COMMITTEE CHAIR GARY SEIDER, P.E. Helical Piles and Tiebacks Committee The committee continues to be active, working on several projects directed toward advancing the practice and understanding of helical piles and tiebacks (HPTs). The next HPT specialty seminar will be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on September 18-19, 2017. Topics include axial, lateral, uplift, seismic, cyclic and dynamic loading; settlement analyses; materials; construction; and testing procedures for projects using HPTs. Dr. Hesham El Naggar of University of Western Ontario and Dr. Amy Cerato of the University of Oklahoma are the seminar’s keynote speakers. Dr. Yasser Abdelghany of the Bri t ish Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infra-structure is the chair for this event. Dr. Amy Cerato has completed the Phase I literature review and compilation of the DFI funded research project inves- tigating the seismic behavior of helical piles. Publication of the literature study COMMITTEE CHAIR ED LACZYNSKI, P.E. Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Committee The commi t tee recent ly provided comments on the NAVFAC standard specification Soil and Rock Anchors, and I appreciate the time and hard work the committee members contributed. In addition, this committee, in partnership with the Deep Foundations for Landslides and Slope Stabilization Committee, was awarded funding for a research proposal via the DFI Committee Project Fund to offer guidance on when and how Load and Resistance Factored Design (LRFD) should be applied to slope stability problems. The committee has been working on the preparations for the upcoming seminar, SSI: Stabilize, Support and Improve, taking place in Washington, D.C. on August 28-30, 2017. Multiple DFI technical committees and cooperating organizations are teaming up to present this event (see page 39). Similar to committee’s specialty seminar in Denver in 2016, a software symposium will also occur during the SSI seminar, where software providers will solve a problem and discuss the nuances of using the various software packages. may be included in a DFI Journal article, a magazine article and a posting on the HPTC webpage. The data reduction for the Phase II shake table testing is expected to be completed in summer 2017. In late February 2017, Dr. Ramin Motamed, assistant pro f e s s o r, Depa r tment o f Ci v i l Environmental Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, was awarded funding for his DFI Committee Project Fund research proposal to conduct scaled liquefaction tests on helical piles and driven piles. DFI member Ram Jack has also contributed $14,000 to this important research. The main objective of this research is to evaluate experimentally the performance of helical piles and driven piles as alternative solutions in mitigating the settlement of shallow foundations in liquefiable soils. In addition, a draft of the committee’s Helical Pile Design Guide is available for review. The goal for 2017 is to have the Design Guide completed by September – just in time for the Helical Piles and Tiebacks specialty seminar. The HPT certification course is taking shape, and a first draft of the course material is ready for review. Course delivery options being considered include classroom sessions, multisession one-hour webinars, and half- day training courses at future conferences and symposia. Special thanks to committee members Mark Bryant, Maclean Power Systems Civil Products Group; Matt Conte, Conte Company; and Mike Perlow, Engineering Knowledge Management; who reviewed and provided comments on the NAVFAC Helical Pile Specifications. This review was performed in conjunction with DFI’s efforts to review and comment on multiple NAVFAC specifi- cations pertaining to deep foundations. Stay Informed Visit the Technical Committee pages on the DFI website to stay up to date on the latest information and news. Go to www.dfi.org and select Groups and then Technical Committees. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2017 • 93
