The Inner Workings of Geotechnical Drilling | The Driller

The Inner Workings of Geotechnical Drilling Column Helps Drillers, Consultants Improve Drilling Operations Geotechnical drilling is a compelling field. With The Underground Network, we aim to help drillers, assistant drillers, consultants and others navigate its complexities. Welcome to The Underground Network, a new column designed unravel the inner workings of geotechnical drilling. I aim to provide candid, constructive insights for experienced drillers, assistant drillers just starting out and environmental consultants alike. I hope to make this column a must-read for enhancing your knowledge and improving your drilling operations. Why should you read The Underground Network? In this first edition, I outline the topics I plan to cover and offer a couple of starter bits of advice. Practical Techniques and Tips: Geotechnical drilling is a compelling field, and it’s important to stay up-to-date on new techniques and tips that can improve your everyday drilling efficiency onsite. I can provide practical insights, proven approaches and fresh ideas you can apply directly to your everyday work onsite. These tips can complement your existing skills, minimize downtime and ultimately improve the outcomes of your client’s projects. What kind of tips? How about this: Looking to be a better driller? Baroid IDP has conducted drilling fluid trainings for over 50 years, offering field and classroom seminars and demonstrations for rig personnel, contractors, engineers, geologists and regulatory personnel. These seminars, held annually in Houston, consist of five-day courses covering basic drilling fluids technology as well as operational applications such as water well drilling, diamond coring for minerals exploration and construction-trenchless technology. I can guide you through the sign-up process. Industry Updates and News: Success in our drilling industry requires you to stay informed about the latest trends and developments. I plan to deliver important industry updates, including new technologies, drilling rig advancements and regulatory changes. By [...]

BUILD Grant Geotechnical Work Kentucky

BUILD Grant Geotechnical Work Kentucky Leads to Schultz Park Temporary Closure. To design the BUILD grant's riverboat landing facility, a portion of Schultz Park will be closed for crews to conduct geotechnical drilling. A section of Schultz Park along Paducah’s riverfront will be closed to the public for geotechnical crews with Bacon Farmer Workman Engineering & Testing, Inc. to access to the park. The floodwall opening at the Jefferson Street and Water Street intersection will be closed to the public. However, this work will not affect the parking area facing the Ohio River near the transient boat dock. The public will be able to access those parking spaces and the adjacent park from the floodwall entrance at North Second and Madison streets. The four geotechnical borings will provide soil data that will be used in the design of the new riverboat landing structure included in Paducah’s Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant award. Mayor George Bray said, “This geotechnical work is an exciting milestone for the BUILD grant. We are moving from the environmental assessment phase, which has taken significant time due to requirements by the regulatory agencies, to the design phase. We are grateful for the generous BUILD grant funds and look forward to improving the passenger experience for riverboat visitors to downtown Paducah and to enhancing downtown’s transportation elements.” Source: BUILD Grant Geotechnical Work Leads to Schultz Park Temporary Closure | City of Paducah

Louisville VAMC project reaches milestone > Louisville District > Kentucky News Stories

At times there were multiple drill rigs working on the site of the Louisville VA Medical Center to prepare the earth for drilled piers. Louisville, Ky. – For most construction projects, progress can be visually measured as structures start to come out of the ground and begin to take shape. This would not be possible without the foundations that transfers the loads of the vertical structures to the soil safely. Part of that foundation work can include the installation of drilled piers. The Louisville VA Medical Center project recently achieved the completion of a major feature of work by reaching the milestone of “bottoming out” with the installation of the last of 1,057 drilled piers across the site. The drilled piers ranged from 24 to 72 inches in diameter and from five to 35 feet in depth. All buildings have some type of foundation. Most residential buildings have what is called shallow foundations which generally include spread footings to prevent the building from settling. Drilled piers are a type of deep foundation, which is generally utilized for larger buildings, like the Louisville VA Medical Center, said David Garvin, geotechnical engineer. “Drilled piers connect structures directly to the bedrock - keeping the building in place by minimizing settlement and lateral loads from outside forces such as wind loads, seismic loads, etc.,” he explained. “Since drilled piers are below the building, they are advanced from the top of the ground until bedrock is reached, with rebar and concrete placed, then the pier is tied into a column or grade beam.” “Once the drilled pier is tied into the column or grade beam, the steel beams will be placed on top of it. After all steel beams are placed the loads from the entire building will transfer down to the drilled piers and [...]

