Archive for the Category » Driven Piles «

December 18th, 2009 | Author: Robert Thompson

 

I have updated our calendar for 2010 to include many events in the geotechnical and foundation engineering world that may be of interest, plus known speaking/teaching appearances by Dan.  I’ll put in a plug for the events calendars and listings for ADSC, DFI, Geo-Institute, and PDCA.  I get most of my information from them.

 

Some, but not all events,(in addition to my previous post) are:

 

DFI Helical Foundations & Tiebacks Specialty Seminar – Feb 1

 

geo_header_2009    Geo-Florida 2010 – Feb 20-24

 

DFI and PDCA – A Joint Conference on Driven Pile – Mar 12

 

adsc_logo_color_small1 ADSC Drilled Shaft Foundations Seminar – Mar 19

 

PDCALogo PDCA 14th Annual International Conference and Expo – May 6-8

 

2nd International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing – May 9-11

 

bridge-home-template_r1_c6_sm International Bridge Conference 2010 – June 6-10

 

DFI Super Pile – June 10-11

 

er2010_header_002 Earth Retention 2010 – Aug 1-4

 

DFILogo DFI 34th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations – Oct 12-15 

 

5c24ff58c9bf4a5f988f0f34e0266ffc TRB 7th International Bridge Conference – Dec 1-2

October 30th, 2009 | Author: Robert Thompson

Who says we only work on drilled shafts??  Robert had the opportunity to work for Kiewit Engineering Company providing geotechnical engineering support to Gulf Intracoastal Constructors (GIC), a joint venture of Kiewit and Traylor Brothers on the  Gulf Intracoastal Waterway West Closure Project near Belle Chase, Louisiana.  The project is part of the overall flood protection system improvements that are supposed to protect New Orleans from future hurricanes.  The key components of this particular project are a massive gate and pump station across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.  Go For more information on the project, go here, here, and here (video from Corps of Engineers).

Robert spent a good part of the summer in New Orleans doing a variety of geotechnical engineering tasks to support the construction efforts of GIC.  The main thing he worked on was the test pile program.  The project included a massive test pile program with 24 test piles spread among 5 test sites with various combinations of dynamic, static axial, static tension, and static lateral tests.  The piles were mostly open-ended steel pipe piles varying from 18” to 54” in diameter.  A few 18” x 18” pre-stressed precast concrete piles were also thrown in for good measure.   In addition to performing drivability studies and evaluating tests data, Robert got to spend some time in the wonderful June and July weather in southern Louisiana on the site observing pile installation and testing.  And as always, he came back with a lot of pictures.  Here are a few to enjoy.

March 25th, 2009 | Author: Robert Thompson

IFCEE09 page

Last week’s International Foundation Congress and Equipment Exposition was a huge success!  Dan gave a keynote address on Tuesday on managing risk in deep foundations within the design-build delivery model.  Paul, Erik, and I also had papers to present.  The technical sessions were excellent, the indoor exhibits were excellent, and the outdoor exhibits of foundation equipment were outstanding!  The ADSC, Geo-Institute, and PDCA were the co-organizers of the event.  A big hats off to all of the staff of all three organizations that made the event a huge success!  Thanks and “atta boy” go to Mohamad Hussein, P.E. (Conference Chair) and to Dan (Technical Program Chair) for all of their work, as well as the rest of the organizing committee.

I have also blogged about the conference here at GeoPrac.net.

Here are some pictures of the outdoor exhibits:

IFCEE09 Exhibit 1 IFCEE09 Exhibit 2 IFCEE09 Exhibit 3

There were over 300 papers included in the conference.  The proceedings were published as three Geotechnical Special Publications:

GSP 185: Contemporary Topics in Deep Foundations

GSP 186: Contemporary Topics in In-Situ Testing, Analysis, and Reliability of Foundations

GSP 187: Contemporary Topics in Ground Modification, Problem Soils, and Geo-Support

The editors, Magued Iskander, Ph.D., P.E. (Polytechnic Institute of New York University), Debra Laefer, Ph.D. (University College Dublin, Ireland), and Mohamad Hussein, P.E. (GRL) all had their work cut out for them.

I have added all seven papers authored by DBA team members to our site.  The links are below, or you can go to our Publications page.

Axtell, P.J., Stark, T.D., and Dillon, J.C., 2009. “Strength Difference Between Clam-Shell and Long-Reach Excavator Constructed Cement-Bentonite Self-Hardening Slurry Walls”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in Ground Modification, Problem Soils, and Geo-Support, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 187, ASCE, pp. 297-304.

Brown, D.A., 2009. “Management of Risk in Deep Foundations with Design-Build”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in Deep Foundations, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 185, ASCE, pp. 1-11. Brown, D.A. and Thompson, W.R., 2009. “Drilled Shaft Performance in Cemented Calcareous Formations in the Southeast United States”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in Deep Foundations, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 185, ASCE, pp. 119-126.

Loehr, J.E and Huaco, D.R., 2009. “Probabilistic Calibration of Resistance Factors for Slope Stability”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in In-Situ Testing, Analysis, and Reliability of Foundations, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 186, ASCE, pp. 297-304.

