Up Soon: ADSC's Big Get-together

ADSC - The International Association of Foundation Drilling - presents its 2010 Annual Meeting in Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 26-30.
 

Educational sessions offered:

• "Environmental Impact on Drilling Machine Design." Environmental regulations (Tier IV and Stage IIIB) are driving dramatic change in the designs of drilling machines, and not just in power train development. These regulations will impact your investment in engineering, manpower and overall profitability.
• "The Stimulus Act: The Strings Attached and Risks Associated with Receipt of Federal Stimulus Funds." The Stimulus Act has promised to inject billions of dollars into the construction industry. However, acceptance of these funds means acceptance of a level of government regulation and heightened security, which could result in severe repercussions for those caught unaware.
• "Design-Build: What It Means to Specialty Contractors." An overview of what design-build entails, and how it can impact specialty contractors.

Special product presentations will be conducted by KB Technology, Yutong Heavy Industries, Equipment Corporation of America and Casagrande USA Inc.

Socializing opportunities abound, including a desert motorcycle ride, golf tournament, welcome reception, the President's Award Luncheon, and closing reception/dinner.

Full registration costs members $680 before Dec. 18. Get all the pertinent details at www.adsc-iafd.com.

Get Your Continuing Education Credits

The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) has renewed GRL Engineers and Pile Dynamics' prestigious Authorized Provider status until the year 2011. IACET Authorized Providers are the only organizations approved to offer IACET Continuing Education Units (CEUs). The Florida Board of Professional Engineers has also renewed GRL Engineers' status as Authorized Provider of Professional Development Hours in the State of Florida until the year 2011.

"GRL and PDI are proud of our education programs which train more than 120 engineers each year in foundation testing and analysis skills so that they stay on the cutting edge," says Gina Beim, who manages the continuing education and training programs for GRL Engineers Inc (GRL) and Pile Dynamics Inc. (PDI)

GRL has been providing deep foundation testing and analysis services for more than 35 years. Sister company PDI manufactures state-of-the-art systems for deep foundation testing and installation monitoring.

Micropiles for Bridge Foundation Project

Schnabel Foundation Co. was contracted to design and construct 64 micropiles for a new bridge foundation over the Little Colorado River near Springerville, Ariz. These 9 5/8-inch-diameter cased micropiles ranged in capacity from 88 kips to 128 kips, with drill lengths up to 64 feet through alluvial sands and gravels, and ultimately socketed into the breccia bedrock.

Pre-construction compression-pile-load tests were conducted successfully and achieved test loads up to 260 kips. These pre-construction tests, along with production tension proof testing, verified the capacity and settlement characteristics of these piles.

Headquartered in Sterling, Va., Schnabel Foundation Co. is a nationwide contractor that designs and constructs earth retention systems and specialized foundations. Its engineering and craftsmanship has been recognized by numerous awards and citations for excellence.

On the Job

Micropiling in Tight Quarters

For the replacement of a 1920s wood trestle railroad bridge in Indiana, Nicholson Construction Co. installed 42, 7-inch micropiles. Pile installation was performed under the original, operational bridge, with up to 26 trains passing overhead each day. The substructure work for the new bridge was built between the existing timber bents, below the active tracks. New pile caps with abutment/pier were placed, and then the two active tracks were removed and replaced with pre-cast spans within a 10-hour window.

Micropile foundations were selected because the minimal disturbance during drilling operations enabled the tracks to remain operational. The compact drill rigs used on this project were able to operate in the low headroom areas below the existing bridge. To increase productivity, Nicholson used smaller diameter casing as the drill rods, leaving it in place as the core steel.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Nicholson has eight offices around the country to address each region's unique geotechnical construction needs.

Seminar Addresses Bridge Projects

The National Highway Institute will present its "Soils and Foundations Workshop" twice this winter - Jan. 25-28 in Montgomery, Ala., and Feb. 1-4 in Montpelier, Vt.

The course takes a project-oriented approach whereby the soil's impact on a bridge project is followed from conception to completion. In each phase of the project, the soil concepts will be developed into specific foundation designs and recommendations. The classroom presentation includes a variety of exercises to verify achievement of learning objectives. Each participant will take away a comprehensive reference manual on soils and foundations and a participant workbook containing a copy of all slides presented and completed exercises.

The course focuses on:

• Identifying the minimum level of geotechnical input in various project phases of a highway project.
• Recalling the equipment and procedures used to implement a subsurface investigation of soil and rock conditions.
• Demonstrating basic skills in visual description of soils native to the host state.
• Recalling geotechnical facilities and personnel in the host state.
• Recalling the basic soil test procedures, and how the results of the various soil tests are applied results to highway projects.
• Listing procedures used for both settlement and stability analysis, and recalling design solutions to stability and settlement problems for approach roadway embankments.
• Listing procedures used for determining bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations such as spread footings.
• Identifying the basic skills needed in the design and construction management of driven-pile and drilled-shaft foundations.
• Recalling the driven-pile and drilled-shaft foundation construction equipment and construction inspection procedures.
• Describing static load testing, and recalling the basic skills needed to interpret static load test results.
• Recalling the basic skills needed in the design and construction of earth retaining structures.
• Discussing the format and minimum content of an adequate foundation report.

Cost of the seminar is $650, and is good for 2.4 continuing education hours. Get all of the details at www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov.

Heroes in Action

Shared by the folks at American Piledriving Equipment Inc.:

"We received a nice letter from David Robinson, who is in Iraq putting in the Iraqi Navy Port and Seawall in Umm Qasr off the Tigris River. It is a project joint venture with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Two APE Model 200-6 vibratory pile drivers are working hard to get the job done. Dave's letter ended with these words 'Semper Fi,' and since most APE employees are former Marines and Navy Seals or Army Rangers we understand the meaning of those words - 'Always Faithful.'"

Featured Product of the Month

Increase Your Accessibility

The RK-12X from Bay Shore Systems Inc. is a small rig that is designed to work in tight spaces. With an attachment height of 6.5 feet, this unit can put you under live substation lines or inside a building and still drill a 36-inch hole down 40 feet. With 8,000 foot-pounds of torque, the 3,100-pound drill also offers a crowd stroke of 21 inches, and a 95-rpm spinoff. The RK-12x requires a 23,000-pound excavator weight. For complete details, go to www.bayshoresystems.com.

AEC Store Corner

Foundation Engineering Handbook - $127.95
The latest information on foundation engineering, design, construction and code

This practical resource offers complete coverage of foundation engineering, emphasizing the geotechnical aspects and the use of the 2006 International Building Code. Foundation Engineering Handbook explains how to develop a complete program of foundation investigation, conduct geotechnical field and laboratory studies, and analyze data for the design of foundations. Evaluating construction and preparing foundation engineering reports also is covered.

Covers these and other key topics:

• Soil mechanics
• Field testing
• Earth slope stability evaluation
• Seismic analysis
• 2006 International Building Code

CLICK HERE for more details or to purchase this book.