Spatial Analysis of Students Residing in Metro Hartford in HPS-run Magnet Schools, 2011-12 and 2012-13

New immigrants face many cultural, economic, and language barriers upon arriving in the United States. Due to these barriers, they rely heavily on the services provided to them by governmental agencies and community based organizations. However, many of these services are not advertised to the immigrant population and are difficult to navigate. Further, for undocumented immigrants, many essen.al services are simply not available for them. This research project will develop a comprehensive list of services available to immigrants in Connecticut, with a focus on services for undocumented immigrants, based off of the most common questions that immigrants have asked at The American Place at the Hartford Public Library. This form will be produced through research and conversations with service providers in Connecticut, the public school system, and branches of local government. While researching services at several government agencies and other service providers, it has become clear that some officials and administrators are unaware of the protocols and services for the undocumented population. However, the services available, especially involving public schools and community based organizations, have been identified and recorded and will serve to help Hartford’s immigrant population. The production of this Frequently Asked Questions sheet will serve as a lesson for the public as it will make visible the lack of resources for the undocumented immigrant community and show the need for comprehensive immigration reform in order for all people to receive basic human services

Failure of Embankment on Soil-Cement Columns for Thi Vai Port, Vietnam

The Thi Vai Container Port is constructed on reclaimed ground along the Thi Vai River in the Mekong delta approximately 90 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The soil profile consists of an about 15 to 23 m thick deposit of soft, normally consolidated, highly compressible clay deposited on dense to compact sand. A soil improvement scheme was instigated aiming to reduce long-term settlement after construction of the facilities and improve the stability of the river bank. The scheme combined wick drains and, along the river bank, soil cement columns and toe revetments. The wick drains were installed at a spacing of about 1.5 m and a staged surcharge was placed to a maximum height of 6 through 6.6 m to bring about the consolidation of the clay. After a surcharge height of 4.7 m had been in place for about three months and the measured settlement was about 1.2 m, a slope failure occurred along about 200 m length of the riverbank. An investigation indicated that the three-month consolidation period had not increased clay undrained shear strength as anticipated and that the slope failure had broken the soil cement columns at about 11 m depth below the original ground surface. Costs to remedy the collapsed and damaged area amounted to about US$10 million. The paper presents the background information, soil failure details, results of bank stability analyses, and the solution chosen for the remedial construction

Tool-less Double Sided Board Retainer

Disclosed is a retainer that allows retention of two daughter circuit boards on either side of a main circuit board. The retention device allows the daughter boards to align with each other, minimizing the space required on the main board

Analysis of Piled-Raft Foundation for CAI MEP Container Port, Vietnam

During the last decade, a series of ports are being built along the Thi Vai River in the Mekong delta approximately 80 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The ports are built on reclaimed ground over an about 30 to 40 m thick deposit of soft, normally consolidated, compressible clay deposited on dense to compact sand The deep foundation system typically used for buildings in this region consists of pretensioned spun high strength concrete piles driven to significant toe bearing in dense soils. Because of the anticipated significant costs of this solution, a more economical alternative foundation system was essential, and the alternative of a shaft bearing pile, a precast concrete pile, was proposed for Cai Mep Container Port. To reduce settlements, a soil improvement scheme was imposed, consisting of wick drains installed through the clay to the sand and placing an up to 8 m thick surcharge over the area. After removal of the surcharge, piled-raft foundations were constructed for the Port building, incorporating 400 mm square, precast concrete piles, which were driven to depths of 18 m. Settlement monitoring showed that the area and the piles continued to settle after the removal of the surcharge, indicating that consolidation settlement had not been completed despite the about 18 months long surcharge period. It became clear that the long-term settlements, primarily due to downdrag, would exceed the limit of maximum 400 mm over a 20-year period. In order to remedy the situation, the piles were lengthened to a total length of 44 m to ensure that the neutral plane was located in the sand, where no long-term settlement would occur. The problem and its solution were analyzed by means of the Unified Design Method. The remedial solution added about US$2 million to the project and caused a 12-month delay