DFI Technical Committee Chairs Augered Cast-in-Place Pile Morgan NeSmith, P.E. Berkel and Company Contractors Codes and Standards Daniel Stevenson, P.E. Berkel and Company Contractors Deep Foundations for Landslides/Slope Stabilization Chris Ramsey, P.E. Amec Foster Wheeler Environmental & Infrastructure Drilled Shaft Paul Axtell, P.E., D.GE Dan Brown and Associates Driven Pile Ben Vance, P.E. Strata Ground Improvement Tanner Blackburn, Ph.D., P.E. Hayward Baker Helical Piles and Tiebacks Gary Seider, P.E. Hubbell Power Systems/Chance Manufacturers, Suppliers and Service Providers Mark Bryant, EIT MacLean Power Systems Civil Division Marine Foundations Rick Ellman, P.E. Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers Micropile Steve Davidow, P.E., S.E. Quanta Subsurface Seismic and Lateral Loads Kwabena Ofori-Awuah, P.E. KCI Technologies Slurry Wall Giovanni Bonita, Ph.D., P.E., P.G. GEI Consultants Soil Mixing David Miller, P.E. ADM Consulting Subsurface Characterization for Deep Foundations Victor Donald, P.E. Terracon Sustainability Carlos Englert, P.E. Terracon Testing and Evaluation Gerald Verbeek Allnamics Pile Testing Experts Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Ed Laczynski, P.E. G.A.& F.C. Wagman Women in Deep Foundations Helen Robinson, P.E. GEI Consultants Working Group Chairs Electric Power Systems Foundations Peter Kandaris, P.E. DiGioia Gray & Associates Steve Davidow. P.E., S.E. Quanta Subsurface Energy Foundations Tony Amis GI Energy Guney Olgun, Ph.D. Virginia Tech Seepage Control Michael Kynett, P.E. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers During our committee meeting in New Orleans, Zhangwei Ning, Ph.D., SIXENSE Soldata, presented a template for an instru- mentation course being proposed by the committee. The course will focus on the monitoring required for specific foundation- related applications. For each application, the course will present the parameters that should be monitored to provide design and construction verification as well as to identify the instrumentation that is most suitable. Coverage of each application will be sup- plemented with one or more case studies. The template being developed covers exca- vations in urban environments, and the com- mittee aims to use this template to cover other applications during the upcoming year. Members of the DFI Europe Monitoring and Instrumentation Comittee will be asked to provide input as well. The goal is to develop the course content before the end of 2018. Finally, after receiving positive feedback on the Static Load Testing video (if you haven’t watched it yet, I encourage you to do so at www.dfi.org/StaticLoadTesting), the committee has begun work on a second (PIMS) WORKING GROUP Project Information Management Systems DFI members held an exploratory meeting at the 2017 DFI Annual Conference to dis- cuss the challenges of developing guidelines and/or specifications to organize the various types of project data (e.g., geotechnical, design, construction, testing, etc.) for deep foundations. The group explored the need to define protocols and systems to integrate and connect all the geofoundations infor- mation into a Project Information Manage- ment System (PIMS) similar to a Building Information Modeling (BIM) platform. Coherent organization of project information is essential to execute projects successfully. PIMS is typically a methodical process for collecting and using project information generated through one or more software applications. PIMS helps to plan, execute and close project management goals. PIMS systems differ in scope, design and features depending on the project and the organization’s operational requirements. The systems store information for executing a project successfully from investigation through construction through quality assurance. Improving and maximizing quality control/assurance and acceptance criteria procedures are part of DFI’s mission to advance the geofoundation industry. Ensuring that the work adheres to the highest quality standards is essential to: • Safety on the project and of the surrounding structures • Durability of the products installed • Implementation of sustainable and resilient efforts regardless of which technology is chosen • Mitigation of project risk The group will develop a white paper on the importance of using PIMS to advance quality and understanding by owners of a project’s progress and performance. Massimo Mucci of Bencor Global and Jamey Rosen, P.Geo., of Geosyntec are spear- heading the effort on the white paper, which will be supported by Vanessa Bateman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Mark Petersen, P.E., G.E., of Black and Veatch. Gianfranco Di Cicco is serving as the DFI trustee liaison for the group. video on High Strain Dynamic Testing (commonly referred to as Dynamic Load Testing). We hope to have this video ready prior to the DFI 43 Annual Conference in rd Anaheim, Calif., in October 2018. The committee continues to work on a wide range of topics, including promoting the ITS Money initiative and reviewing the DFI Lexicon and Glossary. ITS Money stands for Increased Testing Saves Money, and our objective is to convey to owners and engi- neers that very message through presen- tations, papers and articles at every possible occasion, even at events not organized by DFI. The committee is also reviewing the DFI Lexicon and Glossary, and it was decided that this effort would be jointly pursued with the DFI Codes and Standards Committee. We welcome other DFI members to join the committee and to participate in its activities. Therefore, I would like to extend once again an invitation to all DFI members interested in Testing and Evaluation topics to join our committee. We would be happy to have you if only to spread the message that Increased Testing Saves Money.