How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

After heavy rainfall overwhelmed dams in Michigan, are dams in Northeast Ohio at risk? CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Experts described the flooding in Midland, Mich. as a 500-year event, caused by two dams in the area that failed. In Northeast Ohio, water surrounds the northern coast, along with the Cuyahoga River and other lakes and tributaries. So how vulnerable is the area to catastrophic flooding? Unlike Michigan, Northeast Ohio doesn’t have hydroelectric dams, which failed leading to destructive flooding. Our area does have smaller barriers and levees that keep water off land. But there are several low lying areas that are prone to flooding. Dr. Bill Yu is a civil engineering professor at Case Western Reserve University. He says there are around 1,400 “high hazard” dams in Ohio, 40 to 50 of those are in Northeast Ohio, but there are different types of dams built for different purposes. But there are some land similarities with both Michigan and Ohio. “Ohio is located in an area similar to Michigan...which means we have an abundant amount of water supply. And because the course of the flood is to have lots of raining and lots of water and no retention for the water to go.” Dr. Yu says he doesn’t foresee Northeast Ohio having any large scale flooding. But he cautions, that anything could happen. “The magnitude of flood, just maybe not comparable to what we see right now. So definitely it can be dealt with engineer, managers and also management measures.” Source: How vulnerable are dams in Northeast Ohio?

Geotechnical Testing happening for U.S. 51 Ohio River Cairo Bridge Replacement Project in Kentucky

  The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) announced last week that geotechnical testing for the project was to start at the end of June. The testing includes field work and drilling in the river upstream from the existing bridge. According to the release, crews are driling and testing soil samples from ground level to as deep as 400 feet below the riverbed. Drilling is taking place 24 hours a day, seven days a week, until the work is complete. “Because of the area’s complex river conditions, a lift boat will be used to minimize the impact on passing Ohio River towboat traffic,” the release stated. “The geotechnical work is expected to take a couple of months, but the schedule is dependent on river levels. The geotechnical testing will provide a better analysis of the soils under the river and existing geological conditions, which will give engineers the information necessary to design the foundations for a new bridge.” The work will have no impact on vehicle traffic crossing the existing bridge. The geotechnical work comes as the U.S. 51 Bridge Project Team has scheduled a meeting to update the public on planning for construction of a new bridge. Among other things, the team plans to share the bridge design type for the new structure that could start construction in 2028. Photos and display materials will be available online at https://us51bridge.com/ after the public meeting. The existing U.S. 51 Ohio River ‘Cairo’ Bridge serves as a north-south connector for U.S. 51 and an east-west transportation corridor for U.S. 60 and U.S. 62. The bridge carries about 5,400 vehicles per day between Kentucky and Illinois. About 43 percent of the traffic is commercial trucks. The bridge crosses the Ohio River at navigation mile point 980.4 and carries U.S. 51, U.S. 60, and U.S. 62 [...]

Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings – Lakesider Ohio News

The first phase of the Lakeside Streets and Drainage Project begins in fall 2024. To plan engineering work and street construction, drilling for geotechnical borings on east Lakeside will start in late March. Geotechnical boring is a process that involves drilling into the soil and evaluating the soil, rock, groundwater and overall conditions at a given depth and location. We are determining how close rock is to the pavement surface and if it could impact the project design. The project designer, Contractors Design Engineering (CDE), selected 32 locations for borings where they are concerned that rock might impact their design. “There are consistent places on the north-south streets where there’s a hump in the road that causes water to drain from the north to the south,” Seling said. “If they’re going to cut that knob down, we need to know how close the rock is to help determine if the road can be lowered to improve drainage or if the rock would substantially increase the construction cost. We can also alert the contractor about the depth of rock ahead of time so they can base their proposed cost on that situation to avoid cost increases during construction.” Geotechnical drilling Ohio contractor will provide the service. They will field stake test locations and utilities will be cleared by the Ohio Utilities Protection Service. Wertz will bore holes in the pavement, then restore them by backfilling with spoils and/or compacted stone to within 12-inches of the surface and then backfilled with asphalt cold patch to grade. The plan is to drill up to 5 feet unless they hit rock first. It will take up to three days to complete the work. Source: Streets & Drainage Update: Drilling for Geotechnical Borings - Lakesider News

700 – Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation

Source: 700 - Geotechnical Exploration Reports | Ohio Department of Transportation 701 General 702 Geotechnical Profile - Roadway 703 Geotechnical Profile - [Structure] 704 Geotechnical Profile - [Geohazard] 705 Geotechnical Design Memorandum 706 Report of Geotechnical Exploration, Findings and Recommendations 707 Method of Payment 701 General Provide all geotechnical information as required to complete the project planning and design in accordance with the Project Development Process, or as directed by ODOT. Provide an electronic copy of all geotechnical submissions to the District Geotechnical Engineer. Clearly identify on every submission (reports, plan drawings, etc.), the geotechnical specification (title and date) under which the geotechnical work was contracted and performed. Label the first complete version of all documents being submitted as “draft”. Subsequent to ODOT review and approval, submit a complete version of the document, revised as necessary, and label “final”. Submit electronic copies of all final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets in accordance with Location & Design Manual Volume 3, Section 1201. Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets include Geotechnical Profile – Roadway sheets, Geotechnical Profile – Structure sheets, and Geotechnical Profile – Geohazard sheets. When submitting the final Geotechnical Exploration plan sheets, also submit final boring data in electronic format for inclusion in the ODOT Geotechnical Data Management System (GeoMS). All boring data shall be compliant with the Data Interchange for Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (DIGGS) standard. Logs prepared using the latest ODOT gINT library will meet this requirement. Submittal of gINT project files that can then be successfully auto-converted to DIGGS format by ODOT is acceptable. Additional information on DIGGS can be found online. Provide a black & white pdf file of all Geotechnical Profile sheets, except provide color versions of sheets presenting ODOT Rock Core Photograph Report pages. See Section 702.6.5 and Appendices C and D for additional information.

