TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES The Technical Committees are the backbone of DFI, and the activities of this large and driven group of members are fostered by dedicated chairs. Chairmanships of several committees changed at the October 2012 Annual Conference. We are grateful for the contributions of past chairs and welcome the new ideas and energy of incoming chairs. — Mary Ellen Bruce, Technical Activities Manager • Driven Pile: Welcome to incoming chair, Clayton Signor of TX Pile. This committee looks forward to updating DFI publications on pile materials, hammers and inspection, and working more closely with the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA). Thanks to outgoing chair, Tom Nichols of Geothermal International. • Sustainabi l ity: Marine Lasne, sustainability director for Soletanche Freyssinet in France, took over the reins from past chair, Tony Suckling of Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering. The committee will be furthering its goal of informing the membership about practical and very real financial benefits of identifying and adopting sustainable practices. • Testing and Evaluation: Don Robertson of Applied Foundation Test- ing has stepped up to chair this commit- tee, following Dr. Edward Hajduk of University of Massachusetts. Members are encouraged to join newly formed Instrumentation Subcommittees in North America and Europe. • Tiebacks and Soil Nailing: Ed Laczynski of G.A. & F.C. Wagman suc- ceeded Dr. Terry Holman of Geosyntec as chair of this active committee, which will be focusing on research needs for anchoring and soil nail technologies. All committees welcome new participants, and are open to all DFI members. Please submit a request letter to DFI headquarters ([email protected]) on company letterhead to join a committee. Please see the committee web pages on the DFI website for activity updates, and contact Mary Ellen Bruce, technical activities manager at [email protected] with questions and/or to get involved. Upcoming Activities DFI’s Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Committee is teaming up with the DFI-ADSC Joint Micropile Committee and ADSC’s Anchored Earth Retention Committee to present another two-day seminar on design and construction of micropiles and anchored structures on March 21-22, 2013, at the Hilton-SLC Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. This event follows the very successful joint seminar held in Washington, D.C. in November 2012. Presentations from recognized industry specialists will COMMITTEE CHAIR NICOLAS WILLIG Slurry Wall Committee The committee was very busy in 2012. Thank you to all members who participated in past event planning and who are also very active in our ongoing commitment to being pro-active and trying to foresee the future. Our latest meeting in Houston was extremely well attended, and half of the attendees were not members of the committee’s roster, denoting the widespread interest in our technology. Last July, the committee organized a seminar on “Diaphragm Walls in Urban Environments” in Detroit. The attendance was decent but not great. Speakers presented case histories on very challenging diaphragm wall projects in Europe and the U.S., and also highlighted how real-time monitoring of large urban excavation can minimize risks. The seminar concluded with an open discussion on reinforcement detailing in diaphragm walls used as permanent basement walls in seismically active regions. This subject was awarded funds for research through the DFI Committee Project Fund and will be presented in a research paper by GEI Consultants and the Slurry Wall Committee in 2013. My only disappointment on that subject was that under seismic termin- ology, a diaphragm wall is considered an “ordinary” concrete wall, not recognizing the challenges of slurry wall installation. The committee also organized a one- day short course on design and construc- tability of diaphragm walls before the annual conference in October. This event was a success as to the number of attendees and also on the quality of the presentations and speakers. Preparing this workshop was a real achievement, and I want to especially recognize committed members Al Neumann and Lawrence Piccagli of Bencor-Layne GeoGroup, Thomas Jousselin of Nicholson Construction, Greg Sanchez of Treviicos and Giovanni Bonita of GEI Consultants who worked hard to layout the content of this short course and to coordinate speaker presentations. The committee also completed a Spanish version of the 2005 Guideline for Structural Slurry Wall, and it will be edited to include Latin American terms and make it available in Spanish-speaking countries. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2013 • 61 emphasize design aspects, ongoing research activities, QC/QA procedures, all highlighted by innovative and challenging case histories. Pack your skis and join us! SuperPile 2013 is scheduled for May 15-16 in Minneapolis, Minn. This annual event is produced through the joint efforts of DFI’s technical committees on Augered Cast-in-Place Piles, Drilled Shafts, Driven Piles, Marine Foun-dations, Micropiles, Seismic and Lateral Loads, and Testing and Evaluation. Please watch for email notices as the program evolves.
