Abstract: For generations early American historians have believed that it is impossible to recover the originary cultures of Africans transported into slavery in America. Plantation owners tended to label their enslaved workers on behavorial grounds, believing that different African cultures produced characteristic patterns. Thus all the labels have been treated as suspect or faulty. Equally, American historians have assumed that enslaved Africans, traumatized by the experience of captivity and the Middle Passage and deliberately thrust into quarters with people seized from different African locations, necessarily lost their own cultural traditions as one of the costs of enslavement. Linda Heywood and John Thornton take on all these assumptions in Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Foundation of the Americas, 1585–1660. They argue that the cultural traditions of the first generation of Africans in Britain’s North American colonies are eminently recoverable because they came from a welldefined region in West Central Africa and, as the fields and quarters were filled with laborers from the same region, they were able to establish and practice their own particular cultural customs in America. During the first half of the seventeenth century, Heywood and Thornton demonstrate, enslaved workers in the English and Dutch colonies overwhelmingly came from West Central Africa, specifically Angola and Kongo. They argue that this region was characterized by a much more unified set of cultural traditions, including the two dominant languages of Kikongo and Kimbundo, than other parts of the coast to the north and south from which enslaved labor had been drawn earlier and would come later. Moreover, by then West Central Africa had had an intense relationship with European culture, including Roman Catholicism, for generations and therefore African leaders were able to exert control over the terms of the trade. Thus, according to Heywood and Thornton, the founding generations of enslaved Africans in English and Dutch America shared both language and cultural traditions and were able to maintain those traditions within slavery. And, although numbers were small compared with the larger waves that would be transported from other parts of the African coast later, they argue that the established influence of the founders continued. They thus take up and amplify Ira Berlin’s formulation of the creole generation of Africans in the Atlantic world. Where Berlin depicted Atlantic creoles as a generation of knowledgeable and sophisticated individuals who improvised roles for Slavery and Abolition Vol. 30, No. 1, March 2009, pp. 135–159

Abstract: This report outlines the forensic investigation of the collapse of Bridge No. SN 019-5010 in DeKalb County, Illinois on August 19, 2008. The bridge consisted of three 42 feet precast prestressed concrete deck beams simply-supported by concrete pile caps with a timber pile foundation. Assessment based on site investigation, in situ readings, and analysis indicated that a geotechnical or superstructure failure may be ruled out. Samples of the oak timber piles were retrieved and tested under pure compression as well as combined compression and flexure. Laboratory testing results of these specimens were used to calibrate an analytical model of a full-scale single timber pile. The analytical model considered both symmetrical and unsymmetrical loading of the bridge. The results of the analytical model were used to determine the required live load to initiate collapse. The results of the investigation indicate that structural overload, leading to fracturing of the timber piles in combined compression and flexure, is the likely reason for the bridge failure.

Abstract: Disclosed are apparatus and corresponding methodology for providing a base support, such as including concrete, and used such as for a wind-driven generator. Precast concrete cylinders are stacked in place upon a platform that may be partially precast and partially cast in place during assembly and supported, in certain embodiments, by plural concrete legs, the other ends of which are supported on a unitary or subdivided concrete foundation. In other embodiments, the platform may be supported by ribbed concrete panels. The concrete cylinders are glued together using an epoxy and then secured by an internal vertical post tension system extending from the platform to the upper most cylinder. Different types of concrete are used between upper and lower sections of the stacked cylinders. The lower section uses reinforced concrete while the upper section used ultra high performance fiber reinforced concrete.

Abstract: This report considers a number of promising foundation and basement insulation strategies that can meet the requirement for better thermal control in colder climates while enhancing moisture control, health, and comfort.

