REGIONAL REPORT DFI Middle East Recap of GeoMEast Conference The DFI Middle East (DFIME) Regional Chapter supported and participated in the Geotechnical Middle East (GeoMEast) Conference, which was held in Cairo, Egypt, from November 10-14, 2019, at the historical Marriott Hotel on the River Nile. Many thanks to the presenters for making the workshop a success: • Dr. Marwan Alzaylaie, Dubai Development Authority, “Modulus of Deformation of Soft Rock of Dubai – Back Analysis of Pile Load Tests for Rock Modulus” Outdoor luncheon with views of the River Nile Emad Sharif, Chair DFI Middle East [email protected] • Patrick Hannigan, PDI, “New Innova- tions and Improvements in Bored Pile QA/QC Methods” • Dr. Salah Al Dilimi, RTA, DFI Helical Piles Committee, “Helical Piles and Anchors, History, Theory, Design and Practical Applications” • Ahmed Abdullah, BAUER Interna- tional FZE, “Deep Tunnel Storm Water System Terminal Pumping Station & Sea Outfall” • Sean Beirne-Lewis, Dywidag Systems International, “Overview of Advances on Ground Anchors Technologies – Case Histories” There were more than 250 registered participants for the conference. The program included lecturers and presentations from different continents along with an exhibition of ground engineering suppliers, including deep foundation equipment and services and geosynthetics products. In conjunction with the overall con- ference, DFIME organized a specialty workshop that included several presen- tations on different topics reflecting the areas of interest in ground engineering in the Middle East, from testing and quality control to design and case histories to applied technology. DFIME set up a small booth to distribute materials and mag- azines and to engage in important discussions including an especially important conversation with the Egypt Society of Geotechnical Engineering for future collaboration. • Dr. Man Buitan, GTC–Lab, Dubai, “Advanced Geotechnical Laboratory Testing and Applications” • Marcel Bielefeld, Allmanics/Verbeek Management Services, “Rapid Load Testing – the Latest Developments” Big 5 Heavy Geotechnical Summit The DFIME hosted a one-day geotechnical summit on November 25, 2019, during the Big 5 Heavy construction exhibition in Dubai at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The seminar was presided by Emad Sharif, director at GTC and chair of DFIME, and Dr. Salah Al Dilimi, RTA, DFI Helical Piles Committee, and included 11 presentations Speaker Dr. Marwan Alzaylaie DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JAN/FEB 2020 • 49
