Merry Christmas 2011 and Happy New Year 2012 from DBA!

Tim Siegel (January 22, 2012): Innovative Techniques for Characterizing Karst Terrain, Workshop on Geo-innovation in Subsurface Exploration, TRB Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.

John Turner and Robert Thompson (February 21-23, 2012): NHI Drilled Shaft Course - Kansas DOT, Topeka, Kansas

Robert Thompson (February 24, 2012): Conservatism in Drilled Shaft Design When Utilizing Rock Sockets, Alabama Transportation Conference, Montgomery, Alabama

Tim Siegel (March 15, 2012): Micropile Design Installation and Performance for the Foothills Parkway, ADSC Equipment EXPO and Technical Conference, San Antonio, Texas

Robert Thompson (March 15, 2012): Full-Scale Load Tests on Drilled Shafts in Tennessee and Georgia, ADSC Equipment EXPO and Technical Conference, San Antonio, Texas

Erik Loehr (March 15, 2012): Slope Stabilization Using Micropiles, ADSC Equipment EXPO and Technical Conference, San Antonio, Texas

TBA (April 10-12, 2012): NHI Drilled Shaft Course - South Carolina DOT, Columbia, South Carolina

Merry Christmas 2011 and Happy New Year 2012 from DBA!

By Robert Thompson, on December 18th, 2011

DBA at DFI 36th Annual Meeting–Photos and Links

By Robert Thompson, on November 17th, 2011

DFI held its 36th Annual Meeting October 18-21 in Boston, including the annual awards banquet. Dan was honored with the 2011 Distinguished Service Award at the banquet. The Christopher S. Bond Bridge in Kansas City, MO was honored with a Special Recognition award (one of 5 runners-up for the Outstanding Project Award). Photos of DBA folks at the event are posted below. All of the photos from the meeting can be found at this link.

Dan gave a presentation on the Alternate Technical Concept (ATC) that DBA supported for the I-70 Bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis, MO. The link to the presentation is below. (Some previous posts here and here and here; posts with links to other presentations here).

PowerPoint Presentation – Alternate Technical Concept: Foundations for the New Mississippi River Bridge, St. Louis – Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E – DFI 36th Annual Conference, Boston, MA, October 20, 2011.

Dan receiving the 2011 DFI Distinguished Service Award

Robert receiving the Special Recognition Award for the Christopher S. Bond Bridge Project

Paul and Erik at the reception before the awards banquet

Dr. Mike Holloway, P.E. comes aboard!

By Robert Thompson, on November 4th, 2011

DBA is pleased to announce that Dr. D. Michael Holloway, P.E. has joined the DBA team. Mike is a recognized expert in driven pile foundation design and dynamic testing, in-situ testing, instrumentation, and earthquake engineering. His over 40 years of foundation and geotechnical engineering experience includes stints at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station (WES) in Vicksburg, MS, and Woodward-Clyde Consultants in Oakland, CA. He founded InsituTech, which specialized in engineering deep foundations and applying insitu soil testing services.

When starting InsituTech, Mike broadened the professional practice beyond “conventional” PDA-related testing and analyses services. Rather than just test and report to satisfy QC requirements during construction, he applied dynamic testing and analyses to enhance foundation design and constructability, as well as to improve on-site troubleshooting of construction problems. The efforts paid off as the firm made significant changes in the way PDA services became integrated into the design/build process on several major marine facilities and bridge projects in the west and in the Pacific.

Mike is a Blue Devil, having earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. at Duke University in North Carolina. Raised in New York, he made his way to California seeking engineering gold soon after his time at WES. He has been based there ever since.

Mike’s presence in California makes DBA a practically coast-to-coast firm (well, at least East Tennessee to California). We at DBA are excited at the expertise Mike adds to our portfolio and look forward to his contributions to the team. Welcome, Mike!

Holloway DBA Announcement (Press Release)

DBA has a logo!

By Robert Thompson, on March 17th, 2011

After 5 years, Dan Brown and Associates finally has a logo! We tried to keep it simple, yet still reflect what we do best – deep foundations. That means piles, micropiles, CFA piles, as well as drilled shafts! While not necessarily the most exciting thing an engineering firm can do, it is part of growing up as a company. Hopefully you will see it more often at conferences and in publications.

Dan Brown Profiled in DFI Magazine

By Robert Thompson, on January 27th, 2011

The Winter 2011 issue of Deep Foundations features Dan in its “People, Projects and Equipment” column. Virginia Fairweather with DFI talked to several folks in the geotechnical engineering community to learn about Dan, including yours truly. If you are interested in getting a glimpse inside the man who is Dr. Dan Brown, just check out the link below. This column is just one of many items featured in each issue of Deep Foundations, only from DFI. If you aren’t a member of DFI, then consider becoming one!

People, Projects and Equipment, Winter 2011 Deep Foundations

Tim Siegel, P.E. joins DBA!

By Robert Thompson, on January 18th, 2010

DBA is growing again with the addition of Tim Siegel, P.E. to our team!

Tim has been primarily involved in the analysis and design of geotechnical structures including drilled shafts, cast-in-place piles, micropiles, and earth retention systems. Tim is a Georgia Tech grad (like Dan!) and has worked most of his career since at S&ME and Berkel & Company Contractors, Inc. During his 12 years with S&ME, he advanced from Geotechnical Engineer to Technical Principal and Chief Engineer while developing expertise in construction in karst, seismic design, numerical modeling, and specialty foundations and retaining systems. After leaving S&ME, he was a Senior Geotechnical Engineer with Berkel and was involved in large deep foundation projects all over the United States. While at Berkel, he led the development of the ground improvement technique using Berkel’s ground displacement technology. While at S&ME and then while at Berkel, he taught upper level and graduate level courses while on the faculty of the University of Tennessee. Tim’s resume can be found in the About US section of our site.

We are really glad to have Tim joining us. As you can see by his photo, he has the requisite hair style!