In 2019, the BIM/Digitalisation Committee was awarded funding via the DFI Committee Project Fund to prepare a guidance document titled A Practical Guide to BIM and Digital Geotechnics. The guide will provide information about the application of BIM and digitalisation to the geotechnical field, which can be used to promote these processes to client organ- izations. The committee held a series of workshops to develop the structure and content of the document, including: • The benefits of digital data and BIM for use in promoting BIM to clients for adoption. • BIM guidance for ground engineers relating digital data to the entire project life cycle from inception through design, construction and operation to decom- missioning, in order to explain the process of data sharing between parties. • An example of a data dictionary and specification that could be used to simplify adoption for the piling industry. COMMITTEE CHAIR DAN STEVENSON, P.E. Codes and Standards Committee DFI ’s Code s and Standards Committee continues its work to improve codes and standards pertaining to the deep foundation industry. The Inter- national Code Council (ICC) has just concluded the Code Development Process for the 2024 International Building Code (IBC). The GeoCoalition, of which the Codes and Standards Committee is an active member, submitted 16 code change pro- posals. All these proposals were approved by the ICC and will be incorporated into the 2024 IBC. Highlights of these code change proposals include increased allowable stresses for deep foundation members, reduced requirements for pile splices, updated requirements for helical piles and introduced new testing standards. The GeoCoalition will soon begin deliberations for potential changes for the 2027 code cycle. The Codes and Standards Committee is seeking potential topics for consideration. The committee is also actively involved in improving ASTM standards, and in monitoring future code developments from the American Concrete Institute CO-CHAIRS: ED LACZYNSKI, P.E., AND JEFF SEGAR, P.E., S.E. DFI-ADSC Anchored Earth Retention Committee The joint DFI-ADSC Anchored Earth Retention Committee has been active in starting several projects and finishing others. The committee is finishing the review of the results of the epoxy coating testing, which involves comparing the characteristics of green epoxy coating and purple epoxy coating. The anchor tendon metal creep for large bars project is ongoing and is aimed at better understanding unusual elongation of large threaded bars. Our research project funded through the DFI Committee Project Fund, “Developing Guidance for Factoring Structural Resistance for Landslide Stabilization” is finishing soon. This project is being completed by Professor Erik Loehr, Ph.D., P.E., of University of Missouri-Columbia. We have just finished the “Guidance for the Design of Temporary Soil Nail Walls” spearheaded by committee co-chair Jeff Segar of Braun Intertec. This document is specific to the design of temporary soil nail walls and is intended to supplement FHWA-NHI -14-007, Geot e chni cal Engineering Circular No.7, Soil Nail Walls. Please see the committee webpage at www.dfi.org/commhome.asp?ANCH to download this document. The committee’s most recent initiative is a task force to advance the acceptance of hollow bar anchors by defining the state of practice and researching ways to overcome some of the obstacles preventing larger public work acceptance. DFI’s in-person S3: Slopes Slides and Stabilization conference is being rescheduled in San Francisco to August 3-5, 2021, and the 2020 event will present a souped-up version of the virtual software demonstration that has become a hallmark of this annual landslides and deep excavation-focused event (see page 35). Please see www.dfi.org/S3-2020 for more details. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • JULY/AUG 2020 • 69 (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). ASCE is forming a committee to develop a new ASCE standard for the design and construction of foundations, and the DFI committee will be active in this initiative. The Codes and Standards Committee also continues to seek new initiatives, and is committed to improving the standards of practice for all deep foundation industries. If anyone has issues or questions about current building code requirements, please contact dstevenson@berkeland company.com. The document is being finalized now, and more information will be available in fall 2020 regarding publication. For 2020-21, the committee is planning a round table event in Europe (once social distancing allows it) to promote digitalisation and to discuss the challenges hindering swifter adoption. The outcomes of the discussion will be used to help plan future initiatives. Please contact [email protected] for more information on the project and to become involved.
