Papers from ADSC EXPO 2012–Drilled Shafts and Other Drilled Foundations

By Robert Thompson, on May 7th, 2012

ADSC EXPO 2012, San Antonio, Texas

There were several of us presenting at the ADSC EXPO 2012 in mid-March: Dan, Erik, Robert and Tim. The EXPO is always a great event (occurs every 3 years) where equipment manufacturers and dealers bring out all of the big equipment (as Dr. Dave Elton at Auburn has been known to say: “It’s a classic case of big boys and big toys!”). It is a lot of fun to be able to walk through a large show of equipment and tooling that is all clean and painted – you can see what it is all supposed to look like! As an engineer, you can learn a lot about the latest tools, equipment capabilities, and the like from the sales and manufacturing reps. The ADSC always does a great job putting this event on, and this year’s venue a the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort outside San Antonio was fantastic.

Dan and Robert both had papers included in the proceedings. Links to the papers are below. Erik and Tim had presentations along with those that Dan and Robert gave on their papers. Links to the presentations are on our Presentations page.

Brown, D.A. (2012). "Factors Affecting the Selection and Use of Drilled Shafts for Transportation Infrastructure Projects", ADSC EXPO 2012 Geo-Construction Conference Proceedings, March 14-17, 2012, San Antonio, TX, pp25-35.

Thompson, W.R. (2012). "ADSC Research Project Update: Rock Sockets in the Southeastern U.S", ADSC EXPO 2012 Geo-Construction Conference Proceedings, March 14-17, 2012, San Antonio, TX, pp103-117.

ADSC SE Chapter Lawrenceville Test Site Report Published

By Robert Thompson, on February 2nd, 2012

The report for the ADSC Southeast Chapter Lawrenceville, Georgia Test Site is complete and published (link below).

This is the second report from their research project on rock-socketed drilled shafts in the Southeast U.S. This report is from the Lawrenceville, Georgia test site where shafts constructed in metamorphic rock of the Piedmont geologic province were load tested using the O-Cell load test device. The report link is below. Additional information about the test site can be found at the Lawrenceville Site Page.

The first site of this project was in Nashville, Tennessee where shafts constructed in limestone were tested. Information on the Nashville Site and the test reports can be found at the Nashville Site Page.

Both reports will be the feature of a paper and presentation by Robert at the 2012 ADSC Expo, March 13-17, in San Antonio, TX. More information about the Expo can be found here.

Thompson, W.R., Brown, D.A., and Hudson, A.B. (2012). “Load Testing of Drilled Shaft Foundations in Piedmont Rock, Lawrenceville, GA, Report for ADSC Southeast Chapter, January, 2012.

ADSC Lawrenceville Test Site–We Have Winners!

By Robert Thompson, on October 6th, 2011

That’s right load test fans, The results are in! The ADSC Southeast Chapter is proud to announce the “winners” from the prediction contest for the Lawrenceville, GA test site. In the table below, we have listed the winner and their prediction. The winners are the closest to the average measured values as reported by Loadtest, Inc and may not represent the reported maximum values recommended in the final report by DBA. We won’t release the final report until the ASCE Georgia Section Geotechnical Group meeting November 15, 2011 at 6:30pm at the Georgia Power Company’s Headquarters in Atlanta. Dr. Brown will be presenting the findings then – so come to the meeting and get it first, or look to the DBA or ADSC web sites after November 15th to get the report.

Shaft	Name	Prediction
1 – Unit Base Resistance	Gloria Rodgers (Building and Earth Sciences, Inc.)	750 ksf
1 – Unit Side Resistance	Todd Barber (Geo-Hydro Engineers, Inc.)	50 ksf
2 – Unit Base Resistance	Todd Barber (Geo-Hydro Engineers, Inc.)	690 ksf
2 – Unit Side Resistance	TIE: Jim Pegues (Southern Company Svcs.) Tom Scruggs (Georgia DOT)	3 ksf

ADSC Lawrenceville Test Site–Prediction Contest!

By Robert Thompson, on July 26th, 2011

Update (7/31/11) – Field Day set for Thursday, August 18th – More info here!

Back by popular demand, we will hold a prediction contest for the second test site in the ADSC drilled shaft research project for rock sockets in the Southeastern U.S. Contestants are encouraged to download the information linked below and then submit their predictions of unit side resistance and base resistance that will be measured by the O-cell tests. The winner will be announced at the field test and demonstration day on site, as well as published in this blog along with all submitted predictions.

Two test shafts will be installed July 26 – 29th at the yard of Foundation Technologies, Inc. One will include a rock socket to attempt to test side and base resistance in the rock socket. The other shaft will be drilled to “rock auger refusal” to attempt to test side resistance in the partially weathered rock (locally termed PWR) and base resistance at “rock auger refusal”. In the Piedmont area, the highly weathered upper rock zone is commonly called PWR. Another common usage is “rock auger refusal” to define where “hard rock” begins. It is thought that designers may be overly conservative with base resistance values at “rock auger refusal”. Hopefully this test will provide useful data in that regard.

