Copyright Arkansas Online
Call it Earth-shattering news if you want, but for a state that seems to always find itself at the bottom of various lists nationwide, we never cease to be amazed at what the University of Arkansas does right. In fact, you could say we find the latest news ground-breaking. Ground-breaking. As in what the New Madrid fault could do. Who knew Arkansas had one of the nation's outstanding steel-testing facilities? Outside the world of engineering, the Grady E. Harvell Civil Engineering Research and Education Center might be overlooked. But engineers need it. The place is so state of the art that it tested a full-scale steel beam against simulated earthquake forces last week in its "lab"--a little office area that only includes a 13,000-square-foot high-bay testing area, along with a 25-ton overhead crane and various loading and measurement equipment. (They might have a drawer for slide rules, too.) "We provide information (that) leads to improved understanding," and the university has already contributed commentary for engineering guidelines, said Gary Prinz, professor of engineering. "This lab lets us test large-scale infrastructure" from bridges to buildings, which you just know engineers like to do. The lab broke a steel beam by subjecting it to 180,000 pounds of peak force from a hydraulic actuator, whatever that is. (If civil engineers are anything like military engineers, we can imagine the students now: We broke something! Yeaaahhh!) Why does this matter to Arkansans? The New Madrid Fault runs through northeast Arkansas and some neighboring states. Way back in 1811-1812, the New Madrid caused an earthquake so large that it made the Mississippi River flow north for a time. Today that would wreak havoc on Memphis and the surrounding area, probably shut down east-west traffic flow across the bridges over the Mississippi River, and cause serious damage to the nation's economy. According to the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management, the fault line has a "significant chance" of causing an earthquake with a 6.5 magnitude or higher. Is it possible that Arkansas could play a role in thwarting economic catastrophe that might result from an earthquake of this size? Yes. Like the 1980s-1990s, engineers in FEMA once said about a Category Five hurricane hitting New Orleans: It's only a matter of time. In 2005, it was time. The New Madrid isn't going anywhere. And ours is only one fault line in the country. Buildings need to be ready. And the U of A--go Hogs!--has got the stuff, and students, to ready them.
