Geo-Institute

Maryland

2024 MEETING LINEUP

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UPCOMING EVENTS


In-Situ Testing, A Modern Approach

April 17, 2024 @ 5:30 pm

at

The Engineer's Club

Garrett Jacobs Mansion

         11 W Mount Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21201  

presented by 

Fernando Garcia, PE, D.GE

(1 PDH will be provided)

This is an In-Person Event with 1-hour Cash BAR & Dinner!

Register HERE!

Contact geo@ascemd.org if you have any questions or need assistance 

Schedule:

5:30PM: Networking & Cash Bar

6:30PM-8:30PM: Dinner & Presentation


Cost:

$50 Member

$60 Non-Member

$25 Student

Speaker Biography:

Mr. Fernando Garcia, P.E., D.GE. is a Principal at Stable Ground In-situ, LLC (SGI); an in-situ site investigation and consulting firm. He earned a Bachelor degree in Civil engineering at Universidad Militar Nueva Granada in Colombia and a Master of Science in Geotechnical Engineering at Universidad Nacional of Colombia. He is registered professional engineer in Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Mr. Garcia is the also Past President of the ASCE Eastern Shore Branch. 

 

His 40+ years of professional experience in geotechnical engineering includes: the planning, coordination, and Management of geotechnical investigations for hundreds of projects in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and District of Columbia. He has performed analysis of foundations, earth support, road design and slope stability systems using both classical and state-of-the-art methods including Special Numerical Modeling with Finite Elements Analysis (FEA) on dozens of projects.

 

He has extensive experience using the Pressuremeter (PMT), Flat Dilatometer (DMT) and Seismic Flat Dilatometer (SDMT), Cone Penetration Testing (CPT), Seismic Cone Penetration Testing (SCPT), Vane Shear Testing (VST) as well as the more common Standard Penetration Test (SPT).

 

Mr. Garcia has been involved with all aspects of geotechnical engineering and consulting from start to finish. He takes pride in personally performing explorations of soil and rock conditions, efficiently applying that data to engineering design and directly supervising traditional and unique foundations or ground improvement systems.

 

Mr. Garcia also has academic experience as an Associate Professor at Military University Nueva Granada in Colombia, teaching: Soil Mechanics, Slope Stability and Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering. He has also taught Fundamentals of Geotechnical Engineering as adjunct instructor at University of Maryland College Park.


Topic Description:

In-situ testing has been dominated by Standard Penetration Testing (SPT) for many years. The great advantage many engineers find with this approach is the array of empirical correlations developed over the years in different regions and countries. These SPT correlations can provide multiple soil strength parameters; including internal frictional angle and undrained shear strength. Unfortunately, the “one test fits all”, wide range of  correlations necessitates a healthy safety factor and a conservative design.

In the last century, many new approaches were developed including Cone Penetration Testing (CPT); a quasi-static test becoming the first innovation coming from the SPT; a dynamic testing. Parallel to this, many other ways of testing were developed including the Pressuremeter (PMT), the In-Situ Vane test (VST) and the most modern (albeit almost 50 years old), the Flat Dilatometer (DMT) developed by Professor Marchetti in Italy.

This presentation will navigate through the above mentioned tests, correlations between them and their correlation with the SPT to obtain a full characterization of the soils. The discussion will including obtaining more accurate soil parameters measured directly or though more elaborated methods; different than just a set of blow counts or N-value. Finally, conclusions will be presented about the best application of each test relevant to the soil characteristics or parameters that are desired.


Drilled and Grouted Foundations:

Historical Performance and Misinformation

May 15, 2024 @ 5:30 pm

at

The Engineer's Club

Garrett Jacobs Mansion

         11 W Mount Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21201  

presented by 

W. Morgan NeSmith, PE, D.GE

(1 PDH will be provided)

This is an In-Person Event with 1-hour Cash BAR & Dinner!

Register HERE!