Testing will occur during a field demonstration day in mid-August. We’ll post the date once it is finalized.

Information to include the test shaft configurations and exploratory boring data can be downloaded here.

The contest entry form along with instructions for submission can be downloaded here.

We will have Aaron on site to observe and take lots of pictures. We’ll post his photos of the excavations as soon as we can (check the project web page soon after August 1st) to assist in making predictions.

All predictions must be submitted by the close of business, August 12, 2011.

For more information, visit the test site page.

Previous posts.

ADSC Load Test Research – Lawrenceville, GA Site – SCHEDULE UPDATE

By Robert Thompson, on June 27th, 2011

The planned second load test in the ADSC research project for rock sockets in the Southeastern U.S. is moving closer to execution. Bruce Long of Long Foundation Drilling Company provides this update:

To Fellow Load Testers,

We want to thank everyone who submitted questions or comments regarding the preliminary load test program submitted to us by Dr. Dan Brown. Those comments, and more, will be considered while fine-tuning the program.

Because we have several companies donating their time and money, we have to be flexible with respect to the installation and testing dates. We have tentatively selected some dates, but these are subject to change depending upon the workloads of those volunteering their efforts. We hope to begin shaft installation during the last two weeks of July (weeks beginning the 18^th or 25^th). The actual load testing would probably take place the week of August 8^th, with the actual test date being decided upon by sometime in early July (I hope to give everyone at least a 3-4 week notice).

The actual test date would include a field day visit by all interested parties to the test site at Foundation Technologies office in Lawrenceville, GA. Activities will include a load testing discussion led by Dr. Dan Brown, along with lunch. We would then move to the test site where Loadtest, Inc. will be conducting the Osterberg Load Test on our first shaft. A discussion of the testing process and procedures by Loadtest will precede the actual testing (We will be submitting information later regarding a load test contest where each of you will get to predict the outcome of the test with a special prize going to the winner). We also hope to be drilling on the second shaft that day and will be discussing the drill rigs, tools, and other equipment being used, as well as having the other Osterberg cell available for viewing. This site visit proved to be very well received when we did it in Nashville at the last load test. We hope for a big turnout that day.

I wanted to give everybody a brief update and will be in touch when additional information becomes available in the near future. Thank you for your interest, and if anyone has any questions regarding this plan, please feel free to call me at your convenience.

Bruce Long

President

Long Foundation Drilling Co.

Previous post is here.

The test site page is here.

The main page for the research project is here.

Dr. John Turner, P.E. joins DBA!

By David Graham, on June 14th, 2011

We are pleased to announce that John P. Turner, Ph.D., P.E., has joined our firm as a Senior Principal. Turner is Professor Emeritus, University of Wyoming, where he spent the past 25 years teaching and conducting research in geotechnical engineering. He has undergraduate degrees in both Geology and Civil Engineering and earned his doctorate in Geotechnical Engineering from Cornell University. John will bring his considerable expertise in design and construction of deep foundations to our practice. He is a co-author of the 2010 FHWA manual “Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods” and the author of NCHRP Synthesis 360, “Rock-Socketed Shafts for Highway Structure Foundations”, as well as over 100 technical publications on the topics of deep foundations, earth retention, and landslide stabilization. Early in his career John was an engineering geologist with Herbert and Associates and he maintained his involvement in consulting throughout his academic career. Recent projects include design of rock-socketed drilled shafts for bridges at Pitkins Curve in Big Sur and the Antlers Bridge on I-5 in northern California. John is a recipient of the President’s Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the ADSC: International Association of Foundation Drilling. He has maintained active membership in ASCE for over 30 years and is a past chairman of the Committee on Deep Foundations of the Geo-Institute of ASCE.

Dr. Erik Loehr, P.E. Receives ADSC Award

By Robert Thompson, on June 13th, 2011

Dr. Erik Loehr, P.E. was honored by the ADSC with the ADSC Outstanding Service Award, presented at the President’s Luncheon at their 2011 annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana (Feb 1 –5, 2011). The award recognized Erik’s research in the use of micropiles for slope stabilization and as foundations. From the March/April 2011 edition of Foundation Drilling:

ADSC’s Outstanding Service Award was garnered by Dr. J. Erik Loehr, University of Missouri, in acknowledgment of his research and educational efforts that advance the technical aspects of the drilled foundation and anchored earth retention industries.

Dr. Loehr is currently on the faculty of the University of Missouri and is a consultant with DBA.

Micropiles for Slope Stabilization

By David Graham, on December 8th, 2010

An article by Eric and Dan on the use of micropiles for slope stabilization has been added to our Publications Page. Published in the August 2010 issue of Foundation Drilling Magazine, the article summarizes key findings and recommendations from a study that reviewed and evaluated existing micropile design methods. A new design method is proposed to better predict the mobilized resistance of micropiles used for slope stabilization. The full report prepared by Eric and Dan for the joint ADSC/DFI Micropile Committee, “A Method for Predicting Mobilization Resistance for Micropiles Used in Slope Stabilization Applications”, presents the details of this study. Robert previously posted about this report here.

