THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS NUCLEAR CONSTRUCTION RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

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/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1970/339/339-001.pdf
• 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
• Authors:
  • Day, W C
• Conference:
  • 49th Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1970-1-12 to 1970-1-16
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 1-18
• Monograph Title: Symposium: rapid excavation
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 339
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aggregates by source; Alluvium; Basalt; Calibration; Geological surveying; Harbors; Nuclear excavation; Quarrying; Rockfills; Shale
• Uncontrolled Terms: Aggregate sources
• Old TRIS Terms: Craters; Geologic investigations; Rhyolite
• Subject Areas: Construction; Geotechnology; Highways; Marine Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00215386
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 11 1971 12:00AM