Abstract: There is generally a physical limit to the smallest possible capacity for a deep foundation. However, a lower bound on the capacity has rarely been accounted for in performing reliability analyses and developing reliability-based design codes. The objectives of this paper are to investigate the effect of having a lower-bound capacity on the reliability of a geotechnical engineering system and to propose a load and resistance factor design (LRFD) checking format that includes information on the lower-bound capacity in design. It is concluded that a lower-bound capacity can cause a significant increase in the calculated reliability for a geotechnical design even if it is an uncertain estimate. Two alternative LRFD formats that incorporate lower-bound capacities and that would not require substantive changes to existing codes are proposed. Real-world examples dealing with the design of onshore and offshore foundations indicate that the incorporation of a lower-bound capacity into design is expected to provide a more realistic quantification of reliability for decision-making purposes and therefore a more rational and efficient basis for design.

Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate what effect the use of alternative models for monopile pile foundations for shallow-water offshore wind turbines has on extreme loads associated with long return periods that are needed during design. We employ a utility-scale 5MW offshore wind turbine model with a 90-meter hub height in stochastic simulations; the turbine is assumed to be sited in 20 meters of water. Selected 20-year wind-wave combinations are employed as we study comparative time histories, power spectra, response statistics, and probability distributions of extreme loads for fixed-base and flexible foundation models. Two alternative flexible foundation models are considered and longterm loads are studied in comparison with the use of a fixed base model. A discussion on the varying dynamics, on short-term response statistics, and on extrapolated long-term loads from limited simulation is presented. It is shown that root-mean-square (RMS) tower loads are higher for the flexible foundation models than for the fixed-based one. This is due to the smaller stiffnesses of these models. Extreme loads are also higher for the flexible foundation models though not to the same degree as the RMS loads. Seastates involving wind speeds close to the rated wind speed control long-term 20-year loads which can be as much as 15% higher for the flexible foundation models compared to the fixed-base one.

Abstract: A foundation for enabling anchoring of a wind turbine tower thereto by means of replaceable through-bolts includes a foundation sole with a set of through-holes for accommodating the through-bolts, wherein the through-holes extend from an upper surface to a lower surface of the foundation sole; a workspace arranged beneath the foundation sole for enabling access to lower ends the through-bolts when arranged in the through-holes; and a passage allowing access to the workspace from a location outside an area of the foundation sole to be covered by the tower. A method for providing such a foundation is also disclosed.

Abstract: The horizontal water load combined with uplift forces implies that concrete damsare sensitive for sliding. At the same time, the safety of concrete dams againstsliding in the rock foundation is ass ...

Abstract: The floating foundation supporting framework according to the invention for offshore structures comprises a plurality of buoyancy elements which are arranged on the outside of a bar-type supporting framework which in turn is connected to ballast elements via cables (8, 9, 10). This design results in a simple construction and low construction costs.

Abstract: A modular surface foundation for wind turbine space frame towers (30), an apparatus to form panels of housing members (44) of modular surface foundation, and method of forming the modular surface foundation for wind turbine space frame towers (30) is provided. The modular surface foundation comprises a plurality of footing members, and a housing member (44) disposed on each of the footing members, the housing members (44) extending from the footing members and attaching to one or more structural members forming a portion of a wind turbine tower (30), wherein the housing member (44) provides support and increased height for the space frame tower (30) and includes an interior space.

Abstract: In order to simulate the generating condition and reveal the failure mechanism of zonal disintegration, the formation process of zonal disintegration through 3D geomechanical model test of the Dingji coal mine deep tunnel in Huainan mine is reconstructed area and the changing laws of strain and displacements of the surrounding rocks by means of various advanced and exact measurement methods are obtained. The formation conditions and failure laws of zonal disintegration of deep tunnel have been revealed through model test,which lays a solid test foundation for further studying nonlinear deformation and failure mechanism of deep tunnel.

