Dan Brown and Associates, LLC

11/30-07 Update! - GEC No. 8 is now up on the FHWA web site. You can download it here.

Yes, folks, GEC 8 is finally complete! The publication version of Geotechnical Engineering Circular No.8: Design and Construction of Continuous Flight Auger Piles will soon be available from the FHWA Geotechnical Web Site. If you want an official sneak peek at GEC 8, just click here to get the PDF (approx. 10 MB). This circular is part of FHWA’s efforts to implement the use of CFA piles as a viable foundation alternative for transportation structures. We’ll post a notice when GEC 8 is on the FHWA web site.

DBA is part of the winning team for the kcICON project in Kansas City, Missouri. The $245 million project includes a new landmark bridge over the Missouri River. The winning joint venture is Passeo Corridor Constructors consisting of Massman Construction Company, Clarkson Construction Company, and Kiewit Construction. Parsons Transportation Group and Transystems are the major design firms working for the joint venture. DBA will be the geotechncial engineer for the river bridge while Terracon will provide geotechnical services for the remainder of the project.

The kcICON project area covers about four miles of I-29/35 in Kansas City. The project features a landmark cable-stay Missouri River bridge and will upgrade Interstate 29/35 to six lanes (expandable to eight lanes) from north of the Route 210/Armour Road interchange to Independence Ave. Construction will begin in Spring 2008. Full service to all lanes will be restored by June 1, 2011 and final construction completed by July 31, 2011.

The cable-stayed bridge will be approximately 1700 feet long, with the two cable-stayed spans supported by a single pylon. The main channel span will be 550 feet and the back span will be about 450 feet. Approach spans will vary from 110 to 165 feet. Drilled shafts will be utilized to support the bridge, with 11-foot diameter shafts planned for the main pylon. The shafts will be socketed in to shale bedrock.

The complete news release announcing the project award is here.

An ENR story is here.

The kcICON project website is here.

A link to the project website will be added to our project links area on the left side bar. We’ll be posting updates as things get moving next year.

Technorati : Bridge Foundations, Deep Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering

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.

Technorati : Deep Foundations, Engineering Research, Foundation Construction, Foundations, Geotechnical Engineering

I have added a copy of a recent article entiteld “Designing Drilled Shafts in Loess” that Dan was one of several co-authors in the August 2007 Edition of Foundation Drilling from the ADSC. The article is a preview of some research by the Kansas DOT through the University of Kansas on designing drilled shafts for lateral loading. This particular project is investigating the behavior of laterally loaded shafts in loess.

Technorati : Deep Foundations, Drilled Shafts, Engineering Research, Foundation Construction, Geotechnical Engineering, Load Test, Test Shaft