Get the New FHWA Drilled Shaft Manual
Get the NCHRP Synthesis 418 – Pile Criteria From Test Pile Data
Dan’s Speaking Schedule September 12-13, 2012: Concrete used in Drilled Shaft Construction - ADSC/DFI Drilled Shaft Seminar - Denver, Colorado Other DBA Team Speaking Appearances D. Mike Holloway (May 17, 2012): A Driven Pile is a Tested Pile - Not So Fast - DFI SuperPile - Portland, Oregon
John Turner (September 12-13, 2012): Analysis & Design of Drilled Shafts - ADSC/DFI Drilled Shaft Seminar - Denver, Colorado
John Turner (September 12-13, 2012): Techniques for Drilled Shaft Construction - ADSC/DFI Drilled Shaft Seminar - Denver, Colorado Conferences, Meetings, Seminars, Workshops
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By Robert Thompson, on December 18th, 2009
By Robert Thompson, on December 11th, 2009
As part of our ongoing attempts to try to get in front of the technology pack (or at least not fall behind!), We’ve installed a WordPress plugin called WPTouch that allows for much faster optimized viewing of the this DBA blog when using the iPhone, iPod touch, Android (Google), BlackBerry and other touch-screen mobile devices. The photos below are are of a G1. Your results will vary by model.
Comments are visible after clicking on any post and you can add a comment as well. The best way to keep track of comments, however, is to use an RSS reader app on your device and subscribe to our comments RSS feed. Then if you see a comment that you’d like to comment on, click the link to the comment. It will activate the mobile-optimized view of the web page and position you for typing in your comment.
Images are from Griff Wigley of Wigley & Associates, our blog coach.
By Robert Thompson, on November 30th, 2009
I am slowly learning and working on getting DBA involved in using some of the social media tools that are very quickly becoming popular means of communicating. DBA has a Facebook Page where you can become a Fan of DBA and see what we are doing. You can also follow us on Twitter. This blog will feed to both of those locations.
 
And as I previously posted, we also have all our photos on  Picassa Web Albums and have videos on  YouTube.
And as always, you can also subscribe to our RSS feed.
By Robert Thompson, on November 30th, 2009
An article on the kcICON bridge project was published in the November 2009 issue of Roads and Bridges magazine. The article was written by Pat Cassity, P.E. of Parsons Transportation Group, Brian Kidwell, P.E. of MoDOT, and Pat Byrne, P.E. of Massman. The on-line version is here. I have also posted a PDF on the kcICON page our Consulting Projects page you can access by clicking the image below.
By Robert Thompson, on November 3rd, 2009
I have added the paper that we wrote and Dan presented at the Deep Foundations Institute 34th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations that was held in Kansas City, MO late last month. The paper highlights how the design-build process was successful in the design and construction of the large diameter drilled shafts supporting the bridge. We discuss the installation methods used, the load test program, and how we evaluated the durability of the shale rock sockets under drilling fluid.
You can check out the progress of the bridge at the project website.
Axtell, P.J., Thompson, W.R., and Brown, D.A., 2009. “Drilled Shaft Foundations for the kcICON Missouri River Bridge”, Deep Foundations Institute 34th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations, Conference Proceedings 2009, October 21-23, 2009, Kansas City, Missouri, pp. 3-12.
By Robert Thompson, on January 14th, 2009
I have been too busy to post more photos from my trips to New Roads, LA in the fall to help Steve with the work at the Audubon Bridge project. It has been a flurry of activity as they worked to finish installing, tip-routing, and load testing all of the shafts in the river (done in December!). They have also completed and tested the land test shaft on the west side of the river and begun installing the land shafts. Throw in a lot of pile driving, including some 5-foot diameter pipe piles for temporary bents, and it has been a very busy site. All of the various tip-grouting, O-cell load tests on drilled shafts, and PDA testing of the pre-cast piles has been successful. As of today, the Mississippi River has come up and slowed things down a bit, but they should get all of the foundation completed within the next couple of months.
Some pictures I took on some of my trips are setup below. I have also experimented with embedding some video I took with my camera. The camera was not set on a very high video capture resolution, but I think they are good enough for you to get the idea of the shaft excavation and the pile driving activities.
More pictures here.
Previous posts here.
East Pier Construction – September 2008:
East Temporary Bent Pile Driving – September 2008:
West Side Construction and Other Stuff – October 2008:
By Robert Thompson, on January 14th, 2009
I have added some publications and presentations to the site – trying to catch up on things here.
The report of the lateral load tests on drilled shafts and an MSE wall for KDOT has been published. My post on this project is here. Dr. Bob Parsons at University of Kansas was the principal researcher. Our main contribution was analysis of the lateral response of the drilled shafts (Appendix B in the report).
Pierson, M., Parsons, R.L., Han, J., Brown, D.A. and Thompson, W.R., 2008. “Capacity of Laterally Loaded Shafts Constructed Behind the Face of a Mechanically Stabilized Earth Block Wall”, Report for the Kansas Department of Transportation.
