Dr. Tiwari The tie rod is placed at 1" +/- 1/8 from the inside of the removable face and the 60lb vertical load (bucket radius 5") is placed with its center 5" back from the face of the wall. This causes an overlap of about an inch with the tie rod. Will the tie be removed during loading or will the bucket be placed behind the tie rod? -RPI

The bucket should be placed such that the front edge of the bucket is 5 inches from the inside of the removable face, centered from either side of the sandbox. The placement of the bucket will not have any overlap with the tie rod. The tie rod will not be removed once any sand is placed in the sand box including during the loading phase.

Dr. tawari, I'm requesting clarification why weight of facing material is needed. Item 4(d) and Item 8 of the 2017 Geowall Rules distinguish between the facing and reinforcing materials. These items ask for a (design) weight of facing and reinforcing materials and the length of 24-inch wide rolled paper for the design report. We understand the need to specify the length of the 24-inch wide rolled paper in our design report is to limit the distribution of the paper to the teams. However, only the (actual) weight of the ?reinforcing elements? is considered during the Reinforcement Fabrication Stage (Item 10 (a)). Also the adjusted mass equation (Equation 1) and the score equation (Equation 2) require only the (design and actual) weight of the "reinforcing material". No value is needed for the (design) weight of the "facing material" estimated for the design report or used or (actual) weight used during competition. Since Items 4(d) and 8 clearly distinguish between the facing and reinforcing materials, and the design and actual weight of the reinforcing materials will be a judging criteria, will the design or actual weight of the facing material ever be used in judging the team?s design? Monica Ramirez

The rules are referring to the combined weight of the Kraft paper required to construct the facing and reinforcement to maintain the stability of the wall. The total weight of the Kraft paper used to construct the facing and reinforcement (post-fabrication of these components) will be used in all of the calculations and the judging.

Dr. Tiwari. In Appendix D, Section D4, it states that the deflection will be measured by swiping the wall front and sides with a straight edge. Is the deflection measured based on how far the wall extends into the 3/4" where the panel is removed? Is the penalization for deflection based on the wall extending past the edge of the side walls?

The deflection penalty will be applied if the wall deflects past the front face of the wall.

Dr. Tiwari, Can additional information be provided reguarding the backfill material, such as known national suppliers (or the local supplier being used for the competition in Orlando shoud a national supplier not be known) and the soils accompanying trade name or standard identification number? -UT Austin

We do not have the supplier information/trade name/standard identification number at this time. We will try to ensure that the sand matches the description and satisfies the grain size distribution guidelines set forth in the rules. Teams will be allowed to inspect the sand at the Captain's meeting. However, teams may not take any sand outside of the room for the meeting. This is the way how the sands have been handled in the past.

Dr. Tiwari, When writing the report, will figures, tables and calculations be included in the 3 page limit? As it is in the current rules, it seems they are included in the page count, and this might significantly limit the amount of space available to write. Last year these items were not included in the page count.

Yes, they are included in the 3 page limit, as specified in the rule.