EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE etworking, Education, Communication and Collaboration — the staples of DFI’s mission and activities — will all be part of the upcoming SuperPile Conference from SuperPile – A Must-Attend 2020 Event N ’20 marks the 13 such event and the fifth one in partnership with ADSC. Registration opened in February, and we are on pace to have over 500 participants and a sold-out exhibit area featuring the products and services of 75-plus companies. During the conference there will be June 3-5 in St. Louis, Missouri. SuperPile th plenty of opportunities for networking, such as the Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) Networking Reception, the Welcome Reception and the breakfast, breaks and lunches throughout . Committee and working group meetings are the place to be as the members communicate their progress on varied projects and discuss ways to collaborate with each other and other committees from industry organizat ions. The technical sessions will also provide a setting for many educational oppor- tunities, as will the preconference workshop on dynamic soil testing and the first business session for manufacturers, suppliers and ser- vice providers at SuperPile. Specifically, the preconference work- shop will provide an overview of the limitations, benefits and uses of methods, and how to characterize the subsurface using approaches such as SPT, CPT and shear wave velocity methods. It will include case histories that demonstrate practical usage of such methods, while providing ample time for discussion among workshop attendees. Highlights of the plenary session will include a keynote lecture by Paul Giroux of Kiewit Infrastructure on the historic Eads Bridge, which was built in the late 1800s in St. Louis using what was then a new, innovative technique of pneumatic caissons. This is still con- sidered one of the greatest bridge-building stories. Other highlights will include the Osterberg Memorial Lecture, being delivered by Erik Loehr, Ph.D., P.E., DFI trustee and associate professor at University of Missouri, and a panel discussion on geotechnical baseline reports, both to be broadcast live for those unable to attend so Theresa Engler Executive Director [email protected] Courses – Pile Testing” panel discussion, a final forum for interactive communication among attendees. I do hope you’ll join us and ADSC for Networking, Education, Communication and Collaboration — the staples of DFI’s mission and activities — will all be part of the upcoming SuperPile conference. they can benefit from the educational knowledge from this “super” event. The parallel sessions on the last day will provide many options for attendees to learn about driven piles, drilled shafts, augercast and drilled displacement piles, helical piles, foundations for transmission lines, and testing methods for these pile types. The conference will close with the “Horses for these three days of learning and ex- changing ideas. There’s something for all industry professionals — design engineers, specialty contractors, researchers, material and equipment suppliers and manufac- turers, and government agency repre- sentatives. We’re grateful for the many members of the nine technical committees who came together to create this year’s unique program. Our thanks go out especially to Conference Chair Lyle Simonton, P.E., of Subsurface Constructors, and Technical Program Chair Paul Axtell P.E., D.GE, of Dan Brown and Associates. DFI’s community of dedicated volunteers underlies our organization’s ability to create a consensus voice and a connected mem- bership that benefits from us providing opportunities like this conference for networking, education, communication and collaboration. See you at SuperPile ’20! Read more on page 25 or visit www.dfi.org/SuperPile20 for more information and to register. COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Update At the time of printing this issue of the magazine, the outbreak of Coronavirus had caused DFI to postpone the DFI-PFSF Piling & Ground Improvement Conference in Australia and conduct two Traveling Lectures virtually. Events such as SuperPile and others coming up in 2020 are still scheduled as planned. Effects of the outbreak on the events are being actively monitored and updates will be provided via email announcements and on event-specific web pages at www.dfi.org. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2020 • 9
