Tag Archives: DFI Journal

NEW PUBLICATIONS ADDED AND UPDATES TO THE WEBSITE

It’s been a while since we have updated everyone on some of the various publications we have added to our website, so I wanted to provide a few links to some of the newer additions to our Publications tab.  One magazine that members of DBA contribute to fairly regularly is Geostrata Magazine.  The Geostrata Magazine is a bi-monthly publication of the Geo-Institute.  You can join the Geo-Institute and gain access to the magazine by following this link:  https://www.geoinstitute.org/publications/geostrata.  Dr. Dan Brown published an article in the May-June 2020 edition about lessons learned from failures during pile installation with regards to driving stresses.  In the January-February 2021 edition, Dr. Erik Loehr contributed an article about recognizing the inherent value in site characterization.  Links for the articles are below.

Brown, D., E. (2020). “Learning from Pile Driving Failures,” Geostrata, May-June 2020.

Loehr, J. E. (2021). “Recognizing Value in Site Characterization – How Cool Would That Be?”, Geostrata, January-February 2021.

Speaking of the Geo Institute, Dan Ding and Erik Loehr recently co-authored a paper in the Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering (see link below).

Ding, D., Loehr, J. E. (2019). “Variability and Bias in Undrained Shear Strength from Different Sampling and Testing Methods,”Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering Volume 145, Issue 10, October 2019.

An organization that we actively publish papers with is the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI).  We have added papers from the last three years for the DFI Annual Conference as well as the The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute.  Links to the papers are below.  To join DFI or learn more , click the DFI logo located in the left sidebar.

T.C. Siegel, T. J. Day, B. Turner & P. Faust (2019) “Measured end resistance of CFA and drilled displacement piles in San Francisco Area alluvial clay”,DFI Journal – The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute, 12:3, pp 186-189.

Graham, D.S. and Axtell, P.J. (2019). “Case History: Comparison of CSL Results to Physical Observations,” Proceedings: Deep Foundations Institute 44th Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, USA, pp 420-427.

Axtell, P.J., Graham, D.S., and Jackson, J. (2018). “Drilled Shaft Difficulties and a Micropile Solution,” Proceedings: Deep Foundations Institute 43rd Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, USA, pp 93-103.

Graham, D.S., Axtell, P.J., and Iverson, N. W. (2017). “Case History: Large Diameter Micropiles for the Highway 53 Relocation Project,” Proceedings: Deep Foundations Institute 42nd Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, USA.

Dr. Dan Brown has also recently submitted an article to Pile Driver Magazine, which is a bi-monthly publication of the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA).  To learn more about the PDCA or become a member, click on logo on the left sidebar. The magazine is free to access and can be found by clicking here while the link for Dr. Brown’s article can be found below.

Brown, D. (2020). “A comparison of factors affecting the static axial resistance of drilled and driven piles”, Pile Driver Issue 4 2020, Volume 17 No. 4, pp 60-78.

We have also added a few older papers that David Graham and Paul Axtell have published.  One, a case history for a micropile project, was for the International Society of Micropiles.  The other was for the 34th annual International Bridge Conference.  The links for  the papers are found below.

Axtell, P.J., Graham, D.S., and Bailey, J. D. (2017). “Statnamic Load Testing on a 406mm (16 in) Diameter Micropile,” International Society of Micropiles, Chicago, IL, USA.

Graham, D.S., Hasbrouck, G.T., Axtell, P.J., and Turner, J.P. (2017). “Reducing Longitudinal Demands on Tall Bridge Piers with an Anchored Abutment”, Proceedings of the 34th International Bridge Conference, 2017, National Harbor, MD, USA, pp 668-672.

Finally, we have also updated our About Us tab to reflect the change in leadership announced back in April of 2020 and provide an updated view of our current staff here at DBA.  The names of each individual are links to their respective resume. 

