How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

After heavy rainfall overwhelmed dams in Michigan, are dams in Northeast Ohio at risk? CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Experts described the flooding in Midland, Mich. as a 500-year event, caused by two dams in the area that failed. In Northeast Ohio, water surrounds the northern coast, along with the Cuyahoga River and other lakes and tributaries. So how vulnerable is the area to catastrophic flooding? Unlike Michigan, Northeast Ohio doesn’t have hydroelectric dams, which failed leading to destructive flooding. Our area does have smaller barriers and levees that keep water off land. But there are several low lying areas that are prone to flooding. Dr. Bill Yu is a civil engineering professor at Case Western Reserve University. He says there are around 1,400 “high hazard” dams in Ohio, 40 to 50 of those are in Northeast Ohio, but there are different types of dams built for different purposes. But there are some land similarities with both Michigan and Ohio. “Ohio is located in an area similar to Michigan...which means we have an abundant amount of water supply. And because the course of the flood is to have lots of raining and lots of water and no retention for the water to go.” Dr. Yu says he doesn’t foresee Northeast Ohio having any large scale flooding. But he cautions, that anything could happen. “The magnitude of flood, just maybe not comparable to what we see right now. So definitely it can be dealt with engineer, managers and also management measures.” Source: How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings – Lakesider Ohio News

The first phase of the Lakeside Streets and Drainage Project begins in fall 2024. To plan engineering work and street construction, drilling for geotechnical borings on east Lakeside will start in late March. Geotechnical boring is a process that involves drilling into the soil and evaluating the soil, rock, groundwater and overall conditions at a given depth and location. We are determining how close rock is to the pavement surface and if it could impact the project design. The project designer, Contractors Design Engineering (CDE), selected 32 locations for borings where they are concerned that rock might impact their design. “There are consistent places on the north-south streets where there’s a hump in the road that causes water to drain from the north to the south,” Seling said. “If they’re going to cut that knob down, we need to know how close the rock is to help determine if the road can be lowered to improve drainage or if the rock would substantially increase the construction cost. We can also alert the contractor about the depth of rock ahead of time so they can base their proposed cost on that situation to avoid cost increases during construction.” Geotechnical drilling Ohio contractor will provide the service. They will field stake test locations and utilities will be cleared by the Ohio Utilities Protection Service. Wertz will bore holes in the pavement, then restore them by backfilling with spoils and/or compacted stone to within 12-inches of the surface and then backfilled with asphalt cold patch to grade. The plan is to drill up to 5 feet unless they hit rock first. It will take up to three days to complete the work. Source: Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings - Lakesider News

700 – Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation

Source: 700 - Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation 701 General 702 Geotechnical Profile - Roadway 703 Geotechnical Profile - [Structure] 704 Geotechnical Profile - [Geohazard] 705 Geotechnical Design Memorandum 706 Report of Geotechnical Exploration, Findings and Recommendations 707 Method of Payment 701 General Provide all geotechnical information as required to complete the project planning and design in accordance with the Project Development Process, or as directed by ODOT. Provide an electronic copy of all geotechnical submissions to the District Geotechnical Engineer. Clearly identify on every submission (reports, plan drawings, etc.), the geotechnical specification (title and date) under which the geotechnical work was contracted and performed. Label the first complete version of all documents being submitted as “draft”. Subsequent to ODOT review and approval, submit a complete version of the document, revised as necessary, and label “final”. Submit electronic copies of all final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets in accordance with Location & Design Manual Volume 3, Section 1201. Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets include Geotechnical Profile – Roadway sheets, Geotechnical Profile – Structure sheets, and Geotechnical Profile – Geohazard sheets. When submitting the final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets, also submit final boring data in electronic format for inclusion in the ODOT Geotechnical Data Management System (GeoMS). All boring data shall be compliant with the Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (DIGGS) standard. Logs prepared using the latest ODOT gINT library will meet this requirement. Submittal of gINT project files that can then be successfully auto-converted to DIGGS format by ODOT is acceptable. Additional information on DIGGS can be found online. Provide a black & white pdf file of all Geotechnical Profile sheets, except provide color versions of sheets presenting ODOT Rock Core Photograph Report pages. See Section 702.6.5 and Appendices C and D for additional information.

