TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES The technical committee reports in this issue illustrate the breadth of ongoing DFI committee activities that impact and influence the use and understanding of deep foundations. Awarded DFI Committee Project Fund projects examine intricate design processes and answer practical construction questions. Workshops and guidance documents are organized to share and consider viewpoints that represent all industry stakeholders. Working groups provide input to code-making bodies that reflects industry- wide consensus to improve code provisions. Practice-oriented discussion and tools are devel- oped that supplement gov- ernment and educat ional resources to provide a con- structive balance. We thank the many DFI technical committee members who contribute their ideas, time and efforts to COMMITTEE CHAIR PAUL AXTELL, P.E. Drilled Shaft Committee In 2017, the Drilled Shaft Committee was awa rded funding through the DFI Committee Project Fund to investigate shear amplification at the soil- rock interface in rock-socketed drilled shafts. The principal investigator is Anne Lemnitzer, Ph.D., P.E., associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. The project is aimed at examining typical p-y analyses that indicate that an abrupt increase in internal pile shear occurs between a soft and a hard material interface in laterally loaded foundation elements as the bending moment quickly dissipates. The large computed shear forces require design of congested transverse reinforce- ment, which often creates constructability issues related to concrete passability. A large-scale experimental research program was conducted to measure whether this amplified shear force actually develops or if it is an artifact of the analytical procedures. The study seeks to better understand the ability of numerical and analytical methodologies to capture the behavior at such interfaces, to compare behavior with experimental observations, and to derive lessons for the construction industry in how to optimize the design requirement using performance-based predictions for deep foundations embed- ded in materials of variable stiffness. Lemnitzer delivered the keynote lecture in the Deep Foundations track at the ISSMGE’s Pan-American Conference (Cancún, Mexico) in November 2019. Her keynote paper is posted on the Drilled Shaft Committee’s webpage at www.dfi. org/commhome.asp?DRSH. More publi- cations will be posted on the DFI website as they evolve. The project was awarded additional funding from the Committee Project Fund in 2020 to use these results to develop recommendations that aid geostructural engineers in designing rock-socketed deep foundation elements. The committee is exploring new ideas for Project Fund proposals in summer 2020 in preparation for the next proposal deadline of December 1, 2020. Please contact [email protected] for more information or to join the committee’s conference calls. COMMITTEE CHAIR JASON BODDY, C.ENG, MICE BIM/Digitalisation Committee (Europe) Established in 2018, DFI’s Building Infor- mation Management (BIM)/Digitalisation Committee promotes digitalisation and BIM processes within DFI’s European membership and among the geotechnical industry in Europe and worldwide. One of the committee’s first initiatives was to issue a survey to DFI Europe members to gather information about the current understanding and use of BIM across the different European nations and the understanding of digitalisation in the ground engineering industry. The survey identified the following clear points: • 80% of clients never or only occasion- ally raise BIM requirements at the start of a project. • 75% of DFI members never or only oc- casionally adopt BIM on their projects. • 70% of members never or occasionally receive digital geotechnical data at the tender stage of a project. • Only 15% claim to achieve BIM level 2 on their projects. To address these points, the committee aims to promote the advantages of BIM and geo- technical digitalisation to client organiza- tions to encourage adoption and provide guidance to clients and DFI members to simplify the capture and sharing of digital data processes. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2020 • 67 Mary Ellen Bruce Large, P.E., D.GE Director of Technical Activities [email protected] advancing the industry. If you are interested in joining a committee or would like to discuss opportunities, please contact me at [email protected].
