TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES MANAGER MARY ELLEN BRUCE LARGE Technical Activities Update Transportation Research Board (TRB) Conference The 2015 TRB Conference was held at the new Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. on January 11- 15, 2015. The theme of the conference was “Corridors to the Future: Transportation and Technology.” DFI regularly works alongside related TRB committees: Foundations of Bridges and other Structures Committee (AFS30); Geotechnical Asset Management, Soil and Rock Properties Committee (AFP30); and Exploration and Classification of Earth Materials Site Characterization Committee (AFP20). The committees are busy organizing sessions for the 2016 TRB conference next January in Washington, D.C. and conducting research and preparing research needs statements. Silas Nichols, FHWA senior bridge engineer, provided an update of current activities in the FHWA geotechnical programs in three technical focus areas: maintenance of technical guidance for design of foundations and geotechnical construction, management and performance of structural foundations and geotechnical features, and development and implementation support of agency initiatives. A listing of technical guidance and research projects follows: • LRFD Web-based Training development (NHI 132010B). • Rewrite of Design and Construction of Driven Piles (GEC 12) (NHI 132021), 25-50% complete. • Design and Construction of Soil Nail Walls (GEC 7) (NHI 132085), in final approval stages and to be issued soon, SNAP2 software available on FHWA website at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/geotech/software.cfm. • Rewrite of Ground Modification Techniques (GEC 13) (NHI 132034), incorporating GeoTechTools system. • Rewrite of Geotechnical Site Characterization (GEC 5) (NHI 132031), to be more collaborative with AASHTO and focus on the evaluation of data sets and determination of design parameters. • Preparation of Design for Lateral Load on Deep Foundations (GEC 9), to be under contract within the next two months. • Quality Assurance in Geotechnical Reporting, in beginning stages and will redevelop the FHWA Checklist and Guidelines for Review of Geotechnical Reports and Preliminary Plans and Specifications (FHWA-ED-88-053) to provide guidance on all forms of communication with respect to geotechnical processes. • Improvement Mechanisms in Post-Grouting of Drilled Shafts, Phase I study is complete, and current in Phase II, load tests on full scale field tests on shafts in Texas to be conducted very soon. • Innovations, Developments, Enhancements, and Advancements (IDEA), is being developed to assist with the evaluation of earth retaining structures. • Limit Equilibrium Methods for Design of MSE Walls, in early stages. • Evaluation of Design Methods for Large Diameter Open Ended Piles, in early stages. • Use of High Performance Concretes in Geotechnical Applications, investigating concrete mix designs for complex geotechnical applications. • Service Limit State Design and Analysis of Engineered Fills for Bridge Support, in early stages. New Committee Chair Gerald Verbeek of Verbeek Management Services has accepted the position of chair of DFI’s Testing and Evaluation Committee. Verbeek succeeds outgoing chair, Don Robertson of Applied Foundation Testing, who led the committee since 2013. Robertson plans to continue his active involvement in the committee’s work. His service and dedication are greatly appreciated. Verbeek received his B.S. in civil engineering from Delft University of Technology in 1981 and an M.S. in structural engineering in 1983. After spending about 20 years in the oil and gas industry, Verbeek started a management consulting business, Verbeek Management Services (VMS), in 2004. One of the activities of his firm is helping European companies with their business in North America. Verbeek is active in promoting soil and foundation testing philosophies and equipment through Allnamics USA, which is heavily involved in pile driving simulation and analysis with both impact and vibratory hammers. Verbeek is active in various other organizations: TRB (member of AFS30), ASTM (member of D18 Committee on Soil and Rock), PDCA (member of both the Educa- ion and the Technical Committees) and the Society of Petroleum Engineers (executive editor of the Journal on Oil and Gas Facilities). DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2015 • 87
