Why I'm even in Tokyo

It occurred to me that I might not have ever explained to some of you why I'm even in Tokyo. I may have just said I was doing research. Well, I think I'll try to give a better explanation now, since I finally do have an idea what we're trying to do.

First, I'll say that some of my work does not require me to be in Japan at all. I could do it from anywhere with an internet connection.

I'm working on a literature review for the 10 year update to the ASCE Ground Improvement manual. What that means, is that I look through databases of technical journal articles for ones that seem pertinent to the topics that will be covered in the manual. I then read the articles and try to summarize all of their contents in a few pages or so to give practitioners an quick and dirty idea of what each type of ground improvement involves and some potential pitfalls they should avoid.

Second, the reason I am in Tokyo is because at the University of Tokyo they have a 1g shake table. What this means is that you can build scale models of structures and foundations and soils and then mimic an earthquake. The professor who runs the lab, Prof. Towhata is world-renowned for his knowledge of earthquakes and is frequently called in to advise on earthquakes all over the world. He also has experience with the stabilizing grout we plan to use in our tests. We're hoping to test some piles in a loose sand and see if treating some of the sand with a grout will have any impact on the pressures created by the seismic forces. A lot of the more technical details are a bit beyond me, but I'm sort of here as a pair of hands and to help build the model.

Towhata-sensei himself

Hopefully that made some sense and helps explain what I do all week when I'm in the lab. I could provide a lot more details, but they would probably just be confusing.