Pittsburgh District Research Articles

Evaluation of Seepage, Internal Erosion, and Remedial Alternatives for East Branch Dam, Elk County, Pennsylvania

East Branch Dam is a Pittsburgh District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) dam that nearly failed in 1957, several years after construction. The dam is a zoned embankment that is 56 m (184 ft) high and 526 m (1,725 ft) long. Its primary purpose is flood control. Following the observation of muddy water flowing from a rock drain at the downstream toe of the dam, soon after construction, emergency drilling through the embankment exposed a void that demanded lowering the pool and subsequent grouting. Localized grouting was accomplished to treat the void but did not involve a comprehensive repair of the dam. The 1957 near failure of East Branch Dam represents an excellent case history that provides dam designers and operators today insight into the mechanisms of internal erosion within an embankment dam, and it underscores the need to quickly take all necessary actions to protect the public. Since the 1957 emergency, the project has performed satisfactorily and has been closely monitored with a network of piezometers, weirs, and alignment-settlement pins. Even though evidence of further internal erosion has not reappeared, the fundamental conditions that caused the original problem were not corrected by the 1957 emergency repairs. Recently, the dam was evaluated under the COE Screening Portfolio Risk Assessment (SPRA) program. In light of the 1957 incident, conditions of active seepage, and high phreatic pressures within the embankment, the SPRA program assigned East Branch a Dam Safety Action Classification (DSAC) rating of II, generally indicating that failure could begin during normal operations or be initiated as the consequence of an event. A potential failure mode analysis (PFMA) was conducted in 2008 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) as requested and participated in by the Pittsburgh District. The PMFA identified the potential for re-initiation of internal erosion at or near the cavity repair as the highest risk failure mode and a primary threat to public safety. Given these findings, the Pittsburgh District implemented a set of non-structural interim risk reduction measures (IRRM) in February 2008, including lowering of the pool to reduce risk of failure by an estimated 60 percent. The interim measures will allow the dam to operate safely until the COE determines the appropriate long-term remedy to address the structural deficiencies of East Branch Dam. In 2009, a joint COE–USBR PFMA was undertaken using procedures from both agencies. Current dam safety efforts involve reassessing potential failure modes, preparing a Dam Safety Modification Report, evaluating various remedial alternatives, and recommending a long-range repair plan for East Branch Dam. This paper examines the history of the dam, investigations performed, potential failure modes examined, and the range of remedial alternatives being considered.

Industrial suburbs and the growth of metropolitan Pittsburgh, 1870–1920

In 1907, the Pittsburgh Survey team recognized that dispersed industrial development had created a metropolitan area stretching 30 to 50 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. Traditional interpretations of metropolitan formation fail to account for the crucial role of industry in this process. Beginning in the 1870s, the transformation from small, craft organized factories to integrated mills, mass production, and modern management organization in steel and other industries led many manufacturers to search for large sites with railroad and river accessibility. They purchased land, designed modern plants, and sometimes built towns for workers. Other firms bought into new communities begun as speculative industrial real estate ventures. Some owners removed their plants from the city's labour politics to exert greater control over workers. The region's rugged topography and dispersed natural resources of coal and gas accentuated this dispersal. The rapid growth of steel, glass, railroad equipment and coke industries resulted in both large mass-production plants and numerous smaller firms. As capital deepened and interdependence grew, participants multiplied, economies accrued, the division of labour increased, and localized production systems formed around these industries. Transportation, capital, labour markets, and the division of labour in production bound the scattered industrial plants and communities into a sprawling metropolitan district. By 1910 the Pittsburgh district was a complex urban landscape with a dominant central city, surrounded by proximate residential communities, mill towns, satellite cities, and hundreds of mining towns.

