MEMBER PROFILE deep foundation project construction from design through confirmation testing, which included every deep foundation type for bridge construction. You name it — drilled shafts, driven piles, MSE walls, embankments, drainage structures, water containment ponds, soils support for pavement design — if geotechnics were involved, Knight was the go-to guy. Word to the wise, don’t let the “I’m just an ole country boy” demeanor fool you. He may go by the name “Bubba.” His conversational style may be slow with a lilting southern drawl, but that may be the only thing slow about William “Bubba” Knight, P.E. He is an accomplished and respected geotechnical engineer with a resume of varied experience that renders him “tops” at his craft. His official title at Fugro Loadtest is business development manager/senior engineer. In this role, he promotes the use of Loadtest technology for deep foundation testing in both the public and private sectors. In that his wide experience includes working in both realms, he is infinitely suited to promote the services provided by Fugro Loadtest. In the Beginning A 1978 graduate of Auburn University with a BSCE degree, Knight started his career with PDM Corporation in Birming- ham, Ala. As a contract administrator and fabrication and field engineer, he was involved in contract management projects for the design and construction of facilities for materials-handling, nuclear power plant containment and petroleum/ chemical storage. In 1984 he joined District 3 of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) serving as the assistant district materials and geotech- nical engineer. There, he took on a wide variety of tasks, including all phases of AUTHOR S. Scot Litke, Hon. D.GE DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUNE 2019 • 73 Bubba Knight: A Wide and Varied Career Opportunities In 2000 he left FDOT to work for Professional Services Industry where he helped develop a national focus on the transportation industry. Through 2008 he was involved with major highway construc- tion projects throughout the southeastern and southwestern U.S. The projects included I-20 in Augusta, Ga.; Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, S.C.; Biscayne Bay Tunnel in Miami, Fla.; I-30 in Little Rock, Ark.; and I-10 Escambia Bay Bridge in Pensacola, Fla. In 2011 Knight joined Fugro Loadtest, where he has become the public face of the company, participating in activities of professional organizations and govern- ment entities throughout the industry. He is the vice chair of DFI’s Drilled Shaft Committee and a member of the organi- zation’s Manufacturers, Suppliers and Service Providers Committee. A Winding Path When asked about how he chose a career in geotechnical engineering, Knight replies, “It was a roundabout path. Upon graduation, FDOT didn’t immediately offer me a position. It was thought that I had another quarter of school. For the next six years, I worked in the plate steel construction business. As fate would have it, in the early 1980s, the slump in the oil and steel industries coincided with FDOT beginning to implement new foundation technology approaches. The need for someone interested in working in that realm led them to me. In this case, opportunity merged with availability and interest.” “My career was the ‘luck of the draw,’” Knight says. “I arrived at a confluence of opportunity in that there were many bridge replacements in the works along with advancements in technology and know- ledge. There was an increase in designing for greater foundation loads, larger foundations, undertaking scour and lateral load analysis for vessel impact, along with the advent of new testing protocols (e.g., Pile Driving Analyzer [PDA] and Osterberg Load Cell [O-Cell]) and an emerging inter- est in how lateral loads came into play.” He continues, “Many of the issues encountered on the older structures or those in trouble were caused by a lack of understanding of what was involved. The bridges were built back-in-the-day with what was thought to be right at that time. As a district geotechnical engineer, my M.O. became a constant search for what we ’didn’t understand’ and to uncover the substance of new data and how it could affect what we should be doing now. I embraced the challenge.” To amplify this point, Paul Passe, P.E., a longtime colleague at FDOT and in private practice, tells us that, “Bubba has always been one to search for the ‘why.’ Why are these shafts having a problem? Is it the construction method or soils? He has always worked toward pushing the limit and then providing testing to verify that push.” To further describe how Bubba was perceived by cohorts, Aubrey Graves, a longtime associate at FDOT, recalls, “Bubba was not afraid to try new ideas, but only did so after a thorough investigation. Innovation did not intimidate Bubba but seemed a way for him to explore and expand on his innate curiosity and understanding of soils and deep foun- dations.” Graves adds, “I, and many engi- neers both within and outside of FDOT,
