deep mix cement quality on an MSE embankment 40 ft (12 m) high. Karen Dawson, CH2M Hill, spoke about tests on stone columns on the same bridge approach site. Sharing risk contractually was the focus Sebastian Bauer, keynote speaker, and Jeremy Clark of Bauer Sebastian Bauer, also a professor, was the second Keynote Speaker. He wrapped up the Annual Conference with his address that tracked equipment development at Bauer Maschinen GmbH, of which he is a manager director. Bauer also led a successful post-conference tour of the Bauer plant in Houston. Over 60 attendees enjoyed the firm’s hospitality and informational presentations. of a paper describing a bike path along New York City’s Hudson River. Alfranio Prado, Underpinning & Foundation Skanska, told about the agreement between the owner and the contractor, in which the latter party assumed the obstruction risk for the boulders and cobbles at the site, after thorough analysis. Short Courses Three short courses and 15 Technical Committee meetings preceded the official opening of the October Houston conference. One short course focused on Augered Cast-in-Place piles, and offered a wide range of basic information about equipment, procedures and materials, along with a short history of the technique and its proliferation. The diaphragm wall course provided many case histories of unusual projects, as well as quality control procedures. A third short course, “Use of Computer Software for Lateral Analysis” was presented by the Seismic and Lateral Loads Committee. The Annual Business luncheon featured The Spaghetti Bridge Competition winners A sampling of conference technical papers included Lori Simpson of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, who spoke about the design challenges at a high-rise building near transit tunnels in San Francisco. She also described the peer review used on the job, and the Flac Analysis conducted, saying it was costly, but worthwhile. she concluded. Another presen- tation, by Matthew D. Marks, Magnus Paci- fic Corporation, outlined a $100 million levee improvement program conducted by the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, begun in 2006. The work so far has been done through eight contracts, and most incorporated deep soil mixing methods. Two papers were presented by Condon Johnson and CH2M Hill engineers, who worked at the same bridge approach site near Tacoma, Wash. Dominic Parmentier of Condon-Johnson described a field test of 20 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2013 reports by Jim Morrison, incoming presi- dent Bittner, followed by reports by all 15 Technical Committee chairs. The featured speaker was the Hal Hunt Lecturer, James Pappas, of the Research Partnership of Ultra-Deepwater Programs, who spoke about communication. The award is named for Hal Hunt, one of the initial organizers of DFI, who wished to recognize exceptional com- municators in the deep foundations industry. Engineering students took part in another feature of the luncheon. The result of the Spaghetti Bridge Competition was displayed by University of Houston students who were the contest winners. They were Sara Karouni, Juan Sebastian Hernandez, Steven Brock, and Milena Malinowska. Jean Wehbe of Bauer-Pileco presented their prize of $1,000. Another DFI annual tradition has been for winners of the Student and Young Professor Paper Competition to receive honoraria during the Annual Conference and to present their papers. Co-authors in the Young Professor category were Dr. John McCartney and Kyle Murphy, University of Colorado, Boulder. The two Student Paper honorees, winner Haijian Fan, and runner-up Lin Li, were both from the University of Akron. Conference Committee Dennis Boehm, Hayward Baker, was the chair of the 37th Annual Meeting, and pro- gram co-chairs were Cumaraswamy Vipul- anandan of the University of Houston, and Robert F. Stevens, Fugro-McClennand Marine Geosciences. They worked with 12 Session Chairs and Lead and General Committee members to mastermind the event. Sessions Topics included: The Installa- tion and Performance of Drilled, Driven and other Foundation Elements; Alternate Deep Foundation Solutions offered by Ground Improvement Techniques; Modeling-static Analysis, Dynamic/Earthquake Analysis; Foundations of Marine Structures and In- situ Testing; and Current Issues in the Deep Foundations Industry. Chair D. Boehm, program co-chairs R. Stevens and C. Vipulanandan All in all, the conference achieved the typical mix of technical information, ceremonial and celebratory events and opportunities to meet and greet. The sessions were punctuated by coffee breaks and a welcoming reception in the busy exhibit hall, where 107 exhibitors promoted products and services. Attendees were also regaled with a down-home Texas band, the Silverado Group, complete with cowboy hats. Attendees danced to their music at the cocktail hour before the Awards Banquet. An interesting Companions’ Program including museums and shopping rounded out the 37th Annual Conference. Photos by Eric Guel and Herb Engler. See more con- ference photos at photobucket.com/DFIHouston2012
