1999 NOVA Award Winners

Humboldt Stiffness Gauge
Continuous Belt Asphalt Roller 
Special Moment Resisting Truss
Direct Drive Elevators

1999 NOVA Award Finalists

Composite Column Reinforcement
Dynamic Lateral Load Test
Pultruded All-Composite Bridge Deck
Three-Dimensional Machine Control

1999 NOVA Award Nominations

NOVA AWARD WINNER

Humboldt Stiffness Gauge
The Humboldt Stiffness Gauge (HSG) is a field instrument that nondestructively measures soil stiffness and soil modulus. The HSG vibrates, imparting small forces to the soil through a ring-shaped foot, and causes small soil deflections. The instrument determines soil stiffness as the ratio of these small forces to small deflections. It assumes a value of Poisson's ratio and derives Young's soil modulus from the stiffness. HSG measures soil stiffness in just over a minute. Soil stress and strain are determined by HSG at levels commonly found in soil applications (3 to 5 psi). Because it vibrates from 100 Hz to 200 Hz, HSG filters out soil deflections caused by nearby equipment. By using soil stiffnesses measured with HSG along with statistical quality control, the current overspecification and overcompaction of soil can be greatly reduced, thereby reducing compactive effort by approximately 30%. 
     When soil is compacted for pavements, pipe bedding, backfills, and foundations, soil density is used almost exclusively by the construction industry to specify, estimate, measure and control soil compaction. However, soil density may not be the desired engineering property, instead, the desired engineering property is the soil modulus or soil stiffness. 

Contact: Humboldt Mfg. Co.
7300 W. Agatite Avenue
Norridge, Illinois 60656
Phone: 800-544-7220
            708-456-6300
Fax:     708-456-0137
Website: www.hmc-hsi.com
Email: hsi@hmc-hsi.com

Continuous Belt Asphalt Roller
 The Asphalt Multi-Integrated Roller (AMIR) compacts asphalt paving mixes in the field. Its design is based on the phenomenon of construction induced cracks in asphalt pavements. It applies its compaction energy to the asphalt mix in a way that differs from existing vibratory, pneumatic, or static steel rollers. Conventional compacting equipment, such as steel vibratory rollers, while capable of achieving a specific density, induced cracks during pavement construction. These cracks are often visually apparent and are due to a mismatch between the geometry and relative rigidity of the roller and the asphalt mix. 
     AMIR replaces the cylindrical stiff shape of the roller with a moving flat, soft plate that produces a crack-free asphalt layer and more uniform compaction along and across the mat. It achieves the same, if not better, density with fewer passes than conventional rollers. The AMIR compactor originated in Ottawa, Canada, and since 1987. Comparative tests on asphalt specimens from conventional and AMIR compacted sections show quite significant improvements in density, tensile strength, fatigue life and resistance to moisture damage. AMIR has been used in Australia, Canada, Egypt, and Sweden. 

Contact: Dr. A. O. Abd El Halim
Department of Civil and Environmental
     Engineering
Carleton University
1506 West 36th Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario K15 5B6 Canada
Phone: 613-520-5789
Fax: 613-520-3951
Website: www.civeng.carleton.ca/~ahalim
Email: ahalim@ccs.carleton.ca

Cracks Using
Conventional Roller

No Cracks using AMIR

(click figures to enlarge)

Special Moment Resisting Steel Truss
This moment resisting steel truss frame design reduces earthquake damage to steel structures. The basis for the innovation is "A Draft Guide for Designing Special Moment Resisting Steel Frames" that resulted from a University of Michigan study. The design has been implemented by the Earl Construction Co. in the Tru-Frame^TM truss system, which contains several diagonal elements that are designed to absorb seismic energy and yield at prescribed stress levels. After a quake, the diagonals are easily accessible for repair or replacement.
     The standard moment frame design using rolled steel sections requires ultrasonic testing. This is eliminated when using this special system, because its connection requires only a single pass fillet weld at the bottom chord that does not need preheating nor a full penetration moment weld. This advantage is achieved by moving the inelastic deformation of the frame to a special link element at the midspan of the truss. Since all connections are single pass fillet welds and tension control bolts, they can be visually inspected any time after completion without the need for additional testing. 

Contact: Dr. Subhash C. Goel
Department of Civil and Environmental
     Engineering
2340 G. G. Brown Lab
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105-2125
Phone: 734-764-8419
Fax: 734-764-4292
Website: www.intellisense.com
Email: subhash@umich.edu
or
David Downey
Earl Construction Co.
3940 Industrial Blvd., #100 D
West Sacramento, California 95691
Phone: 916-371-4100
Fax:     916-371-2468

(click figures to enlarge)

Direct Drive Elevator
The EcoSystem elevator is a new family of products for vertical transportation. Members of the family include EcoSpace^TM and MonoSpace^TM, products that are used for simplex or duplex installations that have 2 to 10 landings, up to 80 feet of travel, and operate at 200 fpm. EcoSpace has its controller closet located adjacent to the hoist way at the top elevator landing, and MonoSpace has its controller closet built into the front wall of the hoist way at the top landing. The compact EcoDisc^TM hoisting machine is an AC gearless motor of axial synchronous design with an integrated traction sheave, break flange, and rotor. Compact and light weight, EcoDisc, requires no penthouse or large machine room. As its name suggests, EcoSystem is ecologically responsible. Unlike hydraulic elevators that may eventually develop leaks and harm the environment, the system uses no hydraulic fluid. The system also uses less electricity than hydraulic and traction elevators. EcoSystem products feature better space utilization for the building owner, simplified installation for contractors, and faster, smoother rides for passengers. 