Locking into success : D. A. Bruce, J. A. Gerlach, B. H. Greene & A. Schaffer, Civil Engineering — ASCE, 64(4), 1994, pp 48–50

In 1961, at Wheeler Lock in Alabama, crews with the Tennessee Valley Authority tried to incorporate an existing lock wall into a new cofferdam. A major portion of the land wall slid about 30 ft into the dewatered excavation being used to construct the adjoining lock, killing several people. Reportedly, sliding occurred on an undetected weak clay seam in the foundation rock. No stabilization measures or instrumentation systems had been implemented. Now 30 years later, designers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh district, have installed a similar project at Point Marion Lock in Pennsylvania to replace the 68-year-old navigation lock on the Monongahela River in southwest Pennsylvania. This time, designers called for 471 anchors--one of the largest single uses of prestressing strand in North America--to avoid repeating the Wheeler Lock failure. The project cost $88 million. Had a new site been selected that required the construction of both a new lock and dam, the project would have cost approximately 50% more. Designers also created an extensive $1 million structural and geotechnical instrumentation program for this project.

REAL‐TIME SNOW SIMULATION MODEL FOR THE MONONGAHELA RIVER BASIN1

ABSTRACT: The Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is responsible for operating two multipurpose reservoirs in the 7384 square mile (19198 square kilometer) Monongahela Basin. A third reservoir, presently under construction, will soon be operating. The real‐time forecasting of runoff for operational purposes requires simulation of snow accumulation and snowmelt throughout the Basin during the winter season. This article describes capabilities of SNOSIM, a model being developed for performing such simulation. The application of this model as part of a comprehensive system of water control software, and some initial simulation results are presented.

The Headwaters District: A History of the Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Abstract : This is a history of the Engineers in the headwaters district--military and civilian. By authority of Congress, the Army Engineers began the task of taming the waters of the Ohio River Basin in 1824. Many of their accomplishments were achieved by trial and error, since the problems that they were asked to solve had never been faced before. I think it appropriate to paraphrase a statement from an individual who, at one time, served the District with considerable distinction. His comment was used in a much narrower context, but I feel sure the reader can sense its applicability to much of the action in this history. The course of history never changes instantaneously. Nevertheless, sometimes there appears to be accelerated periods of transition. The decade of the 1970's may have been one of those periods for the Pittsburgh District. Modernization of navigation facilities on the Ohio River eliminated the last of the wicket dams. The flood control reservoir system was thoroughly tested by Tropical Storm Agnes. Flood plain management was becoming an increasingly important factor in consideration of flood damage prevention. And in a surge of development of recreation facilities, the District took on the task of environmental education directed to school children. The third century of Engineer activity in the headwaters district must include involvement with the delicate balance between energy demands and environmental protection. Maintenance, repair and replacement of navigation and flood control structures will still be necessary, but attention of the headwaters Engineers may well be directed to additional fields of major importance. A prime concern will be water availability, whether it be for the usage of an increasingly urbanized population or for production of power, - hydroelectric, nuclear, or created by synthesis of fossil fuels. Based on the records of the past, the Engineers of the Pittsburgh District will meet the challenges of the future.

Monongahela and Pittsburgh District Glass: 19th Century

Growth of glass industry in american, in particular in the prime production region of pennsylvania; Information on company names, raw materials used and their costs, machinery used, employees, wages, capital, and products produced and their values; Specific data on window glass.

Incidence of skin-test reactions among children in the Pittsburgh District. I. Histoplasmin.

BECAUSE of the geographic location of Pittsburgh, one might anticipate the existence of histoplasmosis. Not only are the city and environs situated between two areas in which there is a high incidence of skin-test reactions, namely, Maryland and Ohio, but also they are located at the convergence of three major rivers. Although the city proper is highly industrialized, typical rural areas are adjacent to the city limits. Clinicians in the area are well aware of the implications of the geographic location as related to histoplasmosis, but definite knowledge of incidence is lacking. Only a few positive skin reactions have been obtained in the area, and no active clinical case, to our knowledge, has been reported. With this in mind, we began to gather data among patients of the Children's Hospital. Because the literature covering epidemiologic studies in histoplasmosis in the United States has been reviewed by Shaw, Howell, and Weiss,