Abstract: A simplified analytical method is presented for the vertical dynamic analysis of a rigid, massive, cylindrical foundation embedded in a poroelastic soil layer. The foundation is subjected to a time-harmonic vertical loading and is perfectly bonded to the surrounding soil in the vertical direction. The soil underlying the foundation base is represented by a single-layered poroelastic soil based on rigid bedrock while the soil at the side of the foundation is modeled as an independent poroelastic layer composed of a series of infinitesimally thin layers. The behavior of the soil is governed by Biot's poroelastodynamic theory and its governing equations are solved by the use of Hankel integral transform. The contact surface between the foundation base and the soil is smooth and fully permeable. The dynamic interaction problem is solved following standard numerical procedures. The accuracy of the present solution is verified by comparisons with the well-known solutions obtained from other approaches for both the elastodynamic interaction problem and poroelastodynamic interaction problem. Numerical results for the vertical dynamic impedance and response factor of the foundation are presented to demonstrate the influence of nondimensional frequency of excitation, soil layer thickness, poroelastic material parameters, depth ratio and mass ratio on the dynamic response of a rigid foundation embedded in a poroelastic soil layer. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract: Monopiles are an often used foundation concept for o shore wind turbine converters. These piles are highly subjected to lateral loads and thereby bending moments due to wind and wave forces. To ensure enough sti ness of the foundation and an acceptable pile-head de ection, monopiles with diameters at 4 to 6 m are typically necessary. In current practice these piles are normally designed by use of the p y curve method although the method is developed and veri ed for small diameter, slender piles with a diameter up to approximately 2 m. In the present paper a review of existing p y curve formulations for piles in sand under static loading is presented. Based on numerical and experimental studies presented in the literature, advances and limitations of current p y curve formulations are outlined.

Abstract: The treatment technology and its character of the new foundation called the two-direction reinforced composite foundation formed by geocell reinforced mattress and gravel piles were introducedReinforced mechanism of two-direction reinforced composite foundation formed by geocell reinforced mattress and gravel piles on the basis of analysis of working mechanism of composite foundation formed by gravel piles and geocell reinforced mattress respectively was studiedThe research progress on the experimental research,numerical analysis and the design theory of the two-direction reinforced composite foundation at home and abroad was summarizedFinally,some problems existed in two-direction reinforced composite foundation formed by geocell reinforced mattress and gravel piles in the future were discussed

Abstract: Proceedings of the International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, held in Orlando, Florida, March 15-19, 2009. Sponsored by the Geo-Institute of ASCE; International Association of Foundation Drilling; Pile Driving Contractors Association. This Geotechnical Special Publication contains 78 peer-reviewed papers covering technological advances, case histories, present challenges related to foundations, ground support, and earth retention. Topics include: earth-retaining structures, ground improvement, geosynthetics, pavements and subgrade issues, shallow foundations,landfill issues and foundations in waste, foundations in problem soils.

Abstract: Foamed concrete exhibits excellent characteristics including light weight, high strength, energy saving, waste utilizing, heat preservation, noise insulation as well as the good absorbability of impacting energy, which can be used in infrastructure facilities such as high-grade highway and subway. Backfilling load at the construction of high embankment, subway tunnel, and underground continual channel and so on can be reduced by the application of this new material. At the same time, the foundation stress can be reduced; foundation uneven settlement can be decreased. Then the problem of bumping at bridge-head of soft base embankment and road widening can be solved effectively, and the stability and security coefficient of road engineering is increased. Meanwhile, project and maintenance costs are reduced, and the social efficiency is improved. In this paper, physical mechanics performance, material composition and production process of foamed concrete are introduced, and the development of foamed concrete is reviewed. Through analyzing the application examples, domestic and foreign, the application status of foamed concrete in road engineering is summarized. Based on the problems existing in foamed concrete application, the future of this new material is projected.

Abstract: A support structure for use in the offshore wind farm industry, and a method of manufacturing and installing same, comprising a foundation (4; 4') for installation on a seabed (3) below a body of water (2) and a tower (7) connected to and extending upwards from the foundation and being capable of supporting at least an equipment unit (5). The foundation (4; 4') comprises a bottom slab element (14) and a wall (23, 54) extending upwards from the bottom slab element (14), thereby defining a first cavity (15) for holding ballast (19) and for providing buoyancy during tow-out and installation. The foundation (4; 4') comprises a circumferential skirt (18) extending downwards from the bottom slab (14), thereby defining at least one compartment 17a-c underneath the foundation (4; 4').