Tim Siegel Appointed New Co-Editor of DFI Journal

As Robert recently posted, Dan is taking on new roles at the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) as a member of the DFI Educational Trust Board and as treasurer of the DFI Board of Trustees.  Tim Siegel is now stepping in to fill Dan’s former role as co-editor of the DFI Journal.  From DFI:

February 24, 2014, Hawthorne NJ: Maney Publishing and the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) are pleased to announce the appointment of Anne Lemnitzer and Timothy C. Siegel as the new co-editors of DFI Journal: The Journal of the Deep Foundations Institute. They will succeed lead editors Ali Porbaha and Dan Brown, who are stepping down after being editors since the Journal’s inception, and Zia Zafir, who will remain on the editorial board.

Timothy Siegel is a principal engineer with Dan Brown and Associates PC and member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and has spent over 20 years working in industry. He is a member of the DFI’s Ground Improvement and Seismic and Lateral Loads Committees and has authored or co-authored over 45 technical papers and has presented at conferences throughout the USA.

Anne Lemnitzer is assistant professor at the University of California in Irvine. She holds a Ph.D. in structural engineering from UCLA as well as an M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering from California State University, Long Beach and B.S. from the University of Applied Science in Leipzig, Germany, where she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to continue her education. Her research interests lie at the interface of geotechnical and structural earthquake engineering.

Tim Siegel comments, “At no time in history has the practice of foundation engineering been as challenging as it is now. Ambitious projects, stringent design codes, the likelihood of litigation, and high expectations require engineers to effectively intertwine theory and experience. At a time when many technical journals are focused on the former, the DFI Journal plays a vital role by offering a balance between theory and experience. This is one reason that DFI Journal is a leading platform for technology transfer on design and construction of deep foundations and ground improvement.”

Anne Lemnitzer comments, “I am excited to work with my colleague Tim Siegel in serving as co-editor of the DFI Journal and hope to further enhance its reputation and circulation in the geotechnical community. We are determined to seek the best deep foundation research from across the world and combine it with the most innovative design projects currently built, hereby creating a unique stage for intellectual exchange, transfer of knowledge and professional development. The DFI Journal provides this alternative approach compared to traditional scientific journals and we are looking forward to widening the audience through hands-on, understandable publications that can make lasting impacts on our foundation industry.”

“DFI is excited to have members, Tim Siegel and Anne Lemnitzer taking the lead as Journal co-editors as we strive to increase the readership and frequency of the publication. The Journal is the perfect vehicle for achieving DFI’s mission to disseminate practical and useful content to the deep foundations construction industry and be the information resource for design and construction of foundations and excavations. We are confident the new editors will provide excellent insight, technical expertise and leadership in their new role,” says Theresa Rappaport, DFI executive director.

Tim, congratulations and thank you for your contributions to the industry!

Simplified Settlement Model–DFI Journal Technical Note by Tim Siegel

DFIJv5No1Tim has authored a Technical Note in the most recent issue (June 2011) of the DFI Journal.  The note is entitled “Simplified Settlement Model for a Shallow Foundation on Composite Ground with Rigid Piles”.  From the Abstract:

A piled raft refers to a shallow foundation that is structurally connected to the piles, while composite ground refers to a soil-pile matrix where the piles are not structurally connected. The design objectives for both a piled raft and composite ground are (excluding special considerations such as expansive soil): (1) to provide a sufficient ultimate resistance and (2) to distribute the load into the soil-pile matrix so that the settlement experienced by the shallow foundation is within tolerable limits. A simplified model is proposed for a shallow foundation on composite ground where the foundation settlement is estimated as the sum of the downward movement of the piles plus the downward movement of the shallow foundation relative to the pile head. The proposed simplified
model is applied using conventional geotechnical analyses for two hypothetical examples of shallow foundations undergoing compression settlement.

This paper was originally published in DFI’s bi-annual journal, Volume 5, No. 1 in June 2011.  DFI is an international technical association of firms and individuals involved in the deep foundations and related industry. The DFI Journal is a member publication. To join DFI and receive the journal, go to www.dfi.org for further information. ”

You can also subscribe to the DFI Journal here.