DFI ACTIVITIES Record Attendance at SuperPile ’16 SuperPile ’16 set a record with more than 400 attendees and 50 exhibitors. The conference, held June 7-9 at the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago, featured 32 technical presentations on pile design and construction, the Osterberg Memorial Lecture, presentation of the Ben C. Gerwick Award, an exhibit of innovative technologies and services, committee and working group meetings, and networking events. The conference, hosted in partnership with ADSC, was organized by nine DFI Technical Committees including Driven Piles, Augered Cast-in-Place Pile, Micropile, Marine Foundations, Testing and Eval- uation, Seismic and Lateral Loads, Drilled Shaft, Ground Improvement, and Helical Piles and Tiebacks. More than 50 companies exhibited at SuperPile The conference kicked off with the Osterberg Memorial Lecture “Lessons Learned from Dr. Jorj O. Osterberg and His Inventions,” by David K. Crapps, Ph.D., P.E. The annual lecture and award honors Dr. Osterberg and recognizes innovations in deep foundations construction related to engineering design, testing or education, and is supported by DFI Corporate Member Loadtest. A portion of the proceeds from the event benefit the DFI Educational Trust Scholarship Fund. Later the same day, the 2016 Ben C. Dr. David Crapps, P.E., presents the Osterberg Memorial Lecture Gerwick Award for Innovation in Design and Construction of Marine Foundations was presented to the Traylor-Massman- Weeks Joint Venture for its development and successful implementation of an Assembly Line Construction Approach for construction of the Inner Harbor Naviga- tion Canal (IHNC) Storm Surge Barrier for the City of New Orleans. Bob Schock and Eric Risberg of Case Foundation Company gave the opening technical presentation on “120 Years of Caissons in Chicago.” The informative presentation described the origin of the modern drilled shaft foundation, tracing the development of the Chicago hand-dug caisson into a mechanized process, with each advance assisted by observed behav- ior, emerging load test methods, and constant improvement and innovation in equipment and methods to meet the needs of the next generation of taller buildings. “Driven Piles in a Drilled Shaft Town” The Traylor-Massman-Weeks JV received the Ben C. Gerwick Award was presented by Dhooli Raj, P.E., of Collins Engineers, and Tony Kiefer, P.E., of Terracon. The presentation documented driven pile projects in downtown Chicago, where extensive work of geotechnical icons had established the caisson as the deep foundation alternate of choice. The presenters provided insight to why driven piles are still a competitive and viable option in this urban environment. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2016 • 23
