TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES MANAGER MARY ELLEN BRUCE Technical Activities Update New Sustainability Chair, Carlos Englert DFI announces the appointment of new Sustainability Committee Chair, Carlos Englert, senior engineer for Schnabel Engineering. Englert has over 15 years of design and construction experience in geotechnical projects in the United States and Venezuela. He obtained a B.S. in Civil Engineer ing f rom Catholic University of Venezuela, and a M.S. at Pennsylvania State University. Englert is a specialist in design and field supervision of pressure-injected footings, drilled shafts, micropiles, shoring, slurry walls, ground improvement, stone columns, soil nails and tiebacks. He is also an enthusiastic member of the DFI Slurry Wall Committee. We thank outgoing chair, Marine Lasne, with Entrepose Contracting. DFI congratulates Lasne on her outstanding work generating understanding and interest in sustainability during her tenure as chair. Lasne is continuing her involvement with DFI as a member of the DFI Board of Trustees. New DFI Technical Committee: Subsurface Characterization for Deep Foundations DFI announces the formation of a new technical committee focusing on site investigation for deep foundation design and construction. The committee’s first meeting will be held at the DFI Annual Conference in Atlanta, October 21-24, 2014. The committee was formed to increase awareness of the importance of complete and competent site investigation in deep foundation practices. The specific goals of the committee will be defined by the committee members. Initial thoughts are that the committee will discuss and define subsurface characterization needs from the point of view of the entire geotechnical/foundation industry. This will facilitate getting correct and compre- hensive information to the end users (designers and contractors) and minimize change condition issues/debates. The committee will liaise with associated committees from other organizations and agencies to broaden the discussion within the engineering community. The objective COMMITTEE CHAIR ED LACZYNSKI Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Committee The Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Committee cooperated with ADSC’s Anchored Earth Retention (AER) Committee and the joint DFI/ADSC Micropile Committee to host a seminar in Seattle, Wa., March 19-20, 2014, at the Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center. One day was dedicated to anchored earth retention topics including state-of- the-practice techniques, innovative design and informative case studies. The seminar had 130 attendees and was a success, with interesting topics discussed during the panel session and good local participation. Additionally, the committee is involved wi th the Deep Foundat ions for Landslides/Slope Stabilization Committee on a joint event on August 12-13, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pa. This event will focus on earth retention and slope stabilization practices, case histories and design and construction advancements. This year at the annual conference in Atlanta, Ga., the committee invites members of ADSC’s AER Committee to join the committee meeting. This would be a great opportunity for participants to see what our committee is about and an even better opportunity for collaboration between the two com- mittees. I look forward to working with Dr. Jesús Gómez, Schnabel Engineering, ADSC’s AER chairman. The committee projects are progres- sing. Our committee is involved in the industry-wide review for the revision of Chapter 18 “Foundations” in the 2015 International Building Code (IBC), which is being led by the Codes and Standards Committee. Additionally, our committee is expecting to review the long anticipated revisions to FHWA’s GEC 7 (Soil Nail Walls) due out this year. We will continue to focus on outreach to other committees for collaboration, publish research and case studies, and seek future research proposals. John Turner, Dan Brown and Associates, is finishing research on the 80% unbonded length criterion pertaining to the performance of tieback anchors in excess of 100 ft (30.5 m), which was funded by DFI based on a 2012 proposal. Members will be able to see Turner’s findings as a future DFI Journal article. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUN 2014 • 79 is to find the common ground that allows the entire geotechnical industry and all project participants to minimize disagree- ment during construction, align expec- tations, and improve communication and understanding among related parties. As DFI Trustee liaison, Bernard Hertlein of GEI Consultants, Inc., will preside over the first meeting and discuss the commit- tee’s plans for initial activities. Interested DFI members are encouraged to contact Mary Ellen Bruce at [email protected] for more information and to become involved.
