MEMBER PROFILE Peter Faust: From Berlin to Boulder Peter Faust’s life has been a long journey to California from his birthplace in East Germany. On the way, he’s worked on con- struction sites all over the world, including major infrastructure projects in Germany, Thailand, Taiwan and Toledo, Ohio, his first job in the U.S. In 2014, Faust became vice president, business development, for Malcolm Drilling Company, San Francisco. That circuitous path included a dramatic escape from behind the Iron Curtain when he was only 13 years old. One part of his family was trapped beyond the wall dividing East Germany from West Germany, constructed in 1961 as a result of tumultuous post WWII events. His mother applied to the East German government for permission to join the rest of the family under the terms of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Helsinki Declaration of 1975. After waiting for four long years, the pair got the official approval to leave in 1979. The circum- stances were fraught. Faust says they had to leave within 24 hours, with only what they could carry. Mother and son lived in total uncertainty about their future during those years, and as Faust delicately puts it, there were “repressions.” The wall finally came down in 1989. There was a happy ending. The family was reunited in West Germany and Faust finally settled in Frankfurt. The 13-year old went on to school and to university, earning two degrees, one from Technical University Darmstadt in Germany and a second from Technical University Graz, in Austria. He then embarked on his excep- tional engineering career. Faust says that as a youth he had no clear idea about his future career. His father was an ophthalmologist, and his mother also a medical professional. He does remember that he always liked to build things. At one point he thought he might be an architect, but when he understood that he’d have to work indoors, he switched to engineering. Even within engineering he chose to focus on soil mechanics, because he always wanted to get his hands “in the mud.” Entering the Field Faust got his hands “muddy” with some engineering greats. At Graz University he studied under Karl Terzaghi (the father of soil mechanics), and learned about slurry walls from text books inspired by alumni Christian Veder, who invented that technology. After graduation and two years at the newly opened Tunneling Institute, he joined Bilfinger Berger, a large engineering and construction firm with a global practice covering a “wide array” of foundation technologies. Peter Arz was his early mentor. They met in the mid-1990s, recalls Arz, at a job for F&Z, a subsidiary of Bilfinger Berger. Faust had been recommended to assist Arz at a problem site in Germany. The piles were driven with insufficiently cured concrete. Repairs had to be done by divers with little experience in construction. Young Faust took a bold step — he took a diving course at his own expense so he could properly supervise the underwater engineering. The job was completed on time, says Arz, at a much lower cost than originally estimated. Arz was mightily impressed and sought out Faust’s assistance for other high-profile work, such as the 55 km (35 mi) long 6-lane elevated Bang-Na Expressway in Bangkok (the world longest road bridge). He asked Faust to oversee the major precast driven and cast-in-place piling work. Together with other firms, Louis Berger for one, Arz says the project team convinced the bridge designer and resident engineers that the original pile driving criteria were far too stringent. Their recommendations saved money and time on this multimillion dollar job. Arz and Faust also worked on a high-speed train project in Taiwan. Arz cites Faust’s supervision of “hundreds of drilled shafts, 7 ft in diameter and many over 300 ft deep.” He adds that the logistical issues were “at least as difficult as the technical part.” He says Faust is “not only a highly qualified engineer, he is also an “excellent collaborator and hard worker.” Faust sums up his career so far, saying he learned the gamut of deep foundation work early, both at university and through his experience at Bilfinger Berger. As Arz recounts, Faust was apparently given great management responsibility on major complex projects at a relatively early age. Among the many technologies he became familiar with, either at university or at work: New Austrian Tunneling Method (NATM), jet grouting, drilled piles, driven piles and slurry walls. Faust says he has come full circle, and he is now helping Malcolm enter the slurry wall market. He enjoys the challenge of small jobs as well as large complex ones. At work, he fosters the spread of new technology within the firm. Faust says he “loves a challenge,” and works at learning something every day. Right now, he frequently travels to Florida, a new geographic area for Malcolm, where there are “exploding” technologies. Mixing Engineering and Construction Colleagues comment on Faust’s skills. Conrad Felice, of ILF, Seattle, says he offers a “blend of practical engineering know- ledge and construction experience to solve problems and get things built.” Felice worked with Faust on the Veterans Glass DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2015 • 73