The Ruhr Coal-Mining District

MOST of the homes of Europe have been cold this winter. They lacked the X ;5 BERLIN coal needed for heating. Most of the % 7' .ONO RUHR factories have lain idle. They lacked coal X 4 , '^ ' :: ~< 'N ~ ' ..... for power. Public-utility plants suffered, ,;i-FT RAN A Nc '.? C s N and lights were dim in the houses and * PARIS ' l 'oo MILES . CD PARIS /~ *..OO, L -. on the streets. The coldness, idleness, FIG. I-Location of the Ruhr. and darkness of Europe are due to many causes, but the most important single factor is the breakdown of coal production in the vital Ruhr coal-mining district of northwest Germany. Reports indicate that in the months immediately after the cessation of hostilities the production of coal dropped to about a million tons a month, only a tenth of the normal production before the war. To a slight extent the breakdown of coal production in the Ruhr was the result of actual physical damage to the coal mines, but to a greater extent it reflected the general breakdown in the economic organization of the region-shortage of laborers, dearth of food, scarcity of livable housing, gradual deterioration of equipment, and, above all, difficulties of transportation. Canals were obstructed by broken bridges and temporary fills; railroads had been so intensely destroyed that they could carry only a fraction of their normal prewar capacity either within the Ruhr or from the Ruhr to other parts of the Continent. The breakdown of production, although tragic for the peoples of Europe, is temporary, at least in its severer aspects. Because ot the urgent need for fuel and power in Europe on the one hand and the richness and availability of the coal and the presence of established facilities in the Ruhr on the other hand, the Ruhr coal district is being resurrected and may become once again the greatest European center of coal mining and, perhaps, of heavy industry. This article will discuss, first, the resource background and history of the Ruhr coal-mining district and, second, its chief economic activities on the eve of the war. The Ruhr district is the most important coal field in Europe; among world centers it ranks second only to the Pittsburgh district of the United States. In 1937 it produced I27.8 million metric tons of coal-three times as much as all France and more than the entire Soviet Union. Its coal of

Growth of American Manufacturing Areas: A Comparative Analysis with Special Emphasis on Trends in the Pittsburgh District. Glenn E. McLaughlin

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsGrowth of American Manufacturing Areas: A Comparative Analysis with Special Emphasis on Trends in the Pittsburgh District. Glenn E. McLaughlin Malcolm KeirMalcolm Keir Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 48, Number 1Feb., 1940 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/255521 Views: 1Total views on this site PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Growth of American Manufacturing Areas: A Comparative Analysis, with Special Emphasis on Trends in the Pittsburgh District.

Growth of American Manufacturing Areas: A Comparative Analysis, with Special Emphasis on Trends in the Pittsburgh District.

PSYCHIATRIC FACILITIES IN AND ABOUT PITTSBURGH

The name of Pittsburgh is conspicuously associated in the minds of most people with big industry. Pioneer work in the development of steel, coal and electricity suggests the names of such men as Carnegie, Frick, Schwab and Westinghouse. Pittsburgh is still the great steel center of America. Its association with such vast industries has obscured the fact that this same pioneer spirit has found an outlet in the arts, the sciences and great philanthropies as well. In this connection such names as Stephen Foster, Nevin, Brashaer (affectionately known as “Uncle John”), to say nothing of Andrew Mellon, come to mind. Phipps Psychiatric Clinic in Baltimore recalls the name of another of these industrial philanthropists. Many other names are prominent in Pittsburgh’s roster of famous men. But our story has to do with Pittsburgh’s psychiatric history of earlier times and today. We find that the first hospital to care for the insane in the Pittsburgh District was The Dixmont Hospital. Its early history was intimately bound up with that of The Western Pennsylvania Hospital founded in 1847 by a group of representative citizens of Pittsburgh and vicinity, who met in Odeon Hall on Fourth Avenue for the purpose of founding a general hospital. A constitution was drafted, one extract from which will serve to show the ideals as expressed by its founders:

