Midwest Levees Technical Exchange DFI Technical Committees supported the 2014 Midwest Levees and Rivers Technical Exchange on October 28-29, 2014 in St. Louis, Mo. This conference was organized by the St. Louis Post of Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) St. Louis Section. DFI, United States Society on Dams (USSD), Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) and National Association of Flood and Stormwater Management Agencies (NAFSMA) served as cooperating organizations and helped prepare the technical program. Representatives from the DFI Slurry Wall, Driven Pile, Ground Improvement and Drilled Shaft Committees and the DFI Seepage Control Working Group (SCWG) moderated and delivered three sessions on foundation practices for levee repair and rehabilitation. The conference was themed “Celebrating our Rivers,” and the two-day event included sessions on critical levee infrastructure issues facing our country: levee safety programs and policy, flood risk management, river engineering and design, environmental issues, and repair and rehabilitation. Over 200 military, public and private levee and dam owners and practitioners, and over 35 exhibitors participated in the event, which was co-chaired by Jamie McVicker and Janet Ulivi (SAME) and Gene Rovak (ASCE). Mark Alvey (SAME) served as technical program committee chair. DFI was asked to be a cooperating organization as a result of our participation in the Levee Coalition — a group formed to share information and align technical and policy efforts on levee safety in the U.S. Dr. Tim Stark of the University of Illinois opened the conference with a keynote lecture on the recent rulings on the Inner Harbor Navigation Channel (IHNC) floodwall failures during Hurricane Katrina. Stark will present a more in-depth account of the project at the International Foundation Congress and Equipment Exposition (IFCEE 2015) in March in San Antonio, Texas. Other keynotes and invited lecturers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) outlined national levee safety and civil works programs. DFI chairs, Andrew Verity, Driven Pile Committee; Paul Axtell, Drilled Shaft Committee; and Giovanni Bonita, Slurry Wall Committee, moderated three DFI sessions showcasing foundation improvement and seepage control practices for levees. SCWG chairs, David Paul, USACE, and Gianfranco Di Cicco, DFI Trustee, opened the DFI sessions with an overview of the USACE’s engineering manual Seepage Control Cutoffs for Dams and Levees, and an emphasis on quality control and assurance practices and reporting for cutoff wall construction. Tanner Blackburn, Hayward Baker, Inc., reviewed ground improvement techniques, and Dominique Namy, Inquip Associates, explained slurry trenching technologies. Brian Land, LB Foster, and Takefumi Takuma, Giken, highlighted the use of sheet piling for cutoff applications. David Pachan, Slurry Systems, Amr Ragy, Treviicos, and Thomas Jousselin, Nicholson Construction, presented techniques for slurry walls and deep mixing applications, and Glen Bellew, USACE, provided an alternative approach for deep foundation design for floodwalls. Several attendees participated in a 5K fun run through St. Louis’ Forest Park, and crossing the finish line first was DFI member, Amr Ragy. Congratulations, Amr! Thank you to all the DFI speakers and moderators who contributed to make this event a success. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2015 • 87
