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The Conversation USA

Sandcastle engineering – a geotechnical engineer explains how water, air and sand create solid structures

  • Written by Joseph Scalia, Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University
imageThere's a lot of science behind the natural forces that let this guy work his magic at the beach.Victoria Pickering/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

If you want to understand why some sandcastles are tall and have intricate structures while others are nearly shapeless lumps of sand, it helps to have a background in geotechnical engineering.

As a geotechnical...

Read more: Sandcastle engineering – a geotechnical engineer explains how water, air and sand create solid...

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