PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Curious? D FI has many members who do a lot of really cool stuff. I never cease to be amazed by some of the clever ideas and innovative minds at work in our industry, and it shows in the projects and case histories you hear about at our conferences and seminars and read about in our magazine and journal. Our 2017 Outstan- ding Project Award (OPA) winners featured some outrageous work: the suction caissons for offshore wind turbines (Deep Foundations, Nov/Dec 2017) and the addition of a base- ment beneath a historical building (Deep Foundations, Sept/Oct 2017). The idea of a suction caisson seems pretty wild, but now we see this innovation become reality as a great solution for a big problem. In addition, I loved the before and after photos of the historical building project: they looked the same, which was the idea. However, in between the before and the after was some extraordinary creative construction and engineering to add a new subsurface space while keeping the building intact. The advances in equipment and piling technology and construction tooling can be really amazing when you take the time to look into them. I just visited a jobsite in the San Francisco Bay area where a DFI member is installing drilled shafts through soft soils and into bedrock at depths greater than 320 ft (98 m); think about that, the drilling machine is working to depths of SPECIAL ISSUE :SPECIAL you are on the 32 floor of a building, take the time to look out the window and imagine drilling a hole to build a pile that far down. I’m really looking forward to the IFCEE conference in March with our big equipment expo; it’s like toys for big kids! You can learn more about IFCEE at www.ifcee2018.com. There’s a quote attributed more than 30 stories. Next time nd to Albert Einstein that he reported to have said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Well, I think that we have many DFI members who are passion- ately curious and think outside the box about the unusual challenges that come with the work that we do. It’s a good thing that our Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE. President [email protected] members are so creative and innovative because, in this business, you better keep on top of new advances or you will quickly fall behind the industry. This situation is what makes DFI so exciting and engaging and just plain interesting; advances are happening all around and DFI meetings and publications are the way to stay I think that we have many DFI members who are passionately curious and think outside the box about the unusual challenges that come with the work that we do. informed about them. It’s not a boring job to do so because all of the goings-on in our industry are fascinating! I’ll leave you with one other quote that I heard from my old professor, the late George Sowers of Georgia Tech. He was always passion- ately curious, full of enthusi- asm and energy, and having fun. He told me, “This is fun; it’s supposed to be fun; if you’re not having fun, you should open a liquor store and make some real money.” Well I can honestly say that, for the 40 years since then, I’ve been having fun, and participating in DFI is some of the most fun yet. I hope you get a chance to participate in DFI conferences and committees; I can tell you how important it is to stay informed and how it’s good for your practice and career, blah, blah, blah. Forget all that. It’s fun! INFRASTRUCTURE July Aug 2018 The July/Aug 2018 issue of Deep Foundations is a Special Issue on Infrastructure. This special issue features articles on different aspects of infrastructure pertaining to deep foundation technologies. Topics will cover the various aspects of infrastructure, including highways and waterways, electrical transmission and distribution, water systems and retention, and sustainability and resiliency. To suggest an article idea, contact Antonio Marinucci, MBA, Ph.D., P.E., executive editor, at [email protected]. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2018 • 7
