Loading

Lab Corner: Eddie Vedder and S-VECD

By Mike Anderson, P.E.

I love the song “Yellow Ledbetter.” I’m not sure exactly why…do we ever really know why we like the things we like? Maybe it’s the solo guitar, just picking notes at the beginning followed by the drums kicking in and Eddie Vedder’s singing. It sounds wistful. It is without a doubt one of my favorite songs by Pearl Jam.

It is also, without a doubt, one of the least understood songs I have in my iTunes library. I have no idea what Eddie is singing in 90 percent of the song…and that’s being generous to say that I understand 10 percent of it. Every so often I pick up on a few words and then I sing along. I realize that I could look up the lyrics, but I never have. I think that would ruin it for me. Like maybe he’s really singing about his cat or something. To me, it’s enjoyable, if incomprehensible, the way it is. (more…)

World’s strongest intersection ages gracefully

By Wayne Jones, P.E. and Timothy Murphy, P.E.

Pavement experts have always known that as the stress applied to a pavement goes up, the attention to detail during the design and construction must also go up to build a long-lasting pavement. Heavy, slow-moving vehicles that are stopping, standing, turning and accelerating apply the highest stress levels possible to a pavement, and all these compounding factors can be found at intersections. (more…)