Patricia Culligan dean of Notre Dame Engineering Indiana receives 2021 Bolton Medal Geotechnical

Patricia J. Culligan, professor of civil engineering and the Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the University of Notre Dame’s College of Engineering Indiana, is the recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers Geo-Institute’s Geotechnical 2021 H. Bolton Seed Medal. The medal is awarded annually for outstanding contributions to teaching, research or practice of geotechnical engineering, ordinarily for an individual’s cumulative distinguished contributions to the designated subject area. Patricia J. Culligan Culligan was recognized for "expanding the boundaries of geoenvironmental and sustainability engineering to enhance human health and the environment.” She is the first woman to be awarded the Bolton Seed medal since it was established in 1993. "It's a great honor to receive this medal,” Culligan said. “I’m delighted to highlight the important role geotechnical engineers play in supporting human health and the environment.” The Seed Medal is named for H. Bolton Seed (1922-1989), professor and member of the National Academy of Engineering, who is recognized for his contributions to geotechnical engineering. Culligan became dean of the Notre Dame College of Engineering on Aug. 1. She previously was the chair and Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University, as well as the founding associate director of Columbia’s Data Science Institute. She is internationally recognized for her expertise in water resources and environmental engineering. Her research focuses on sustainable urban infrastructure, social networks and the application of advanced measurement and sensing technologies to improve water, energy, and environmental management. She presented the 2021 Seed Lecture, titled “Quantifying the Performance of Urban Green Infrastructure,” virtually on May 13 as part of the International Foundation and Construction Equipment Expo 2021 conference. Watch the 2001 Seed Lecture. Patricia J. Culligan, dean of Notre Dame Engineering, receives 2021 H. Bolton Seed Medal Geotechnical | News | Notre Dame News | University of [...]

Bush retires Geotechnical Engineer Chicago District

Geotechnical Engineer Bush retires with over 30 years government service Leslie Bush receives an award during her retirement ceremony, 11-20-21 Thirty-one years ago, as a civil engineer summer hire for the Coastal and Geotechnical Engineering Section, Leslie Bush’s primary assignment was oversight of the geotechnical subsurface investigation activities for the west reach of the Little Calumet River, Indiana, Local Flood Protection and Recreation Project. “I worked on the West Reach subsurface investigation that consisted of soil sampling, use of drill rigs, and soil classification and testing for over 120 boreholes,” she said. The work required her to ensure the subsurface investigation was performed according to the scope of work, and that boring log documentation was thorough and that all required laboratory testing data was submitted to the district. A year later, in 1991, when she was hired as a full-time civil engineer in the Coastal and Geotechnical Engineering Section, her first assignment was to complete geotechnical design for levee system components of the same project. For approximately 15 years, she completed geotechnical design and eventually served as a technical lead for numerous sets of plans and specifications. Yesterday, the district joined Bush in celebrating her retirement and she said that, in her entire stretch here, completing design work, being an effective Value Engineering officer and Quality Program Manager, and executing security manager duties each provided highlights to her career. “It was very rewarding to carry work from the geotechnical investigation phase to design completion with the award of plans & specifications, to save the district a cumulative of approximately $87 million through use of Value Engineering techniques, and to ensure the district remained compliant with regard to Quality Management and security requirements,” she said. Other jobs she held included serving as the district’s Quality Program Manager for approximately 20 years, [...]

Purdue Geotechnical Society

13th Leonards Lecture (2015) Dr. Richard E. Goodman presented the 13th Leonards Lecture on Karl Terzaghi (1883-1963), Geotechnical Engineer and Founder of Soil Mechanics The Purdue Geotechnical Society was founded in May 2003 to enhance the strong bond and working relationship among alumni, faculty, students, and staff of the Geotechnical Engineering group at Purdue University for the benefit of all. A Celebration Honoring the 100th Anniversary of Professor Leonards’ Birthday April 29, 2021 – 2pm EDT We invite you to celebrate Prof. Gerald A. Leonards’ birthday through an informal event to be held online on the afternoon of April 29th. This will be about a 2.5-hour session using ZOOM. There will be short presentations by six of Jerry's former colleagues or students that will highlight his legacy and connect it to the state of practice today and the future of our profession. Purdue Geotechnical Society - Purdue University

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