Several preconference activities were organized: workshops on safe working plat- forms and tremie concrete for deep founda- tions, a panel discussion on continuous flight auger (CFA) piles and drilled displace- ment piles, and a meeting of the newly- formed DFI Project Information Management Systems (PIMS) Committee. A welcome reception held in the cloister concluded the preconference activities and started the conference networking on a high note. Jim De Waele, managing director of Keller, led the working platforms workshop, and presented the U.K.’s working platform certificate program that has evolved over the past two decades. Matt Meyer, Langan Engineering and Environmental Services, DFI trustee, supported the workshop by presenting the U.S. state-of-practice for working platforms construction and maintenance. Peggy Hagerty Duffy, ADSC The exhibit area was well attended. Networking in the cloisters at Sapienza University. technical advisor, Hagerty Engineering, provided a brief background on ADSC’s working platforms initiatives and facilitated the question and answer session. The CFA workshop was led by Maurice Bottiau, Franki Belgium; Matt Meyer, Langan Engineering; and Morgan NeSmith, Berkel and Company Contractors. It focused on differences and similarities between European and U.S. CFA design and construction practices. The presen- tations were followed by in-depth dis- cussion and questions and answers. The tremie concrete workshop included presentations on the work conducted by the EFFC-DFI Working Group to develop 24 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2018 Frank Haehnig (center), president of DFI Europe, chats with colleagues at the reception. the newly-published Guide to Tremie Concrete for Deep Foundations, which covers guidance on fresh concrete characterization related to performance, the concrete mix design process and the method used to test free concrete. Chris Harnan, Ceecom Consult, and Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, Dan Brown and Associates, DFI President, facilitated the session and organized the following presentations: Tremie Concrete Guide – Karsten Beckhaus, Ph.D., BAUER Spezialtiefbau; Support Fluids Study – Sabine Darson, Ph.D., Soletanche Bachy; Numerical Modeling of Concrete Flow – Bartho Admiraal , Volker Staal en Funderingen; and Laboratory Research and Development – Thomas Kränkel, Technical