Cleveland Heights hires engineering firm for review of recommendation to remove Horseshoe Lake dam

Source: Cleveland Heights hires engineering firm for review of recommendation to remove Horseshoe Lake dam - cleveland.com CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The city has hired its engineering firm to conduct a peer review of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District’s recommendation to remove Horseshoe Lake dam and restore Doan Brook to its earlier natural state. Gannett Fleming Engineers and Architects, based in Camp Hill, Pa., with an office in Fairlawn, agreed last month to do the assessment for $9,000. Plans are to complete the initial review within two weeks of the city’s notice to proceed. From there, Gannett Fleming will take part in a virtual meeting with city officials to present its findings and answer questions, with written commentary to be provided within two weeks of that, according to a “scope of services” agreement. Meanwhile, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District CEO Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells sent an update to Cleveland Heights council last week also asking that the city “consider its concurrence with our recommended approach by Nov. 8.” On Sept. 27, Shaker Heights City Council approved its “resolution of concurrence” with the NEORSD recommendations, also being sought from Cleveland Heights council as well, since both cities lease the designated parkland from the City of Cleveland. Cleveland Heights council decided last month to seek a “second opinion” on the $28.3 million proposal to remove the lake and dam, as well as keeping Lower Shaker Lake intact with a refortified dam and dredging -- at no cost to either city. “We are confident in our recommendation to the cities of Shaker Heights and Cleveland Heights to restore Doan Brook through removal of Horseshoe Lake dam,” Dreyfuss-Wells stated. The Gannett Fleming peer review will likely include “hydrologic and hydraulic analyses and an evaluation of engineering alternatives to address identified deficiencies, and that the evaluations [...]

Ohio Geotechnical engineering faculty to develop course with Japanese colleagues

Source: Geotechnical engineering faculty to develop course with Japanese colleagues | Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering Geotechnical engineering faculty to develop course with Japanese colleagues Posted: July 20, 2020 Thanks to an award granted by a partnership of The American Council on Education (ACE) and the Institute for Innovative Global Education, Ohio State faculty and students will have soon have the opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues and peers at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. The two universities were selected by ACE to participate in the U.S.-Japan Rapid Response Virtual Exchange / Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Transformation Lab. The COIL program fosters U.S.-Japan higher education ties through the development of new and innovative courses. Daniel Pradel Daniel Pradel, professor of practice in geotechnical engineering, will collaborate with Takashi Matsushima, professor of engineering information and systems at the University of Tsukuba, to adapt a current Ohio State course called, “Learning from disasters: Extreme events and their impact on infrastructure, engineering, and society.” Professor Pradel previously participated in several post-disaster, engineering reconnaissance teams, including the 2015 Ghorka Earthquake in Nepal, the 2011 Tohuku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan and 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. He said that studying the response to these and other extreme events will reinforce, to students, the importance of resilience in designing and developing infrastructure. "Historical decisions in planning, engineering and/or urban development play important roles that often magnify the destructive effects of extreme events," Pradel said in a statement. He went on to emphasize the other challenges these events present. "In developing countries, where resources tend to be limited, extreme events such as earthquakes and typhoons often result in medical threats from infectious diseases due to the limited availability of clean water and emergency medical services." Daniel Pradel surveys landslide damage caused by Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico, 2017. While international travel is not possible during [...]

By |September 20th, 2021|Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Akron, Dayton, Parma, Canton, Youngstown, Geotechnical Ohio, Lorain, Geotechnical Services, Columbus|Comments Off on Ohio Geotechnical engineering faculty to develop course with Japanese colleagues
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