PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE From the Big Apple to the Big Easy! A s fall approaches, it’s great to look forward to our annual DFI Conference; and, after last year’s fantastic meeting in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Times Square, we are in for a definite change of pace down in the “Big Easy,” a.k.a., New Orleans. Having worked in southern Louisiana and the New Orleans area in my younger days, I can promise you all that this will be an interesting and fun conference you won’t want to miss! New Orleans is a unique and inter- esting venue, with lots of great food, entertainment and a perfect place to “Laissez les bons temps rouler.” It’s also a great place for deep foundations, thanks to the geology, the water and the impor- tance of the area for navigation and shipping. One of the themes for this year’s meeting is how to deal with risks from a variety of perspectives. Everyone in our industry is affected by risks and how they are allocated contractually. A panel discussion will kick off an effort in DFI that will be ongoing for some time to come, and will discuss risks related to engineering performance and uncertainty, construction and contracting, and risk from a legal perspective. We have a great lineup of speakers, headed by our special Hal Hunt lecturer and local legend, Archie Manning; younger members may think of him as Peyton’s or Eli’s dad, but I recall his scrambling days with the New Orleans Saints and at Ole Miss. Besides our great lineup of case histories and technical presentations, we’ll have keynote lectures from David Paul, P.E., and Eric Halpin, P.E., of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on flood control structures and public safety; from Deborah Keller, former chief engineer at the Port of New Orleans; and from attorney Ralph Junius. You can bet that we’ll have some interesting stories of piling and soft ground engineering. The annual conference is also our t ime to recognize our members’ successes and, most notably, our Distinguished Service Award, which will be awarded to George K. Burke, P.E., D.GE, for his long and most distinguished career advancing the specialized industry of ground improvement (see page 27). We have two Outstanding Project Awards to present: to Berkel & Company Dan Brown, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE. President [email protected] plan to ar r ive in t ime to par t icipate in a technical New Orleans is also a great place for deep foundations, thanks to the geology, the water and the importance of the area for navigation and shipping. Contractors for the renovation and preser- vation project on a National Historic Landmark in Washington, D.C., (see page 14) and to Moffatt & Nichol for its innovative use of tripod suction buckets for offshore wind turbines, which will be featured in a future magazine issue. Our annual conference is a beehive of activity, with over 120 companies repre- sented in the exhibit hall and with many opportunities for interaction and net- working with the biggest gathering of expert practitioners in our profession. I hope you Save That Date! committee meeting of interest to your practice; these activities are at the heart of DFI, and provide an opportunity for DFI members to influence and affect our industry. DFI, through our Com- mittee Project Funds, has contri- buted more than $500,000 to research activities that were initiated during the last five years by our technical committees, and, what’s even better, is that those activities have procured more than $1,000,000 of in-kind contributions. So, Arlo Guthrie sang maybe the best train song ever, “Riding on the City of New Orleans” and Fats Domino sang “This time I’m walkin’ to New Orleans” and Bob Dylan wrote “I’m going back to New Orleans to wear that ball and chain” (though, if you’re my age, you remember that being sung by a group named The Animals). However you get there, just be sure you get there and, while you’re out and about, look out for me down at Café du Monde with beignets and a café au lait. Bon Voyage! August 28-29, 2018 HPW-DFI Educational Tradeshow on Helical Piles, Tiebacks and Anchors Hamilton Country Fairgrounds, Cincinnati, Ohio Watch for details at www.dfi.org DEEP FOUNDATIONS • SEPT/OCT 2017 • 7