Experiences with the Treatment of Monongahela River Water

The Monongahela River, a tributary of the Ohio River, is formed by the union of the West Fork and Tygart Valley Rivers near Fairmont, W. Va. The trunk stream flows northward into Pennsylvania over a course of 128 miles and unites with the Allegheny at Pittsburgh to form the Ohio River. Its chief tributary is the Youghiogheny which empties into the Monongahela River at McKeesport. To provide slack water navigation on the Monongahela Rive between Pittsburgh and Fairmont, W. Va., a series of locks and dams have been constructed. The area drained, which is estimated at 7390 square miles, is a fertile country in which are extensive bituminous coal deposits. The mining of coal, its destructive distillation in coal by-product plants, and the manufacture of by-product and bee-hive coke so necessary in the production of steel in the Pittsburgh district, are the main industrial activities of this area. Industrial wastes and acid mine drainage in large quantities are allowed to enter the main stream and tributaries without regard for other indispensable purposes for which the river water must be used. The quantity of acid mine drainage entering the Monongahela River is such that the natural alkalinity of the river has been destroyed and the river remains acid throughout the year. Free sulphuric acid, acid salts of iron and aluminum, and carbon dioxide constitute the total acidity in the river water. The exact chemical formulae of the acid salts of iron and aluminum found in the river water are not known. The majority of the hardness present in the Monongahela River is in the sulphate form and consists mainly of calcium and magnesium sulphates plus the acid constituents. The total hardness varies over a wide range, depending on the stage of the river and which section of the water shed is furnishing the greater volume of water. The changes in total hardness are

Piedpoudre Courts: A Study of the Small Claim Litigant in the Pittsburgh District

Piedpoudre Courts: A Study of the Small Claim Litigant in the Pittsburgh District

"Piedpoudre Courts," A Study of the Small Claim Litigant in the Pittsburgh District

"Piedpoudre Courts," A Study of the Small Claim Litigant in the Pittsburgh District

Piedpoudre courts: A study of the small claim litigant in the pittsburgh district. By gustav l. Schramm, LL.B., Ph.D. Published by the pittsburgh legal aid society, 1928. Pp. 219

National Municipal ReviewVolume 17, Issue 8 p. 482-483 Recent Books Reviewed Piedpoudre courts: A study of the small claim litigant in the pittsburgh district. By gustav l. Schramm, LL.B., Ph.D. Published by the pittsburgh legal aid society, 1928. Pp. 219 Herbert Harley, Herbert Harley ChicagoSearch for more papers by this author Herbert Harley, Herbert Harley ChicagoSearch for more papers by this author First published: August 1928 https://doi.org/10.1002/ncr.4110170810AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume17, Issue8August 1928Pages 482-483 RelatedInformation

Water Softening Plant and Pumping Station Improvements at Fostoria, Ohio

Just as there are trends in industry, in the stock market, in education, in sewage disposal practice and in many other activities of the human race so there is a trend in the water works field, namely, to supply soft water. It is not an easy matter for municipally owned plants to proceed to furnish a soft water supply, whether naturally or artificially softened, due to the very nature of our government, but the many softening plants now in use or in the projected state attest to the success of water works engineers not only in the design of softening works but in establishing the economics of a soft water supply for industrial use and domestic consumption. Greenville, Ohio; Jefferson City, Mo.; the Ohio Valley Water Company (supplies Bellevue, Ben Avon, McKees Rocks, West View and others in the Pittsburgh district); Apollo, Pa. and Wheeling, W. Va., of recent design by the writer's firm are now in operation. The Fostoria plant will be operating, it is hoped, by this time next year. The Sewickley, Pa., softening plant is now in the course of design and softening plants are being considered by other clients. Other engineers record like progress in the design and installation of softening plants. Softening as employed in public water supplies generally assumes one of two types the lime-soda process or the zeolite method, the type used depending upon local conditions. Of the above named plants, that of the Ohio Valley Water Company is a zeolite plant capable of softening 4 million gallons daily to zero hardness. This plant is the largest of this type so far built for softening a public water supply. For Sewickley, Pa., studies have been completed on a marked variation of one of the above named types. The Fostoria softening plant is of the lime-soda type, the feature of which will be the combination of the functions of clarifier and settling basins in one unit and the, provision for recirculation of clarifier sludge as an enhancement in the softening process.

