Tag Archives: NHI

Robert Receives NHI Award and Paul Becomes DFI Committee Chair

WRT_NHI

It was recently announced that Robert Thompson is being recognized by the National Highway Institute (NHI) as an NHI Instructor of Excellence for fiscal year 2012.  This award is given to NHI instructors who receive consistently high classroom evaluation scores, demonstrated commitment to the NHI adult learning philosophy, and for maintaining the highest standard of quality for transportation training.  Here are the congratulatory words of NHI Director of Training Programs, Richard Barnaby:

Your nomination and selection for this award shows that training participants value the instruction you provide, that you stand far ahead of your peers, and that you have captured the respect of HHI’s Training Program Managers.  This year you have continuously provided high quality instruction, shared your vast expertise and real world experiences, and have exceeded performance expectations.

Robert currently serves as an instructor for two NHI courses, NHI Course 132069, Driven Pile Foundation Inspection with co-instructor Keith Bennett of Gannett-Flemming and NHI Course 132014, Drilled Shafts – Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods with co-instructors Dan Brown and John Turner of DBA.

That is most certainly a job well done, Robert!

Paul Axtell

We would also like to announce that Paul Axtell has been named as the new chair of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Drilled Shaft Committee, following Tom Hart of Black & Veatch.  Paul certainly deserves the honor of this roll given his participation and contributions to the Drilled Shaft Committee.

Congratulations, Paul!

Calibration of Resistance Factors for Drilled Shafts -A report from the LADOTD

Note: Okay – I’ll admit – I also do a blog for the Geo-Institute Deep Foundations Committee.  as such, there are often things that I feel should be posted at both – to get the widest possible audience! So, if you have already been over there, this post will look very familiar.  It is much easier to reuse a post written by yourself. – Robert

With the adoption of LRFD design methods by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and most state Departments of Transportation,  the big question in the geotechnical world is “What resistance factor should we use for __________?”.  AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications provide a lot of guidance, but many in the industry are working to calibrate resistance factors to regional or local design methods and soil conditions. Various universities and state DOTs, with assistance from FHWA, National Highway Institute (NHI), and the Transportation Research Board (TRB) are conducting research projects to provide some answers to the big question (there is never just one answer in geotechnical engineering!).

Randy Post over at GeoPrac.net recently blogged about a newly released report from The Louisiana Transportation Research Center and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LADOTD) on their investigation for calibrating resistance factors for the design of axially loaded drilled shafts.  From the report abstract:

As a continuing effort to implement the LRFD design methodology for deep foundations in Louisiana, this report will present the reliability-based analyses for the calibration of the resistance factor for LRFD design of axially loaded drilled shafts using Brown et al. method (2010 FHWA design method). Twenty-six drilled shaft tests collected from previous research (LTRC Final Report 449) and eight new drilled shaft tests were selected for statistical reliability analysis; the predictions of total, side, and tip resistance versus settlement behavior of drilled shafts were established from soil borings using both 1999 FHWA design method (O’Neill and Reese method) and 2010 FHWA design method (Brown et al. method). The measured drilled shaft axial nominal resistance was determined from either the Osterberg cell (O-cell) test or the conventional top-down static load test.

You can download a PDF of the report here.

New FHWA Drilled Shaft Manual is Done!

FHWA GEC 10 DrilledShaftsAlthough I have known for several weeks that the manual was finished (I work for one of the authors, after all!), I was waiting for the FHWA to post the link for the new manual before posting this…and now it is here!   My friend, Randy Post, has an outside review (meaning not connected to one of the authors!) over at his blog Geoprac.net.  Not only did he get “the scoop” on me, but he covers some of the highlights of the “what’s new” with the new, fully revised manual.   The biggest change is completely re-writing the design sections to follow LRFD as well as to update the methods for calculating soil and rock resistance.  As Randy also notes, the manual has been given a Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) designation: GEC 10.  Make sure and go read his review, as well as check out the other things on his blog (disclosure by Robert: I am an occasional contributor there).

The manual’s authors are three of the country’s top experts in drilled shaft design and construction: our own Dan A. Brown, Ph.D, P.E. , John P. Turner, Ph.D, P.E. of the University of Wyoming, and Raymond J. Castelli, P.E. of Parsons Brinckerhoff.   As with any major FHWA publication such as this, there was significant industry involvement in the review process through various technical committees and individuals from ADSC, DFI, and Geo-Institute.  A note from Dan:

The completion of this manual is a great relief and satisfaction.  Many thanks to John Turner’s hard work and also for Ray Castelli’s diligent work to review and make us better.  Special thanks to PB Project Manager Jeremy Hung and our FHWA sponsor Silas Nichols for their dedicated efforts to help get this done, and to all of you who contributed.

Dan and John have been using the material in the NHI course this fiscal year, having done some pilot courses the previous year.  Some NHI courses, including the Drilled Shaft course, can be hosted by non-government groups.  There are also some public seats available occasionally at DOT hosted courses.  The NHI catalog page for this course is here.

Download Drilled Shafts:Construction Procedures and LRFD Design Methods, 2010.

Also linked on our Publications page.

Update (7/12/10): For those that prefer the feel of a printed volume in their hands, the ADSC: The International Association of Foundation Drilling will be the distributor of the printed volume of the manual through their Technical Library.  It will be available soon, according to ADSC.  We’ll post about it as soon as it is available.

Update 2 (8/19/10): The printed manual is now available.