Failure of an Anchored Sheetpile Bulkhead

An anchored steel sheetpile bulkhead was constructed in soft organic silt and clay. The bulkhead failed when the anchors ruptured during dredging in front of the bulkhead. The construction and failure of the bulkhead are described. Analyses were performed to investigate the cause of the failure. The major factors which contributed to the failure were: 1) failure to design for the lowest tide condition, 2) use of design soil strengths which were too high, 3) prestressing of the anchor system which resulted in increased anchor loading due to soil arching, and 4) bending stresses induced in the anchors by settlement and equipment loading. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of soil arching on the anchor loading

Failure of a Dredged Slope in a Sensitive Clay

During construction of a new wharf facility in Portland, Maine, an underwater slope failed during dredging and subsequent driving of piles through the slope. The construction and failure of the slope are described. The major factors which contributed to the failure were: 1) high sensitivity of the silty clay, 2) placement of riprap on the crest of the slope to 4 to 6 ft above the design elevation, 3) method of dredging which caused high shear stresses and probable disturbed zones near the toe of the slope, 4) dredging slope steeper than design slope, 5) pile driving causing localized disturbed zones with low strength around the piles, and 6) sequence of dredging and pile driving

A Shape Theorem for Riemannian First-Passage Percolation

Riemannian first-passage percolation (FPP) is a continuum model, with a distance function arising from a random Riemannian metric in $\R^d$. Our main result is a shape theorem for this model, which says that large balls under this metric converge to a deterministic shape under rescaling. As a consequence, we show that smooth random Riemannian metrics are geodesically complete with probability one

Vertical Load Tests of Footings on Silt

Vertical load tests were performed on two shallow spread footings founded on nonplastic silt. Maximum vertical loads of 500 kips were applied to the test footings which were about 24 x 12 x 4 ft in size. Instrumentation was installed to measure footing displacements, footing contact stresses, and soil displacements below the footings. Results of the load tests have been presented in graphic form. Comparisons have been made between measured settlements of the footings and predicted settlements based on standard penetration test results in the silt deposit

A questão da forma na estética teológica de Hans Urs Von Balthasar e a sua receção eclesiológica

Queremos apresentar, a partir do conceito chave “forma”, a estética teológica de Hans Urs Von Balthasar e a sua configuração eclesiológica. Ponto de partida será a compreensão dos transcendentais do Ser que, em sentido analógico, são considerados como manifestação do Ser Absoluto de Deus. A partir do “belo”, Balthasar encontra o ponto chave para exprimir a manifestação do Amor de Deus; o que é contemplado como tal torna-se objeto do único amor. Balthasar utiliza o termo Ästhetik como a faculdade de perceção dos sentidos, e acrescenta-lhe uma nuance teológica: é a ciência da perceção da Glória de Deus que se revela em Cristo e que o homem pode contemplar. Com a teoria de “perceção” e do “êxtase”, Balthasar descreve o modo de participação na Revelação de Deus. Ora, sendo que tudo aquilo que se manifesta tem essencialmente um carater formal, será no conceito Gestalt (forma) que encontramos tal possibilidade. Assim como Gestalt o belo não só pode ser apreendido materialmente, mas remete para a estrutura própria e concreta do ser, sendo dotado duma unidade que “informa”. Em Jesus Cristo, a Gestalt encontra o seu carater máximo de expressão. Com a analogia entis, Balthasar encontra não apenas uma formulação clássica usada na teologia para salvaguardar a transcendência absoluta de Deus com a criatura, mas o ponto chave para exprimir o universal concreto de Jesus de Nazaré, no seu “existir de uma vez por todas”; a ontologia será submetida à teologia. Será a partir desta formulação cristológica da analogia que se garante a passagem para a visão da eclesiologia, onde a estética encontra a sua capacidade de expressão. Primeiro na forma da Igreja, entendida como expansão, comunicação e participação da personalidade de Cristo; depois em Maria, a forma da Igreja por excelência, capaz de se apresentar como arquétipo não só para a vida dos crentes, mas para a realidade institucional e hierárquica da Igreja; finalmente na forma de todos os sacramentos, como determinações da Forma Originária da Revelação.We wish to present, through the key concept of "form", the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs Von Balthasar and its ecclesiological configuration. The starting point will be the understanding of the transcendentals of the ‘being’, which analogically are considered a manifestation of the ‘absolute being of God’. From ‘beauty’ Balthasar finds the key to express the manifestation of the Love of God and what is contemplated as such becomes an object of the unique love. Balthasar applies the term Ästhetik as the a capacity of perception of the senses, adding a theological nuance to it: it is the science of the perception of the Glory of God which is revealed in Christ and that man can contemplate. Through the theories of “perception” and “ecstasy”, Balthasar describes the way to participate in the Revelation of God; realizing that all manifestations have a formal nature, we will find such possibility in the concept of Gestalt (form). Along with Gestalt, beauty can be apprehended not only materially, but it relates with the actual and concrete structure of the being, holding a unity that “informs”. In Jesus Christ Gestalt finds its maximum expression. With the analogia entis, Balthasar discovers not merely a classic formulation used by theology to retain the absolute transcendence of God and his creature, but also the key point to express Jesus of Nazareth's universal concreto, in his "once and for all existence"; ontology will be submitted to theology. Starting from the Christological formulation of the analogy we guarantee the transition to the ecclesiological vision, where aesthetics finds its capacity of expression. Firstly in the form of the Church, regarded as an expansion, communication and participation of the personality of Christ; then in Mary, the quintessential form of the Church, introduced as archetype not only to the lives of the believers, but also to the institutional and hierarchal realities of the Church; lastly in the form of all the sacraments, as determinations of the Primary Form of Revelatio