Contact geo@ascemd.org if you have any questions or need assistance 

Schedule:

5:30PM: Networking & Cash Bar

6:30PM-8:30PM: Dinner & Presentation


Cost:

$50 Member

$60 Non-Member

$25 Student

Speaker Biography:

Morgan has a B CE and MS CE from Georgia Tech and over 25 years of experience in geotechnical contracting and consulting including numerous site characterization and construction projects for remote and offshore facilities in the Middle East, West Africa, and Asia. Since 2004, he has specialized in the design and installation of cast-in-place piles and ground improvement systems for Berkel, primarily ACIP/CFA and drilled displacement (DD) piles as well as rigid inclusions. He has authored/co-authored numerous papers on deep foundations and ground improvement systems. He also regularly speaks to companies, universities, and professional organizations on these topics on behalf of Berkel as well as the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) of which he is a past chair of the ACIP and DD Pile Committee. He is a Diplomate of the Academy of Geo-Professionals and currently serves on the DFI Board of Trustees as the liaison to the ACIP and DD Pile Committee. In 2017, he received the DFI President’s Award, which recognizes the efforts and service of DFI members to advance its work.


Topic Description:

The presentation will cover an overview of the performance of various drilled and grouted foundation systems, including ACIP piles; Drilled Displacement piles; and rigid inclusions in the Maryland, D.C. and Northern Virginia areas. Differences in design and performance expectations of these systems in the regional Piedmont and Coastal Plain geologies will be highlighted specifically. Myths and misinformation regarding various aspects of the systems will also be discussed with local case-histories used to illustrate the performance of the different deep foundation and ground improvement systems.


Provo City Temple Underpinning:

June 19, 2024 @ 5:30 pm

at

The Engineer's Club

Garrett Jacobs Mansion

         11 W Mount Vernon Pl, Baltimore, MD 21201  

presented by 

Rick Deschamps, PE, Ph.D

(1 PDH will be provided)

This is an In-Person Event with 1-hour Cash BAR & Dinner!

Register HERE!

Contact geo@ascemd.org if you have any questions or need assistance 

Schedule:

5:30PM: Networking & Cash Bar

6:30PM-8:30PM: Dinner & Presentation


Cost:

$50 Member

$60 Non-Member

$25 Student

Speaker Biography:

Mr. Deschamps is Vice President of Engineering with Nicholson Construction, the North American subsidiary of Paris-based Soletanche-Bachy, one of the world’s premier geotechnical general contractors. He is responsible for overall engineering and quality control efforts with emphasis on design build, alternative design, and value engineering efforts.  He plays a lead role in recruiting and training of technical staff.  His academic and consulting engineering experience provides Nicholson with significant capabilities in advanced analyses and in the understanding of soil and rock behavior.  His experience includes design, quality control and implementation of projects involving deep foundations, retaining structures, ground improvement, ground modification, slope stabilization, and earth-fill and concrete gravity dams. 

 

Mr. Deschamps holds a Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Purdue University and a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from University of South Florida.  Mr. Deschamps is a registered professional engineer in the states of Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Florida. 


Topic Description:

This case study will discuss the renovation to the Historic Provo City Temple in Provo, Utah that suffered significant damage from a fire in December of 2010. As part of the rebuild, the Church of Latter-Day Saints wanted to add a two-story underground addition underneath the existing at-grade structure. Nicholson was contracted to provide a design/build solution which allowed the existing remaining brick façade to be underpinned in-place allowing the General Contractor to construct the substructure 35-feet beneath the façade.

The novel design approach employed by Nicholson provided a micropile underpinning system that supported the Temple façade 35 ft in the air allowing the substructure to be built. In addition, a large trenching machine was employed to construct a 50 ft deep cutoff wall around the perimeter of the work zone in order to limit the potential impact of the dewatering efforts. 

This case study will present the engineering and construction efforts that went behind the reconstruction of this significant temple for the Church of Latter-Day Saints.