DFI Lecture Tour: Innovative Geotechnical Solutions

• 5:30 PM – Cocktails and Socializing
• 6:30 PM – Dinner
• 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM – Presentations
• 8:00 PM – 8:30 PM – Q&A

The opportunity to implement innovative solutions generally requires a motivated owner, an unusual problem, reliable geotechnical information, appropriate analytical tools and willingness to try something new. The presentation provides an overview of four projects where innovative solutions were successfully implemented. 1) Construction of a 48 ft cantilever grade change wall to avoid encroachment on neighboring property in Arlington, VA. 2) Use of widely spaced deep shear walls to stabilize a slope failure that threatened a key highway in Crookston, MN. 3) Use of a 240 feet diameter diaphragm wall shaft for below grade combined sewer storage, and 4) Use of Micropiles to remediate Prairie du Sac Dam that was supported on deteriorating timber piles in Prairie du Sac, WI.

Rick Deschamps received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering at the University of South Florida, and his Ph.D. from Purdue University studying under Prof. Jerry Leonards. He worked for the geotechnical consultant Dames and Moore in Tampa between his Master's and PhD. Rick joined the Civil Engineering faculty at Purdue following receipt of his PhD where he did research on pile foundations, constitutive modeling, and slope stabilization. In 1996 he received the Harold Munson teaching award. Deschamps joined FMSM Engineers in Lexington KY in 1999 where his focus was on numerical modeling for design of remediation systems for Corps of Engineer dams. In 2004 he joined Nicholson Construction. Since that time, he has led Nicholson's design team in development of competitive design-build and value engineered geotechnical solutions for projects throughout the United States. In 2014 he received the Wallace Hayward Baker Award, and the irony still brings a smile to his face.

Notes:

• All attendees are eligible for 1.5 hours of PEO Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours.
• Tickets are sold based on first come first served.
• There is a maximum of 10 tickets available for students.
• No refund is possible from 48 hours to the start of the event.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Canadian Geotechnical Society - Southern Ontario Section