Pittsburgh Plan of City-County Consolidation

The county of Allegheny comprises the heart of the Pittsburgh district as usually understood, and includes the city itself, termed by the laws of the commonwealth a city of the second class; three cities of the third class, i.e., McKeesport, Clairton, and Duquesne; sixty-six boroughs and fifty-four townships (of which twenty-five are townships of the first class, governed by a board of commissioners, and twenty-nine are townships of the second class, under the control of a board of supervisors). During the years 1925–26, the boroughs of Carrick, Knoxville, and Westwood and the township of Lower St. Clair have, by the voluntary act of their people, united with the city of Pittsburgh. There are now existing within the county of Allegheny a total of one hundred twenty-four separate municipal units (exclusive of school districts), each operating under its own particular form of government.

Operating experiences with the relaying of the duquesne ring

A paper was presented by the writer at the A. I. E. E. Spring Convention, held at Pittsburgh, April 24 to 26, 1923, and was published in the July 1923 issue of the Institute Journal, on the subject; “Selective Relay System of the 66,000 Volt Ring of the Duquesne Light Company.” That paper described in detail the systems of relaying which are used to protect the Duquesne Ring for both short circuit and ground faults. That paper also described the service tests which were made on the ring to test Hie relay protection. Nearly a year has passed since the ring was put into operation with the protection described, and ample opportunity has been given to study the protective schemes under actual service conditions and to prove their practicability. This period of service has included one of the worst, if not the very worst, lightning seasons that has ever been experienced in the history of the Duquesne Light Company. Electrical storms in the Pittsburgh District are unusually severe, both as to intensity and duration, due probably to the geographical location of the district, situated as it is at the junction of two rivers. Storms in this vicinity almost invariably seek the Ohio River Valley and follow it up to the point of junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, after which they will continue up one of these streams. Storms of several hours duration are not at all uncommon during the height of the lightning season. These have resulted in many insulator flashovers during the past season and the ground relays have given an excellent account of themselves. Several line short circuits have occured and the proper relays functioned correctly in every case. This paper gives a partial log of relay operations on the ring for the first eleven months' service, and it will be noted that every case of trouble on lines has been cleared by the proper relays. A study of all operations leads to certain conclusions as to the proper means of improving the present protection, and these are described in detail. All troubles and difficulties have been frankly described and nothing withheld. It is hoped that other operating companies, which are using, or contemplate using, similar types of protection may derive some value from Die discussion and data presented.

Operating Experiences with the Relaying of the Duquesne Ring

A paper was presented by the writer at the A. I. E. E. Spring Convention, held at Pittsburgh, April 24 to 26, 1923, and was published in the July 1923 issue of the Institute Journal, on the subject: ``Selective Relay System of the 66,000 Volt Ring of the Duquesne Light Company.'' That paper described in detail the systems of relaying which are used to protect the Duquesne Ring for both short circuit and ground faults. That paper also described the service tests which were made on the ring to test the relay protection. Nearly a year has passed since the ring was put into operation with the protection described, and ample opportunity has been given to study the protective schemes under actual service conditions and to prove their practicability. This period of service has included one of the worst, if not the very worst, lightning seasons that has ever been experienced in the history of the Duquesne Light Company. Electrical storms in the Pittsburgh District, are unusually severe, both as to intensity and duration, due probably to the geographical location of the district, situated as it is at the junction of two rivers. Storms in this vicinity almost invariably seek the Ohio River Valley and follow it up to the point of junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, after which they will continue up one of these streams. Storms of several hours duration are not at all uncommon during the height of the lightning season.

Educational Departments of Corporations in the Pittsburgh District

(1922). Educational Departments of Corporations in the Pittsburgh District. The Pedagogical Seminary: Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 363-382.