DFI’s 38th Annual Conference: Make Your Plans Soon Awards The banquet is a highlight of the DFI Annual Conference. The Outstanding Project Award this year (see article p. 24), will be presented to the Wolf Creek Dam. The winners, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the joint venture of Treviicos and Soletanche, will speak about the monumental challenges of the project. DFI’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award will be announced and presented at the conference. The DFI’s newest award, the C. William Bermingham Award for Innovation will also be named. This prize includes a $5,000 prize. The annual awards for the winning Student and Young Professors Paper Competitions will also be announced and presented. Student Drilled Shaft Capacity Prediction Contest Save September 25-28 for DFI’s Annual Conference. The dates are earlier than usual, so make travel plans to Phoenix now and don’t miss the excitement. The conference includes DFI’s honors and awards, an exceptional technical program, myriad opportunities for networking, the exhibit hall, and last, but not least, the golf. This year, the conference will feature the DFI Educational Trust Golf Outing, Saturday September 28, at the Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort. The event has a 1:30 pm shotgun start, and the proceeds will benefit the Trust. Conference Chairs, Eric Risberg and Kevin Wilson, both with Case Foundation Company, have assembled an outstanding program including two full days plus a final morning session. The session subjects are: • Foundation Special Topics: LRFD, Foundations in Power/ Telecommunication and Seismic Engineering Design • Deep Foundation Design, Construction, Performance and Behavior in Special Soil/Rock conditions • Design and Construction State-of-the-Art Practices for Deep Foundations and Retaining Structures • Lessons Learned and Solutions for Challenging Projects • Deep Foundation Design Optimization and Value Engineering The technical sessions will be preceded by a full day of DFI Tech- nical Committee meetings, open to all attendees. Aderson M. Vierla of Terracon and Zia Zafir of Kleinfelder are heading up the technical program committee, and this year the breaks in the exhibit hall will be longer to accommodate networking. Pete Rose of Equipment Corporation has arranged the companions’ program, which includes a welcome reception, and a “Red Rocks of Sedona” tour with lunch. The yearly Hal Hunt Lecture is an annual feature, and this year’s speaker is Grady Gammage, Jr., a senior fellow at Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute. This award honors one of DFI’s organizers and first executive director, Hal Hunt, and was created to honor notable communicators. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2013 • 25 Another highlight of the annual conference will be a load-testing competition, which involves a 7 ft (2.1 m) diameter drilled shaft and an O-cell. Edward Kavazanzian, Geotechnical Professor, Arizona State University, chairs this event with the assistance of Case Foundations Company, and the winner will receive a $1,000 prize. A panel of experts will choose the winner. For more infor- mation on the contest or to enter, contact [email protected] For more information on the conference, visit www.deepfoundations2013.org.
