DFI Technical Committee Chairs Augered Cast-in-Place Pile Mike Moran, Cajun Deep Foundations, LLC [email protected] Codes and Standards Thomas Gurtowski, Shannon & Wilson, Inc. [email protected] Deep Foundations for Landslides/Slope Stabilization Prof. Vern Shaefer, Iowa State University [email protected] Drilled Shafts Paul Axtell, Dan Brown and Associates [email protected] Driven Pile Andrew Verity, Gerdau [email protected] Ground Improvement Marty Taube, Menard [email protected] Helical Piles and Tiebacks Gary Seider Chance Hubbell Power Systems, Inc. [email protected] Marine Foundations Rick Ellman Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers [email protected] Micropiles Jonathan Bennett Brayman Construction Corporation [email protected] Seismic and Lateral Loads Kwabena Ofori-Awuah KCI Technologies, Inc. [email protected] Slurry Walls Nicolas Willig, Case Foundations [email protected] Soil Mixing Dennis Boehm, Hayward Baker, Inc. [email protected] Sustainability Marine Lasne, Soletanche Freyssinet [email protected] Testing and Evaluation Don Robertson, Applied Foundation Testing [email protected] Tiebacks and Soil Nailing Ed Laczynski, G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc. [email protected] 74 • DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAR/APR 2014 COMMITTEE CHAIR MARTY TAUBE Ground Improvement Committee The DFI Ground Improvement Com- mittee is comprised of government agency representatives, con- tractors, engineers and researchers who are involved in the practice of technologies that are intended to densify, reinforce or enhance drainage characteristics of ground. The ground improvement technologies covered include, but are not limited to, vibratory stone columns, vibrocompaction, vibro concrete columns, aggregate piers, dynamic compaction, wick drains and grouted inclusions. The committee recently completed two liquefaction-related projects. One was a survey funded through DFI’s Committee Project Fund to define the state of practice of ground improvement for liquefaction • Andres Baquerizo, HJ Foundation, covered equipment, materials and tech- niques used to construct and assure the quality of ACIP and DD piles. He also addressed the effects of construction installation on foundation performance. • Morgan NeSmith, Berkel & Company Contractors, presented commonly referenced design methods and comments on these methods based on his experience with load test results vs. predicted performance. • Bernie Hertlein, GEI Consultants, Inc., introduced current commercially available non-destructive test (NDT) methods for deep foundations and reviewed their operating principles, and their various capabilities and limitations for ACIP and DD piles. • Case histories were provided by NeSmith and Satyajit Vaidya, Langan Engineer- ing and Environmental Services. The committee is updating the Augered Cast-In-Place Pile Manual (originally published in 1990, and updated in 2003). The text updates will include evolutions in equipment and procedures over the past decade. Thank you to Chris Shewmaker, Illini Drilled Foundations, who is leading this committee-wide effort. The ACIP Pile Committee Project Fund project is practically complete. DFI awarded the project to Professor Armin Stuedlein of Oregon State University to conduct an independent review and analysis of available pile design information, load testing results and associated pile construction costs to quantify the level of over-conservatism that results from inappropriate acceptance criteria commonly included in building codes. Stuedlein submitted the project report to the committee for approval, and the summary will be published this year in the DFI Journal. Committee members Dan Stevenson and Morgan Nesmith of Berkel & Company have been involved in the industry-wide effort to update Chapter 18 of the International Building Code. The DFI Codes and Standards Committee is working closely with representatives from ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), GeoInstitute, ASFE/GBA (The Geoprofessional Business Association), PDCA (Pi le Driving Contractors Association) and ADSC (the International Association of Foundation Drilling) to propose responsible changes to the foundations provisions for the betterment of the industry. The committee is helping to organize the SuperPile 2014 conference in Cambridge, Mass., June 18-20, 2014. Several abstracts for ACIP piles and DD piles papers have been received, and we expect the technologies to be well represented at this DFI event that covers all piling techniques. Please contact DFI headquarters at [email protected] if you are interested in joining the ACIP Pile Committee. We always welcome new members.