Contact: Montgomery KONE
One Montgomery Court
Moline, Illinois 61265  USA
Phone: 800-956-KONE
Fax:     309-757-1469
Website: www.montgomery-kone.com
Email: erupe@montromery-kone.com

(click figure to enlarge)

Composite Column Reinforcement
The SnapTite^TM composite column reinforcement system is for rehabilitating or upgrading steel reinforced concrete columns or structures with fiberglass jackets. It reduces labor and heavy equipment required to install traditional steel jackets that are pre-fabricated and field-fitted using a crane, then welded, grouted, and painted. SnapTite uses pre-manufactured fiberglass jackets made with custom engineered high strength Vectorply^® fiberglass fabrics and a corrosion resistant isophthalic resin. SnapTite jackets are installed on a concrete column using a high performance urethane adhesive. A typical column requires three to four layers of jackets, each having a nominal thickness of about 1/8-inch. A typical 48-inch diameter by 20-foot tall concrete column can be fully jacketed in less than three hours with only two people and no heavy equipment

Contact: NCF Industries, Inc.
2320 Cherry Industrial Circle
Long Beach, California 90805 USA
Phone: 562-602-0400
Fax:     562-602-0050

Northridge earthquake




(click figures to enlarge)

Dynamic Lateral Load Test
Lateral Statnamic Testing was developed to model dynamic loads caused by earthquakes, ship impacts, and wind on structures and foundations. The method only requires one foundation, since lateral force is generated by an accelerating mass. The Statnamic device consists of three main parts: a piston, a cylinder/silencer, and reaction masses. The piston contains a load cell for measuring force and a laser sensor to measure displacement. The piston is mounted horizontally on the foundation being measured. A solid propellant is burned inside the piston and generates gas pressure, and the cylinder/silencer, which fits over the piston, is accelerated by the expanding gas to over 15 g's. The accelerated masses generate a force equal to the mass times acceleration. Motion sensors placed horizontally in inclinometer casings embedded in the foundation measure the lateral acceleration of the foundation at various depths, and strain gages measure the strain at those same depths.

Contact: Bermingham Foundation    Equipment
Wellington Street Marine Terminal
Hamilton, Ontario Canada L8L 4Z9
Phone: 905-528-0425
Fax:     905-528-6187
Website: www.berminghammer.com
Email: info@berminghammer.com

Lateral Load on Pile Cap in Pascagoula River

(click figures to enlarge)

Pultruded All-Composite Bridge Deck
Superdeck^TM all-composite bridge is used in repair and replacement of deteriorated concrete bridge decks. It is an FRP composite deck whose cross-section shape and fiber architecture were designed and engineered as a minimum weight structural element with E-glass reinforcement. The pultruded deck components are assembled into modules to give a deck that weighs approximately 22 pounds per square foot. A deck module can have a width up to 8 feet and a length that corresponds to the bridge width. Because modules are placed transversely to the traffic direction, they can be supported by longitudinal steel or FRP beams. Superdeck provides six to seven times the load capacity of a reinforced concrete deck with only 20% of the weight.

Contact: Creative Pultrusions, Inc.
214 Industrial Lane
P.O. Box 6
Alum Bank, Pennsylvania 15521-0006
Phone: 888-CPI-PULL
            814-839-4186
Fax:     814-839-4276
Website: www.pultrude.com
Email: crpul@pultrude.com

Laurel LIck Bridge

Three-Dimensional Machine Control
3D-MC is a laser control system for construction machinery. X, Y, and Z coordinates from a design are downloaded to 3D-MC software installed in a PC attached to a GRT-2000 Tracking Total Station. The GRT-2000 sends processed data over a high-speed laser fan-beam to a machine mounted smart receiver. The coded information, which contains elevation data, cross slope data, and position data, is received by the receiver which decodes and transmits pulses to the machine's hydraulic control valves. The system permits the construction of vertical or super-elevated curves and complex domes without using stakes. One-way laser communication eliminates radio communication between the tracking total station and the machine and results in much faster communication, because it is a strictly infrared technology. 3D-MC can track machines, such as motorized graders and scrapers, that are traveling at normal speeds.

Contact: Topcon Laser Systems, Inc.
5758 W. Las Positas Blvd.
Pleasanton, California 94583
Phone: 925-460-1300
Fax: 
Website: www.topconlaser.com
Email: Jamie_williamson
@topconlaser.com

(click figures to enlarge)

Copyright ©1999, The Construction Innovation Forum, Inc.®
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This page written 12/10/1999 by RICarr