As I posted on July 7th, the new FHWA Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods has been released and is available for download (PDF) at the FHWA web site (link at previous post). ADSC has just announced that the printed version is now available to both ADSC members and non-members:
By special arrangement with the FHWA, the ADSC’s Technical Library Service offers the manual to ADSC Members and to the design and construction community at large. ADSC Member Price is $105.00 USD, Non-Members, $140.00. A small shipping charge will be added depending on manner of delivery requested.
You can read more on obtaining the printed manual on the ADSC web site.
As geotechnical/foundation engineers, we don’t usually get to see much of what happens on a project after the foundations are completed, especially a project like a large bridge that can take years to complete. Technology such as the Internet, webcams, and digital photography have made it easy for us to see how things are progressing on projects, as well as maybe get images of the completed structure. As I have noted before, some projects are using Twitter and Facebook to keep the public informed on closures, delays or overall project progress as part of good public relations. Her are some updates on a few of our recent projects.
The Academy of Geo-Professionals (AGP) was founded in October 2008 by practicing geo-professionals who were members of the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Geo-Institute. The Academy was created primarily to offer a voluntary, post-license credential that provide professional engineers an opportunity to gain further recognition in the broad field of geotechnical engineering.
AGP’s goal is dedicated to improving the practice, elevating the standards, and advancing the profession of geo-professional engineering. The Academy has begun its challenge to try and meet these goals with the oversight of our voluntary, post-licensure, specialty certification program for geo-professional engineers.
A new literature search tool is available from Geoengineer.org for geotechnical engineers – the Geoengineering Literature Finder, or GEOLIFI. This fee-based service has been created to provide access to published works in conference proceedings, etc. through agreements with publishers, etc. This service is meant to complement there free Online Geoengineering Library.
The Online Geoengineering Library is a popular tool within Geoengineer.org and intends to provide access to publications available online at no cost. However such a database, will always be incomplete, because many publications are not (and will not be) available online.
Thus, Geoengineer.org undertook a 2-year development project to establish GEOLIFI. GEOLIFI intends to become the most comprehensive, searchable online database of geoengineering papers published worldwide not only in journals, but also in conferences, symposia, workshops, and even magazines and reports. GEOLIFI is established in cooperation with publishers, conference organizers as well as professional geoengineering organizations….
…..The ultimate goal is to collect and disseminate unprecedented numbers of papers in a effective manner. The database as of today includes over 2,000 papers, most of them not otherwise available online, and will continue to expand on a daily basis. … Many of these publications would not be otherwise available, except by subscribing to a journal or purchasing the proceedings.
I have added most of Tim’s published technical papers to our on line library. Most of Tim’s published works cover topics such as karst terrain, ground improvement, and augered cast-in-place piles. Links to each paper are below and on the Publications page.
Tim Siegel’s presentation on plate load testing of grout columns from GeoFlorida 2010 in February has been added to our Presentations Page. I have also added some older presentations from IFCEE09, the 41st STGEC, and other conferences.
Geoengineer.org is pleased to announce the launch of "Professor Ralph Peck’s Legacy Website". The Website has been developed to celebrate the life and legacy of one of the Heroes of the geotechnical engineering field and honor a distinguished geotechnical engineer for his dedication and contributions to the society as a teacher, author, and engineer. The Website includes a lot of resources such as biographical data, quotes, photos, powerpoints, and even videos of lectures by Professor Peck. The Shamsher Prakash Foundation has generously sponsored this activity. The website has been developed in collaboration with Mrs. Nancy Peck-Young, Prof. Peck’s daughter and was supervised by an international Advisory Committee of distinguished members of our community that had the luxury of knowing Prof. Peck and consists of Prof. Dobry, Prof. Cording, Prof. Prakash and Dr. Lacasse. The content of the website is divided in three parts: "About his life", "Publications" and "Resources". We hope that this resource will be a source of inspiration for the future generations of geotechnical engineers. We also encourage you to provide us with any additional resources/content and we will be glad to include it in the website’s content.
Such a website is a fitting tribute to such an icon in the geotechnical engineering and construction industry. Make sure and check it out. I have added a link on our sidebar in the Geotechnical Resources section.
With all of us visiting construction projects across the country, occasionally we take a photo that appears to be somewhat “artistic” – maybe the lighting (or lack of), or the aspect. I have assembled a few such photos submitted by DBA engineers in the first installment of the DBA Artistic Construction Photo Contest. Included in this installment are such items as: “Daybreak on Night Shift at JJA” and “Fountain” by S. Dapp, the series “Evolution” by P. Axtell, “GI Rig at Sunset” by T. Siegel, and “Piles in the Mist” by R. Thompson. This first volume has more photos of mine than others, but we’ll work on better balance in future volumes.
Feel free to “vote” for your favorite in the comments. I’ll try to update periodically as we have more “worthy” photos!
Those of you that know Dan know that he is into motorcycles, especially trials riding. Some of you may thing that the headline means this post is about one of his latest riding exploits. Surprisingly, it is not.
Recently, I (Robert) and my family went to a World of Wheels car show in Birmingham, Alabama. This is not our normal family activity, but we went to watch Alex Bedly, an instructor at the Trials Training Center, perform as part of the On The Edge bike stunt team. Alex is an instructor at the TTC and is the son of Catherine Bedley, our administrative assistant. My family and I had a great time. I was even part of the show, unknown to me until the show had started and I was called out to “volunteer”. Check out the 35-second video below. No engineers were harmed in the making of this clip.
I have added a recent paper that Dan and Steve contributed to concerning loess that is in the November, 2009 issue of the DFI Journal. The paper describes the results of site investigation and laboratory tests at a site in Kansas with loess deposits. The effectiveness of various correlations between field and laboratory tests and design properties are evaluated. Steve is currently working on the follow-up paper that evaluates lateral load tests of drilled shafts at the site.
The kcICON project in Kansas City, Missouri is using Facebook and YouTube as a public relations tool. They have recently posted new videos and pictures. The latest video is of demolition of one of the existing approach structures. It is all done for public relations, so the photos and videos are oriented for the general public, showing how the project is moving along, how their tax dollars are being spent, and providing information on lane closures, etc.
The kcICON Facebook page is here. The project website with more photos and a web cam is here. You can also follow the project on Twitter here.
I expect we’ll see more use of Facebook, Twitter, etc. on projects in the future. It appears to be effective, at least for the techno-savy crowd!