TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES MARY ELLEN BRUCE LARGE, P.E., D.GE, DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES Technical Activities Update DFI committees and working groups are all different…different chairs, projects, meetings and communications vehicles. Some have monthly conference calls, others have frequent in-person meetings at various industry events, others have small task forces that work independently and convene with the broader committee periodically. Be sure to check out the committee COMMITTEE CHAIR DAN STEVENSON Codes and Standards Committee The committee is currently participating in efforts to update ASTM D1143/D1143M-07 (2013), axial top load test standard, to incorporate the latest state of the practice. Robert Simpson of Load Test Consulting is the current chair of ASTM subcommittee D18.11, which has the responsibility for this standard. Simpson is heading this effort as the ASTM technical contact. To enable active involvement of all that are interested, an online collaboration page will soon be available on ASTM’s website. In addition to the ASTM D18.11 subcommittee, the collaboration page will be accessible to all interested DFI Codes and Standards Committee members. A draft standard is expected to result from this collaboration, and it will be submitted for a subcommittee ballot by May 2018. COMMITTEE CHAIR VICTOR DONALD Subsurface Characterization Committee During the 42 DFI Annual Conference on Deep Foundations held in New Orleans in October 2017, DFI assembled a distinguished and diverse panel of industry experts for a national discussion on risk. The discussion highlighted uncertainty in subsurface conditions and the impacts realized by the various stakeholders associated with deep foundations projects. A full article on the discussion, “DFI Panel on Geotechnical Risk Allocation – Uncertainty in the Subsurface,” was included in the Jan/Feb 2018 issue of Deep Foundations. In addition, the discussion was made available as a live webinar, and the recording of the entire discussion is available at www.dfi.org/2017RiskPanel. The panelists agreed that proper subsurface characterization is nd essential to obtain the best competitive construction bids, and that the concept of a Geotechnical Baseline Report (GBR) can provide great value to a project. It is believed that the understanding and use of GBRs are unclear, and so as a contract document, the GBR is underutilized and undervalued. With proper understanding, GBRs can be an effective vehicle for managing subsurface risk. Establishing standard protocols for the development and use of a GBR will be an excellent way for all stakeholders to understand the risk of the project, and it will be the definitive means to adjudicate a differing site conditions (DSC) claim. This committee is surveying the industry to establish the state of use and knowledge of GBRs, and their potential benefit as contractual documents. To help evaluate the current state of the practice, please take 5 minutes and complete the short Survey on Site Characterization and Geotechnical Reporting (SSCGR), which can be found at www.dfi.org/SSCGR. DFI will keep respondent’s identities confidential. Please contact Mary Ellen Large, P.E., G.DE, DFI director of technical activities, at information. [email protected] for more In addition, the committee continues to work with the GeoCoalition Code Council to develop code change proposals regarding deep foundations-related issues for the International Building Code (2021 edition). Currently, 14 new code change proposals pertaining to IBC subchapter 1810 have been developed. The deadline for submission of new code change proposals for the 2021 code cycle is January 2019. We encourage all DFI members who have interest in the IBC code to participate in the code development process. For more details regarding these current efforts, contact me at [email protected]. webpages under the ‘Groups’ tab on www.dfi.org to read the chair’s most current reports to find out what activities are ongoing and how to get involved. And visit the DFI events pages for upcoming meeting times and places. There is bound to be a committee style that suits yours. All members are invited to a join a committee and participate. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2018 • 97