Parsons, R.L., Pierson, M., Han, J., Brennan, J.J., and Brown, D.A., 2009. “Lateral Load Capacity of Cast-in-Place Shafts Behind an MSE Wall”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in In-Situ Testing, Analysis, and Reliability of Foundations, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 186, ASCE, pp. 560-567.

Rollins, K.M., Adsero, M.E., and Brown, D.A., 2009. “Jet Grouting to Increase Lateral Resistance of Pile Group in Soft Clay”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in Ground Modification, Problem Soils, and Geo-Support, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 187, ASCE, pp. 265-272.

Thompson, W.R., Hill, J.R., and Loehr, J. E., 2009. “Case History: Value Engineering of Driven H-Piles for Slope Stability on the Missouri River”, 2009 International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo, Contemporary Topics in Deep Foundations, Geotechnical Special Publication No. 185, ASCE, pp207-214.

June 15th, 2008 | Author: Robert Thompson

Here are the latest publication I have added to our Publication Page:

Brown, D.A. and Thompson, W.R. 2008. “Performance of Drilled Shafts in Cemented Calcareous Formations in the Southeast”, Foundation Drilling, Vol. 29, No.3 March/April 2008

Brown, D.A. and Thompson, W.R., 2008. “BRF-00008(536) Drilled Shaft Load Test Assessment, Sumter County”, Report for the Alabama Department of Transportation.

Axtell, P.J., Loehr, J.E., and Jones, D.J. “Case History: Multiple Axial Statnamic Tests on a Drilled Shaft Embedded in Shale” Deep Foundations Institute 31st Annual Conference, October 4-6, 2006, Washington, D.C.

Brown, D.A. and R. Thompson, 2006. “Report of the Evaluation of Foundation Response to Storm Surge Loading, U.S. 90 Biloxi Bay Bridge” Coastal Research Institute, Univ. of South Alabama.

Axtell, P.J., Owen, J.W., and Vollink, S.D. “Increase in Pile Capacity with Time in Missouri River Alluvium” Fifth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, April 13-17, 2004, New York, NY.

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November 27th, 2007 | Author: Robert Thompson

IFCE09.jpg

A preliminary call for papers has been released for the International Foundation Congress and Equipment Expo 2009 (IFCEE ‘09) to be held in Orlando, Florida March 15-19, 2009. The meeting is a joint venture of The Geo-Institute of ASCE (GI), The International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC) and The Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA).

Information about the call for papers is here.

I’ll have links to the conference web site once it is up and running, as well as blogging additionla information when available. This promises to be a great conference much like the 2004 Geo-Support Conference.


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July 21st, 2007 | Author: Robert Thompson

I have added a link to the International Society for Micropiles in our links area. I have also linked the upcoming 8th International Workshop on Micropiles in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 26-30.

ism_logo2.jpg ISM07.png


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May 18th, 2007 | Author: Robert Thompson

pdpi.jpg

Steve will be one of the presenters at the PDCA Professor’s Driven Pile Institute June 18th through 22nd at Utah State University. Steve’s lecture will be comparing the capacity of driven piles to cast-in-situ piles. He will also be assisting with the axial and lateral load test demonstrations. For more information or to contribute to the funding of the Institute, click here.


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May 08th, 2007 | Author: Robert Thompson

The PDCA is holding the Professors’ Driven Pile Institute in Logan, Utah on June 18-22, 2007. This institute will provide information on design and construction of driven pile foundations for 25 professors that teach deep foundations courses at universities in the U.S. For more information on supporting this institute, click here to go to the PDCA website.


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September 08th, 2006 | Author: Robert Thompson

The week of August 28th saw five load tests performed at the project site. A lateral Statnamic test and an axial Statnamic test were performed on both 24-inch and 30-inch piles. The tests were performed by AFT. A picture of one of the axial test setup is below. A static axial load tests was also performed on a 24-inch pile. Eustis Engineering, the project geotechnical engineering firm, supervised the static test. The results of the tests, along with the PDA data gathered by Eustis during driving of the indicator piles, will be used to set the pile tip elevations along the bridge alignment. Driving of production piles is set to begin the week of September 11th.

US 90 Biloxi Bay 24-in Stat test 060831 015.jpg

Statnamic test setup on 24-inch pile.

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August 13th, 2006 | Author: Robert Thompson

I made a visit to the US 90 Biloxi to Ocean Springs bridge site on Thursday and was able to observe the driving of one of the indicator piles. This is a 30-inch precast prestressed concrete pile that will also be used for a Statnamic lateral load test. The axial and lateral load tests will begin later this month, with production piles planned to start in mid-September.

US 90 Biloxi Ind Piles 060810 026.jpg US 90 Biloxi Ind Piles 060810 037.jpg US 90 Biloxi Ind Piles 060810 051.jpg

The left photo shows the barge set up for driving. This pile was adjacent to the bascule span of the destroyed bridge. The middle and right photos are during pile driving. A air hammer is being used to drive the pile.

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