Schedule:
12:45–5:00 pm, Friday, October 8
| Registration Fee: |
$65 (includes lunch and transportation) |
| Transportation: |
Charter bus and walking |
| Dress code: |
Casual with good walking shoes; warm jacket and gloves for ice core lab tour (it is -30° in the lab) |
| Additional Requirements: |
NO cameras; be prepared to pass through airport-type scanner
US citizens—Government-issued identification will be required at the door
Non-US citizens—passport is required. In addition, by September 16 APT needs your name (as listed on your passport), passport country of origin, passport number and date of birth |
| CAUTION: |
Diabetics and others with possible health issues not recommended on this tour due to extreme temperature exposure. |
| Maximum attendance: |
20 |
| Handicapped accessibility: |
Accessible |
| Continuing Education Credits: |
AIA—3.0 CEs
Engineering—3 PDHs
Canadian Architects—TBD |
Field Session:
The U.S. National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL) is a facility for storing, curating, and studying ice cores recovered from the polar regions of the world. It provides scientists with the capability to conduct examinations and measurements on ice cores, and it preserves the integrity of these ice cores in a long-term repository for current and future investigations. The tour will begin with a “warm talk” describing the ice core samples and then move to two cold labs, the first -11° and the second -30°! The National Ice Core Lab (NICL), located in Building 810 of the Denver Federal Center, gives facility tours to a multitude of people each year. Wear appropriate clothing if entering the -30° degree lab.
The Hydraulic Investigations and Laboratory Services Group, located in Building 56 of the Denver Federal Center, has been in operation since 1930. The Bureau of Reclamation’s hydraulic laboratory has conducted research and tested scale models of hydraulic structures and equipment critical to the development of western water projects. From the first small lab in Fort Collins, CO, to field labs at Montrose, CO, Hoover Dam, and Grand Coulee Dam, to today’s modern facility in Denver, Reclamation’s hydraulic laboratory has been a pioneer in development of hydraulic equipment, structures, instrumentation, and design guidance and analysis tools for hydraulic engineering. Today the lab applies hydraulic modeling, hydraulic analysis, and field testing expertise to the solution of water resources, hydraulics, and fluid mechanics problems performing work for Reclamation and other organizations, including international clients, federal, state, and local government agencies, and private entities.
The Materials Engineering and Research Lab (MERL) occupies 3½ acres of Building 56 in the Denver Federal Center, Reclamation's research facility. MERL has the facilities to test concrete, concrete reinforcement, selected metals, plastics, geotextiles, coatings, and other materials. Tests include physical properties, corrosion, durability, environmental, and drying and shrinkage. Its testing capabilities include:
- Large scale structural testing–five million pound capacity tension and compression. A concrete break will be demonstrated.
- Large-scale dynamic testing of concrete and structural systems—1 million pound capacity compression.
- Structural modeling and testing.
- Uniaxial vibration testing—50,000 pound payload
Guides:
Geoff Hargreaves, USGS—Building 810 staff
Bill Kepler, Concrete Lab Manager, and Bureau of Reclamation Staff (Building 56)
Learning Objectives:
- Identify methods of understanding the study of climate change based on ice core technologies.
- Identify methods of modeling hydraulics, fluid mechanism problems and explore other water resource issues.
- Identify methods of testing large scale structures and materials for failure, durability, material characteristics and environmental impacts.
Field Session Coordinator:
Christy Fockler, Historic Preservation Specialist GSA, Denver, CO, USA
