorry until he got caught. He was, at the time, a third-year manager at Rocky Flats Plant, a nuclear weapons facility in Colorado that produced around 70,000 plutonium triggers and other hazardous components for nuclear weapons made in the United States through the end of the...
Seoul Transforms Aging Overpass into Skygarden
Seoul Transforms Aging Overpass into Skygarden from V1 Media on Vimeo.Seoul has embraced a series of urban-planning projects to make public spaces more attractive to pedestrians. The latest is Seoullo 7017, an old highway overpass that has been converted into a garden in the sky. Much like New York City's Highline, the project has turned a hulking eyesore into green space for the public. Seoul's government built it, and the people came. More than 3 million pedestrians have visited the walkway...
Materials Industry Members Prod Congress to Fix Trust Fund as Part of Tax Measure
The National Stone Sand & Gravel Association used a Sept. 24-28 legislative and policy forum in Washington, D.C., to try to build support for an effort to use tax reform discussions to find a long-term revenue stream to close the projected shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund. Ahead of the meeting, Laura O'Neill-Kaumo, NSSGA's senior vice president for government and regulatory affairs, said her group's members would send "a small army of advocates" to Capitol Hill "and urge Congress to use ta...
Atlas Copco Wins Orders in Kazakhstan for Highly Productive Mining Operations
Stockholm, Sweden: Atlas Copco, a leading provider of sustainable productivity solutions, has won recent orders from Kazakhmys Corporation, a leading copper producer in Kazakhstan. The mining equipment will enhance the customer’s productivity, safety and ergonomics. The orders include dozens of mine trucks, loaders and drilling rigs for use in 11 mines, including the major Zhomart copper and silver mine in Central Kazakhstan. The orders total MEUR 22.5 (MSEK 215) and were received in the sec...
Journal from Ground Zero: Death, Sadness and Mariachi Music
Mexico City Earthquake Day 1: Death, sadness and mariachi music I crawl through a bunch of cracked concrete, twisted reinforcing bars and pancaked furniture. Overhead, the concrete deck is getting narrower and narrower as I progress the gap in this collapsed concrete building. The floor above is skewed 45 degrees, with outside light streaming through. The floor essentially collapsed onto this floor. The smell of death is everywhere. Our team arrived here in Mexico City at 3 am last night (T...
Global Seismic Expert Heads to Mexico
MEXICO CITY—At the request of private sector businesses and government entities, earthquake structural engineering experts from the global firm Miyamoto International have arrived in Mexico City to assist with critical assessments and recovery plans. The team brings world-class expertise from more than 100 earthquakes and disasters and can provide officials with “lessons learned” from other earthquake-stricken countries. Global expert Dr. Kit Miyamoto himself arrives Tuesday for key meeting...
Mexico Earthquake: Why So Many Buildings Failed
Why do buildings fail? Which buildings in your community are dangerous? Read Miyamoto’s official tech report on the Sept. 19 Mexico earthquake that collapsed at least 44 buildings in far-away Mexico City alone. Below you’ll also find news links to important explanatory stories that unravel why this earthquake is relevant to California and everyone worldwide living in seismic zones. Watch for upcoming stories on the Miyamoto engineering team arriving in Mexico City!
CDOT Completes Fiber Optic Installation on US 160 East of Wolf Creek Pass
SOUTHWEST COLORADO—Crews have completed a five-month project on US Highway (US) 160 Wolf Creek Pass for which they installed 95,000 feet of fiber optic cable. Other work on this $4.5 million project included: installing 54 manholes; milling and repaving; striping; and seeding along the 16-mile stretch of the US 160 mountain corridor, near and in the community of South Fork. Crews also completed work on electrical signs in Monte Vista, Alamosa and La Veta Pass. The fiber op...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
