John Knapton
Consulting
civil, structural and highway engineer, writer, broadcaster, speaker, African
Chief.
Specialising
in:
Concrete.
Aircraft, port, industrial & highway pavements. Industrial floors. Historic bridges. Reinforced concrete. Durability of concrete. Concrete & brick pavers. Permeable paving and sustainable
drainage. Slope stability,
structural engineering, site investigation.
e-mail:
mail@john-knapton.com
Skype
Address: Knapton3838
iChat Address (Video calls for AppleMac
users): knapton3838
Click here for
information on JK's recently published book "Ground Bearing Concrete
Slabs"
(Updated
1st January 2008)
Below,
JK conducts a full-scale load test on a permeable pavement using a 55t dump truck.
The section under test was constructed on Jersey Airport's Fire Training
Ground.
Jersey
Airport Fire Training Ground was opened 24th September 2004. Click on the link below this paragraph
to see fire training on JKs permeable paving (its a half megabyte JPEG,
suitable for broadband only). A
feature of this project is the need for the 5,000m2 pavement to
absorb all of the winterís rainfall which is then sprayed over the surface of
the pavers during the period March to September and evaporates. The contaminated water used during fire
training is diluted with this stored rainwater and discharged into the sewerage
system during the night when there is spare capacity. Water used in firefighting is taken
from within the pavement itself, so conserving the island of Jerseyís precious
water. The challenge was to design a pavement which could withstand the heat of
firefighting and the weight of 30t fire trucks whilst holding up to 3000 tons
of water within its structure. The
result is the worlds most advanced airport fire training ground which is
currently under review at the US Federation Aviation Administrationís Technical
Center at Atlantic City. The
technology developed during the project is expected to find application at
those airports worldwide where there is presently conflict between the need to
maintain a highly trained fire-fighting unit whilst at the same time protecting
the environment and conserving water.
http://www.john-knapton.com/DSC00297.JPG
JK
designed and supervised the construction of a 186,000m2 vehicle
imporation facility at Port of Tyne, in the NE of the UK. Below, the facility's
foamed slag roadbase is being compacted by vibratory rollers. Slag is a
by-product of an iron making blast furnace. On this project, the slag was
transported to site by sea from an iron manufacturing plant 30 miles to the
south of the River Tyne at Teesside. The facility was installed by Alston
Limestone Co. Ltd., an Anglo-American (formerly Tarmac) company. It is used to
import VW, Audi & Porsche cars to dealerships in Northern England and
Scotland.
One
of JK's pleasant duties is to look after bridges in NE England owned by the UK
National Trust. These are historic pedestrian bridges in country estates such as
the one below over the River Allen at Allen Banks halfway between Newcastle and
Carlisle. This suspension bridge uses former colliery pit shaft winding ropes
as its main cables. Note the turnbuckle beneath the deck to the right which can
be used to adjust the sag of the deck. Local artists frequently chose this
bridge as their subject.
A
few other things:
|
WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK Click here
for structural engineering background to the attack. Here
for JK's WTC teaching web page. Here for
JK's role in the WTC investigation. Or here to go
to University of Sydney's excellent account. PENTAGON ATTACK Click here
to read "THE PENTAGON REPORT" |
|
Click here to see
the London Millennium Bridge wobble. |
|
Click here to read the Newcastle
Journal. |
|
Click here to read The Newcastle
Evening Chronicle. |
|
Click here
for the BBC news. |
|
Need a dictionary? |
|
See JK's laboratories here. |
More items of engineering interest:
|
JK's
design method for permeable pavements or here to see his published
paper |
|
Information
on JK's books on industrial floors, hardstandings and roads |
|
JK's design method: Structural
design of port & industrial pavements |
Main menu
|
INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS |
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING CASE STUDIES |
PAVEMENTS & FLOORS |
|
|
||