Groundwater can sometimes wind up in unexpected places, given the way it interacts with subsurface structures. In this Practical Engineering video, Grady discusses the paths that groundwater takes around structures Keep reading
Tag: soil liquefaction
Michigan Dam Failure
Last week Michigan’s Edenville Dam failed, triggering catastrophic flooding. While the exact causes of dam’s failure are not yet clear, this video of the collapse provides some interesting hints. As Keep reading
Dam Failure
In a recent video, Practical Engineering tackles an important and often-overlooked challenge in civil engineering: dam failure. At its simplest, a levee or dam is a wall built to hold Keep reading
Escaping Quicksand
Quicksand is complicated stuff. It’s typically a mixture made up of sand, clay, and water. To get those ingredients into a proper quicksand mixture, you have to liquefy the particles Keep reading
Soil Liquefaction
Soil liquefaction is a rather unsettling process in which apparently solid ground begins moving in a fluid-like way after agitation. It occurs in loose sediments when the spaces between individual Keep reading