Loehr, J.E. and Brown, D.A. (2010). “Design of Micropiles for Slope Stabilization”, Foundation Drilling, Vol. 31, No. 6 August 2010.

Events Calendar Updated for 2010

By Robert Thompson, on December 18th, 2009

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-Florida 2010 – Feb 20-24

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

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

International Bridge Conference 2010 – June 6-10

DFI Super Pile – June 10-11

Earth Retention 2010 – Aug 1-4

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

TRB 7th International Bridge Conference – Dec 1-2

Marinucci joins ADSC; PDCA solicits Project of the Year nominees; and other Geo News

By Robert Thompson, on December 16th, 2009

Some items of note from the geo-industry….

First, Tony Marinucci, P.E. joins the staff at ADSC. Here is the release from ADSC highlighting Tony’s career and his new position.

Marinucci Joins ADSC Staff

We are pleased to report that Antonio Marinucci, P.E., MSCE, MBA, is joining the ADSC headquarters staff in a full-time capacity as he completes his Ph.D. studies in geotechnical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Tony comes to this new post with many years of experience working for geo-construction specialty contractors, a major general contractor, and geotechnical engineering firms in a variety of capacities including project management and deep foundation and anchored earth retention design. His credits include participating in many geo-engineering and construction research projects. Somehow, while working full and part-time in the industry, he managed to complete graduate degrees in engineering and business. He is the current Secretary of the Geo-Institute’s Deep Foundations Committee, as well as holding the same position for the G-I’s Soil Improvement Committee. He has been an active volunteer and committee member for many ADSC, ASCE, and DFI initiatives. Among his many volunteer service achievements was serving as the President of the ASCE Student Chapter while attending the University of Rhode Island. In addition to all of his volunteer service, he has authored or co-authored twelve published technical papers, and several feature articles that have appeared in Foundation Drilling magazine. One of his most interesting and challenging geo-construction experiences was working as a staff engineer for Modern Continental Construction in a variety of capacities on Boston’s “Big Dig” project. A member of four leading National Honor Societies, he was also the recipient of an ADSC Civil Engineering Graduate Study Scholarship.

You can see by this abbreviated description of Tony’s stellar career that he will be an excellent addition to the ADSC’s professional staff. His responsibilities will include serving as an in-house technical resource, coordinating ADSC’s eight regional chapters, assisting in the associations technical education and field training programs, working with the association’s 18 technical and organizational committees and task forces, overseeing the association’s membership recruitment and retention programs, and assisting ADSC CEO Mike Moore in a number of related endeavors.

Second, the PDCA is soliciting nominees for the 2010 Project of the Year award. There are several categories based on project location and size. Projects must have been completed in 2009. Deadline for entries is February 26, 2010.

The PDCA would like to inform you about the 2010 "Project of the Year" Award competition.

The PDCA is dedicated to acknowledging the hard work, ingenuity and commitment that goes into each project where driven pile are used i a deep foundation or earth retention system, or utilized to solve foundation problems. This PDCA tradition recognizes excellence in driven pile projects completed by PDCA members in good standing.

Through the "Project of the Year" award, the PDCA has the distinguished opportunity to continue its long-standing and consistent commitment t recognize those PDCA members who demonstrate excellence in the process of providing solutions, services and products to the needs of the deep foundation and earth retention environment.

Project entries must feature projects completed in 2009. Projects entries will be awarded in two entry categories and three dollar volume categories. The two entry categories are distinguished by either "Land-based" or "Marine-based" projects. The dollar volume categories are Less than $500,000.00, $500,000.00 – $2 Million, and Greater than $2 Million. Price ranges are based solely on the dollar volume of the piling contract associated with the project.

The PDCA is asking each of its members to consider submitting a project worthy of this prestigious PDCA award. Entry Forms will be made available on the PDCA website by Monday, December 7, 2009.

The "2010 Project of the Year" entry deadline is Friday, February 26, 2010. Late entries will not be considered.

Winning entries will be announced during the 2010 PDCA Annual International Conference and Expo, Coeur d’Alene Golf and Spa Resort, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho during the PDCA Business Luncheon on Saturday, May 8, 2010. PDCA will NOT reveal the winning entries prior to the luncheon.

Winning entries will also be featured in the following editions of Pile Driver magazine and on the PDCA website.

PDCA looks forward to receiving your entry – GOOD LUCK!

Third, registration is open for the Geo-Institute GeoFlorida 2010 conference in West Palm Beach, Florida. There will be short courses, a technical program, student competitions, exhibits, honoring our heroes, and all the usual events at the annual G-I meeting. Click on the logo to go to the conference website.

Lastly, abstracts are now being accepted for consideration of the 2011 Geo-Institute meeting Geo-Frontiers 2011 in Dallas, Texas. Abstracts are due March 8, 2010. Click the logo to get to the conference website for submission information.