Abstract: A radar system for vehicle tire testing and analysis may be mounted within the casing of a vehicle tire to measure the location of the inner casing of the tire (tire deformation) as well as the location of the tire/soil interface (tire footprint). The radar system of the present invention may also be used to determine soil characteristics by analyzing the reflected signals. The present invention may have particular use in testing tires for use with on- or off-road surfaces. However, the present invention may also be used to monitor tire deformation, traction, footprint, and soil characteristics.

Abstract: A mat for covering soil comprising a lower fabric layer, an upper fabric layer superimposed over the lower fabric layer, and a water absorbing material interposed between said lower fabric layer and upper fabric layer. The mat contains tubular segments containing fabric and hydraulically setting cement. The cover, when wetted, becomes ballasted by the absorbed water and the tubular elements harden to form rigid ribs that hold the mat in conformity with the surface of the underlying soil.

Abstract: A device for placing survey flags, and similar devices having stems, is operated so that the stem is locked or otherwise held to an elongated shaft or similar aligning device. Pressure on the shaft or aligning device forces a portion of the flag stem into the soil or other sound substrate. Then, an operator can carry out an operation to separate the placing device from the stem.

Abstract: A optical scour sensor monitors scour, including deposition and ablation, in bodies of water that may be too lossy to enable use of electrical signals. A specially configured optical fiber is inserted into the sediment and the interface between the sediment and water thereby monitored using a top-mounted control box to pulse light down the cable and capture reflected signals. The optical fiber may be armored by a soft plastic concentric shield and incorporate a micro-bend inducer for detecting minute indentations in the fiber. The presence of a non-liquid, e.g., sediment, against the cable is detected because the sediment impinges on the fiber causing an indentation therein. At each indentation a reflection is sent back to the source. Using principles of optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR), the location of the indentiation is determined. The data are fed to a remote system for processing, analysis and display.

Abstract: A device for securing a knot in a tight condition in a cord includes a generally tubular member defining a longitudinal hole therethrough. The tubular member includes a score line for dividing it into two sections by applying a bending or torsional force on the ends thereof. The tubular member further includes a longitudinal slit extending substantially through the thickness thereof. A pre-stretched elastomeric band is disposed around the tubular member.

Abstract: Plastic, paper, aluminum foil, or aluminum foil laminated with plastic bags are dispensed, one at a time, from a bag dispenser. In a first embodiment, bags are provided in rolls, connected top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom. Each bag is tapered towards its bottom such that its top-to-top connection with the next bag is wider than the bottom-to-bottom connection. Each bottom-to-bottom connection has sealed seams, which ensure that the bags are closed at their bottoms, and a row of closely spaced perforations on a connecting portion between two seams, which allow adjacent bags to be separated by pulling and tearing along the row of perforations. In an alternate embodiment of this invention, a plurality of tapered bags is nested with one bag inside the next adjacent bag. The bags are tapered at both sides such that their bottoms are narrower than their tops. At their tops, they are attached to strips of materials that are in turn attached to each other by conventional means such as staples.

Abstract: Filter elements for draining wastewater into the soil in leach fields comprise net sacks filled with scrap rubber or plastic chips and supplied with fabric filter cloth. Leach fields are constructed by excavating trenches, placing a first row of filter elements at the bottom of the trenches, installing a drain pipe on top of the row of filter elements, placing a second row of filter elements on top of the first row and the drain pipe, overlapping the pieces of filter cloth to provide a barrier to the surrounding soil, and backfilling the trench with soil.

Abstract: This invention provides apparatus for and a method of locally or remotely monitoring a number of geophysical and other variables related to the refractive index of materials, e.g., soil and pavement moisture content; the moisture content of bulk food products such as grains and beans; liquid levels in storage tanks; interface levels between water and floating layers of oil; the thickness of ice layers; the water/ice interface in partially frozen ground; the location of liquid and gas leaks on roofs, in landfill liners, geosynthetic membranes, and pipelines; and the cables. The detection technique is based on the reflection of frequency-modulated continuous waves during their propagation along transmission line probes embedded in the material being tested.

Abstract: A method of forming low lead leaching foamed concrete is provided. The method includes the step of dry mixing cement with a suspending agent to form a dry mixture. Water is mixed with a fine aggregate to form an aqueous mixture. The dry mixture is mixed into the aqueous mixture to form a slurry. Calcium phosphate is mixed into the slurry until all constituents are throughly distributed throughout the resulting mixture. The density of the resulting mixture is determined and an aqueous foam is added to the resulting mixture until the density of the resulting mixture is reduced to a desired level. Fibers are mixed into the resulting mixture until the fiber is distributed throughout the final mixture. The final mixture is placed into a mold. The mixture is allowed to harden and cure.

Abstract: A method for measuring depths of a waterway, including the steps of determining nautical chart vertical reference values along a selected waterway, building a data base of the reference values and storing the data base in a computer accessible from the vessel, providing a radio receiver onboard the vessel and Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment accessible from the vessel, and operating the computer, radio receiver, and GPS equipment to continuously obtain positions of the vessel horizontally, and computations as to depth of the vessel above a pertinent vertical reference value.

Abstract: A probe for monitoring groundwater flow seepage velocity and direction has an electrical heater and a plurality of temperature sensors located equidistant from the heater. The probe with the heater and temperature sensors is lowered into a monitoring well and positioned so as to be immersed in the groundwater. Energy is sent to the heater, and the temperature response at the temperature sensors is measured and recorded. From the measured response to temperature, the groundwater flow velocity and direction are computed and recorded. The temperature sensors may be resistance temperature detectors, thermocouples, or any other state-of-the-art temperature sensing device.

Abstract: High-nitrogen, high-phosphorus fertilizer is produced from animal wastes by mixing the waste with water and soft-burned dolomite, recovering ammonia that is liberated with an aqueous acidic medium, neutralizing the mixture, combining the ammonium salt recovered earlier with the mixture, the adding guano-forming bacteria to the mixture, and allowing the mixture to ferment.

Abstract: A method for determining the probable response of aquatic species to selected components of water flow fields, comprising the steps of obtaining data for identifying travel and quantitatively describing behavior of real fish constituting members of a selected aquatic species in a flow field, determining passive transport trajectories of the members of the aquatic species in the flow field to establish a basis from which to determine swim path selections, developing postulated behavioral responses of members of the aquatic species to at least one of hydraulic and acoustic stimuli, using statistical rules, and developing a computer utilizing the travel behavior data, the passive transport trajectories, and the postulated behavioral responses, to provide a virtual fish.

Abstract: A geotechnical structure that includes a first body of soil having a first unsaturated concentration of moisture. There is also a second body of soil, which includes a second unsaturated concentration of moisture that is different from the first concentration. A moisture barrier is interposed between the first body of soil and the second body of soil. The moisture barrier includes an upper and lower layer that draw water laterally. A medial capillary barrier layer prevents traverse moisture migration between the first and second bodies of soil. Moisture migration both upwardly and downwardly is thus prevented, and water in the first and second bodies of unsaturated soil is drained laterally to reduce pore water pressures in the first and second bodies of soil.