Workshop Field Day

The ADSC 2008 Faculty Workshop Field Day was a great success, reports Robert Thompson of Dan Brown and Associates (DBA). "A group of 46 civil engineering faculty members from across the country participated in the week-long (June 8-14) workshop that culminated in a field demonstration day at the world headquarters of DBA in Sequatchie, Tenn.," Thompson relates. "The participants and instructors were treated to installation and testing demonstrations of drilled shaft foundations, micropile foundations, and anchored earth retention systems. The load tests included a static load test of a micropile, and a Statnamic test of a drilled shaft, which provided some of the day's excitement. Installation demonstrations of the various drilled foundations and anchors allowed the participants to observe how the various elements are installed. Even though we had to dodge an occasional thundershower, everyone had a great time and felt that they went away with a lot of valuable information for their classes back home."

Cost-efficient Piles

The 2008 Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles (DICEP) conference takes place Sept. 12 in New Orleans. Primarily designed for civil, geotechnical and structural engineers, with lectures on the advantages of driven pile presented from an engineering perspective, the conference also is intended to provide a positive learning experience for contractors and other firms or individuals who support, conduct business or are associated with the pile driving industry.

This conference, presented by the Pile Driving Contractors Association, will provide up to seven professional development hours for engineering license renewal.

The DICEP conference will focus on design, installation, cost efficiency, varying material selection, new technologies and advantages for using driven pile in deep foundation solutions through a series of lectures presented throughout the day. Also included is an industry exhibition, where tabletop booths will display and promote related products and services throughout the daylong conference.

For more in formation on this conference, visit www.piledrivers.org.

Geotechnical Program

The American Society of Civil Engineers is presenting a 2-day educational program titled, "Deep Foundations: Design, Construction & Quality Control," The event takes place August 7-8, in Cleveland

The purpose of this course is to present modern techniques for the design, installation and verification of deep foundations. Over the past 25 years, major changes have occurred in the deep foundations industry. New and improved methods have been developed for installing large-diameter drilled shafts, increased loads are being used, and new quality control procedures have been developed. For driven piles, higher loads can be achieved with new hammers, dynamic quality control methods have been adopted, wave equation analysis is being used, and higher-strength materials are becoming common. Auger-cast piles are being used with increasing frequency. New design and specifications have been adopted. This course will present modern design procedures for deep foundations, including discussions on new developments.

Find out the latest subsurface investigation methods for deep foundation design. Understand the design process for deep foundations. Learn the new standards and procedures for the design and installation of deep foundations. Learn the use of wave equation analysis as applied to both the design and installation of driven piles, including driving problems. Understand the various capacity determination methods including both static and dynamic methods.

For complete details, visit www.asce.org/conted/, or telephone 800-548-2723.

Learn from Experience

A seminar titled, "Deep Foundations Case Histories: Innovations in Design, Methods and Equipment," takes place Friday, Aug. 22 at the University of Cincinnati. The event, organized by the Deep Foundations Institute, presents case histories of deep foundation projects that incorporated innovative design, construction methods and/or equipment use in order to bring them to completion.

Presentations will cover various disciplines and techniques such as drilled shafts, augured cast-in-place piles, driven piles, helical piles, landslide stabilization, marine foundations, micropiles, seismic and lateral loads, slurry walls, soil nailing, and testing and evaluation methods.

Industry members from entry-level staff, field personnel and experienced leaders in the areas of contracting, consulting, manufacturing, supplying and educating all will benefit from this informative program. For details, visit www.dfi.org or telephone 973-423-4030.

For Restricted-access Drilling

The EDT-7 ExcaDrill from Watson USA provides drilling capabilities especially on access restricted drill sites. Mounting to the boom of a conventional excavator allows for a long-reach advantage over barriers or obstacles. The high mobility of the excavator gets the drill on site regardless of sloping or uneven terrain conditions. Four mast-height options, ranging from 18 feet to 25 feet, are designed to reach required drill depths while under low clearance, height-restricted structures or wires. This rig utilizes a standard 35-metric-ton to 40-metric-ton excavator to power the drilling attachment. Dual variable-displacement motors provide 60,000 foot-pounds of rotary torque for drilling up to 8-foot-diameter shafts. For more information, go to www.watsonusa.com.

A Parting Shot

Our friends at the Societa Geologia Tecnica Srl. contribute this scenic photo of a geotechnical stabilization project going on in Northern Italy.

Check out Site Prep, a sister publication of The Foundations Report. Site Prep focuses on the challenges and opportunities of site preparation, including site clearing, earth moving, utilities and environmental activities. Go to www.siteprepmag.com, where you can subscribe to the magazine as well as its monthly newsletter, Industry Dirt.