ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENERGY, INC.

Construction Defects Analysis, Inspection, and Reinforcement

Construction  Defects  and  Seismic  Hazards  Determinations

  Construction Defects, Foundation Failure, and Seismic Hazards Determinations

     by Civil and Construction Engineers, Seismologists, and Geotechnical Engineers of

  Environmental Science & Energy, Inc.

    Charles B. Pyke, Ph.D., President, CEO, and Principal Scientist

(520) 625-8346

or (877) 373-4629

Construction Defects and Seismic Hazards Determinations 

Charles B. Pyke, Ph.D., President, CEO, and Principal Scientist of  Environmental Science & Energy, Inc., offers engineering and geological expertise in construction defects and seismic hazards determinations in buildings, bridges, dams, power plants, tunnels, transmission lines, oil wells, oil refineries, offshore oil rigs, coal mines, public and private schools, universities, airports, and  other structures and facilities anywhere in the U.S. or Canada, or around the world.  We offer repair, restoration, and reconstruction services for many of the structures found to be defective or in danger of collapse or severe damage in the event of an earthquake, strong wind, snow load, or other stress placed upon the structures.  [Many of the defects, hazards, and remedial services may apply to the earthquake-damaged Port-au-Prince, Haiti and to locations damaged by the earthquake and/or tsunami in Chile.]   These include, but are not limited to:

The types of structures and facilities affected include, but are not limited to:

• Airport runways and taxiways, worn down by weather, by heavy aircraft traffic, by earthquakes, and by liquefaction, ground shifts, and subsidence.

• Airport towers and terminals.

• Bridges, road and railroad -  spanning water, such as rivers, lakes, channels, and bays.

• Bridges, road and railroad - spanning roads and land features, such as canyons.

• Bridges, pedestrian.

• Approaches to bridges.

• Dams, spillways, and river levees.

• Hydroelectric power plants.

• Nuclear power plants.

• Other power plants. 

• Highways, freeways, city streets, and other roads, including elevated highways, torn up by heavy truck travel.

• Railroad and bus stations.

• Railroad tracks, including elevated tracks, worn down by weather, land subsidence and liquefaction, earthquakes, and years of train travel .

• Railroad tracks that were not originally designed for today's heavy trains.

• Tunnels:  road, railroad, and pedestrian.

• Elevated walkways.

• River levees and embankments.

• Aqueducts and canals.

• Seawalls, breakwaters, jetties, groins, and other coastal structures.

• Piers, wharfs, and docks.

• Oil wells.

• Oil. refineries. 

• Offshore oil rigs and platforms.

• Coal mines and coal processing plants.

• Natural gas wells.

• Oil and natural gas pipelines - above and below ground.

• Public works infrastructure, including underground water-supply pipes and conduits.

• Public works infrastructure, including underground sewer pipes and conduits.

• Public works infrastructure, including above-ground water-supply pipes and conduits.

• Public works infrastructure, including above-ground sewer pipes and conduits.

• Other infrastructure.

• High-rise office buildings.

• Buildings and other structures in Lower Manhattan that may have been weakened by the attacks of 9/11/2001. 

• Buildings and other structures in overseas war zones that may have been weakened by bombs. grenades, or heavy gunfire. 

• Federal buildings, state and local government buildings.

• Military bases and other military facilities.

• Hospitals, medical centers, and health clinics.

• Factories and other manufacturing facilities.

• Water reclamation plants.

• Large radio and television antenna towers, cellular telephone transmission towers. 

• Large electric and telephone transmission line towers.

• Telephone poles. 

• Bus and truck terminals.

• Public and private schools, colleges, and universities.

• Malls, theaters, and concert halls.

• Churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques.

• Stadiums, sports arenas, and other athletic and recreational facilities.

• Restaurants and fast-food outlets.

• Retail stores and malls.

• Police stations and fire stations.

• Prisons, jails, and juvenile detention facilities.

• Hotels, motels, condominiums, and apartments.

• Single-family residences.

• Swimming pools - large and small. 

• Ships. including cruise ships and cargo ships.

• Boats, including houseboats.

• Railroad cars, passenger and freight,  worn down by overloading, adverse weather, and years of use. 

• Airplanes:  military, commercial passenger, commercial freight, and private - aging and wearing down by extended use.

• Numerous other types of buildings, roads, and other structures.

The defects and hazards include, but are not limited to:

• Faulty, shoddy, or generally poor original construction.

• Construction that met building and seismic codes at the time of the original construction, but which fail to meet today's codes, and which could be a hazard to life and property in the future.

• Construction that met building and seismic codes at the time of the original construction, but which have deteriorated over the years or were damaged or weakened by fire, weather, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, ground subsidence, landslides, avalanches, or blasts (including sonic booms or nearby demolitions). 

• Foundation failures of bridges and structures, resulting from corrosion, earthquakes, subsidence, liquefaction, ground shifts, tsunamis, and/or gradual deterioration of materials from water currents and  weather.   

• Landslides:  threats; slides that have occurred since construction of a structure and may have weakened the structure.

• Liquefaction:  threats; liquefaction that has occurred since construction of a structure and may have weakened the structure.

• Slope failure:  threats; slope failure that has occurred since construction of a structure and may have weakened the structure.

• Sink holes:  threats; sink holes, including hidden sink holes, that may be developing, or may have developed since construction of a structure, and may have weakened the structure and/or could threaten the structure..

• Corrosion, over the years, of underground and above-ground natural gas, water supply, and sewer pipes and conduits.

• Asbestos that may be present in some structures.

• Mold, fungus, and dry rot that may be present in some structures.

• Earthquake faults and potential for major shaking or permanent ground deformation.

• Proximity of a structure to earthquake faults and soil vulnerable to magnified shaking.

• Potential for subsidence of the soil beneath a structure, including differential subsidence within a structure's footprint.

Services Offered:

• Inspection of the structure,  facility, or pipeline.

• Construction defects analysis.

• Structural analysis for damage, deterioration, or corrosion over the years.

• Seismic hazards and seismic safety analysis

• Repair of defects.

• Mitigation, overhaul, or renovation - partial or total.

• Asbestos removal.

• Removal of mold, fungus, and dry rot; replacement of compromised structural elements.

• Reinforcement of the structure or facility.

• Restoration or reconstruction of the structure or facility.

• Protection against maximum credible earthquake.

• Protection against maximum credible wind event.

• Demolition or removal of entire structure, facility, or pipeline.

• Replacement of entire structure,  facility, or pipeline.

• Design and construction of new airports:  towers, terminals, runways, and taxiways, U.S. and overseas.

• Design and construction of new universities, colleges, and schools - public and private - U.S. and overseas.

• Design and construction of new high-speed railroad tracks and railroad trains.

• Research into improvement in the construction of various structures or facilities.

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