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Title:

THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Accession Number:

00215386

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES OF THE U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS NUCLEAR CRATERING GROUP INCLUDE (1) CRATERING CALIBRATION OF VARIOUS GEOLOGIC MEDIA AND DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES TO PROVIDE A DESIRED CRATER GEOMETRY WITH CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVE DETONATIONS; (2) JOINT PLANNING OF AND TECHNICAL PARTICIPATION IN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION NUCLEAR EXCAVATION EXPERIMENTS; (3) DEVELOPMENT OF DATA ON THE ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF NUCLEAR CRATERS; (4) DEVELOPMENT OF CHEMICAL AND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY FOR CIVIL WORKS; (5) ENGINEERING STUDIES OF NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION FEASIBILITY; AND (6) JOINT CE/AEC CIVIL WORKS NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION EXPERIMENTS. NCG HAS EXECUTED SEVEN MAJOR CHEMICAL EXPLOSIVES CRATERING EXPERIMENTS TO PROVIDE CRATERING CALIBRATION OF DRY ALLUVIUM, DRY BASALT, RHYOLITE, AND WATER-SATURATED CLAY SHALE. RECENTLY COMPLETED WAS A RESERVOIR CONNECTION EXPERIMENT AT FORT PECK, MONTANA, AND THE CRATERING AND SAFETY CALIBRATION DETONATIONS FOR A SMALL BOAT HARBOR EXCAVATION EXPERIMENT IN KAWAIHAE BAY ON THE ISLAND OF HAWAII. NUCLEAR CRATER ENGINEERING PROPERTIES FIELD INVESTIGATIONS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN COMPLETED IN WHICH A TRENCH WAS EXCAVATED THROUGH THE LIP OF THE CRATER AND THE MATERIAL SCREENED AND WEIGHED. INVESTIGATIONS ARE PLANNED FOR SOME OF THE MORE RECENTLY EXECUTED NUCLEAR CRATERING EXPERIMENTS. ESTIMATES OF TRUE CRATER VOLUME AND RADIATION LOGS IN DRILL HOLES ON TWO OTHER PROJECTS HAVE BEEN USED AS A BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A TECHNIQUE FOR PREDICTING THE EXPECTED EXPOSURE DOSE RATES IN NUCLEAR CRATERS. FOUR CONCEPTUAL NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS HAVING SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR ACCOMPLISHMENT: (1) NUCLEAR QUARRYING TO PRODUCE ROCKFILL OR AGGREGATE; (2) NUCLEAR HARBOR CONSTRUCTION; (3) NUCLEAR EJECTA DAM CONSTRUCTION; AND (4) NUCLEAR CANAL OR ROADBED CUT EXCAVATION. THE NUCLEAR QUARRY HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS THE MOST DIRECT APPLICATION OF PRESENT TECHNOLOGY. THE LARGE HARBOR AT A REMOTE SITE IS ONE OF THE MOST ATTRACTIVE PROSPECTS FOR NUCLEAR EXCAVATION. /AUTHOR/

Supplemental Notes:

Paper sponsored by Committee on Soil and Rock Properties and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

Monograph Title:

Symposium: rapid excavation

Monograph Accession #:

01410275

Authors:

Day, W C

Pagination:

pp 1-18

Publication Date:

1970

Serial:

Highway Research Record

Issue Number: 339
Publisher: Highway Research Board

Conference:

49th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board

Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
Date: 1970-1-12 to 1970-1-16

Media Type:

Print

Features:

Figures (20) ; References (18)

Uncontrolled Terms:

Old TRIS Terms:

Subject Areas:

Construction; Geotechnology; Highways; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jun 11 1971 12:00AM

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