We now have a paper co-authored by Paul in the just released DFI Journal Volume 2. The subject is shear modulus in soil mixing and jet grouting.
Axtell, P.J. and Stark, T.D., 2008. “Increase in Shear Modulus by Soil Mix and Jet Grout Methods”, DFI Journal Volume 2, No. 1, Nov2008, Deep Foundations Institute, pp11-21.
Two presentations have also been added – one from Dan’s talk at the 2008 STGEC Conference (program page is here) and one from Dan’s appearance at the San Antonio Section of ASCE earlier this month.
 
Design of Drilled Shafts for Extreme Events – Dan A. Brown, Ph.D., P.E. – San Antonio Section ASCE Meeting – January 9, 2009
Improved Design of Drilled Shafts in Rock – Dan A. Brown, Ph.D., P.E. - STGEC 2008, Pigeon Forge, TN October 2008
By Robert Thompson, on June 15th, 2008
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.
Technorati : Case History, Deep Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Driven Piles, Engineering Research, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering, Load Test, Test Pile, Test Shaft
By Robert Thompson, on March 17th, 2008
Mark you calendars now for a really big geotechnical engineering and foundation construction “mega-event” next year – The International Foundation Congress & Equipment Expo ’09. The Geo-Institute of ASCE, the ADSC, and the PDCA are the lead organizations for the event. Many other organizations are also Cooperating Organizations.
The International Foundations Congress and Equipment Expo ’09 (IFCEE09) will provide a spectacular and comprehensive Congress. It combines the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC), the Geo-Institute of ASCE, and the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) 2009 annual meetings, and will bring together varied USA and worldwide industry organizations.
As part of the technical program, engineers, foundation contractors, equipment manufacturers, suppliers of tools and services, and researchers will discuss the latest technological advances in the foundation and earth retention industry. The extensive outdoor large equipment exposition and indoor displays provide attendees an opportunity to examine the tools of foundation construction, and are an additional incentive for constructors and engineers to attend this mega-event. This expanded program builds on the highly successful 2004 Geo-Support conference and equipment exposition held in Orlando, FL.
The conference will be at the Buena Vista Palace Resort and Spa adjacent to Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World, Florida. In addition to a full program of keynote speakers, technical paperas, case histories, and panel discussions, the largest equipment exposition devoted to the foundation industry will also be held.
Information on the Call for Papers is here. Abstracts are due April 30, 2008.
Information on exhibits and sponsorships is here.
We will have a link to the conference website at the top of our right side bar until the conference date.
Technorati : Case History, Deep Foundations, Engineering Research, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering, Soil Mechanics
By Robert Thompson, on March 17th, 2008
Make sure and check the links on our left side bar for information on upcoming conferences, meetings, and seminars. We try to list all of the major events of organizations like the Geo-Institute of ASCE, the ADSC, the PDCA, and the DFI.
Also, check out the changes in geotechnical engineering related to transportation projects coming out in Arizona at Geoprac.net. From Randy’s post:
There are some significant changes being made to the state of the practice in geotechnical engineering in Arizona. NCS Consultants, LLC has prepared three policy memoranda for the Arizona Department of Transportation or ADOT that have been issued to consultants all over the State. These memos are on the topics of bearing capacity and settlement of spread footings and retaining walls, the design of drilled shaft foundations in gravelly soils, and the preparation of drilled shaft axial capacity charts for use by bridge engineers.
Randy does a good job of scouring the web for geotechnical related items. A link to his site is on our left sid bar and we have a feed to his posts on the right side bar.
While I am on the topic of resources, we also have a link to Geoengineer.org, another resource website for the geotechnical engineering community. A link to the site is on the left side bar, and links to their latest newsletters are on the right side bar.
Technorati : Deep Foundations, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering
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ADSC Drilled Shaft Foundations Seminar – Mar 19
PDCA 14th Annual International Conference and Expo – May 6-8
International Bridge Conference 2010 – June 6-10
Earth Retention 2010 – Aug 1-4
DFI 34th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations – Oct 12-15 
TRB 7th International Bridge Conference – Dec 1-2
Comments are closed 
DBA blog now optimized for mobile devices
As part of our ongoing attempts to try to get in front of the technology pack (or at least not fall behind!), We’ve installed a WordPress plugin called WPTouch that allows for much faster optimized viewing of the this DBA blog when using the iPhone, iPod touch, Android (Google), BlackBerry and other touch-screen mobile devices. The photos below are are of a G1. Your results will vary by model.
Comments are visible after clicking on any post and you can add a comment as well. The best way to keep track of comments, however, is to use an RSS reader app on your device and subscribe to our comments RSS feed. Then if you see a comment that you’d like to comment on, click the link to the comment. It will activate the mobile-optimized view of the web page and position you for typing in your comment.
Images are from Griff Wigley of Wigley & Associates, our blog coach.