Short Courses
All Short Courses are $295 and include morning and afternoon breaks and lunch.
Instructors:
Robert D. Holtz, PhD, PE, D.GE, Dist. M.ASCE
University of Washington
R. Jonathan Fannin, Ph.D., P. Eng.
University of British Columbia
This course is an advanced treatment of geosynthetics for soil
reinforcement. Because of their increased safety, improved performance,
and lower costs in comparison with conventional construction,
geosynthetic reinforced soil (GRS) structures are often used instead of
conventional earth retaining structures, bridge abutments, and fill slopes.
The participants should have some experience with geosynthetics
and conventional reinforced soil design and construction. After a brief
introduction to geosynthetics, the material properties required for design
(tensile strength, including wide-width index tests and isochronous loadstrain
tests; soil-geosynthetic interface strength and bond coefficients
from direct shear and pullout tests; durability issues) are described.
Two instrumented reinforced soil case studies are used to show that
the sensible application of simple ideas and methods can give safe and
acceptable engineering solutions to reinforced soil problems. These
basic ideas are sufficiently adaptable for the design and successful
construction of more complex problems often found in engineering
practice.
Course Outcomes:
»» Develop an understanding of the fundamental concepts that govern the behavior of
soils reinforced with geosynthetics.
»» Understand the historical development of the analyses for external and internal
stability (FHWA, AASHTO, NCMA, BS 8006), and provide design guidance for allowable
tensile strength, vertical reinforcement spacing, length of reinforcement, drainage,
seismic loading issues, and different facing systems.
»» Provide the basis for confidently making and defending appropriate decisions when
designing geosynthetic-reinforced steep slopes and walls.
- CANCELLED
Instructors:
Nick O’Riordan, Ph.D.
Principal and Global Geotechnics Skills Leader, Arup (San Francisco)
Richard Prust
Associate Principal, Arup (Seattle)
Rob Talby, Ph.D.
Associate, Arup (New York)
Pressure on urban development, downtown regeneration and in particular
the growth of underground metro and heavy rail systems has resulted
in excavations that are ever larger and more extensive. The classic
case histories, mostly based upon 60 to 80 ft. deep, 60 ft. wide multipropped
metro excavations and 150 ft. square building basements are
steadily being replaced by mammoth earth-retaining structures of similar
depth but which can be over 200 ft. in width and over a mile in length
(for example the Boston Central Artery in the U.S., Ashford, Stratford
and St. Pancras Thames link stations in the UK and Bologna and
Florence stations in Italy). Such structures take years to build. Balancing
empirical rules, constitutive soil models and numerical techniques with
constructibility to ensure the cost-effective control of ground movements
around urban excavations during and after construction presents
perpetual challenges.
This course will address these challenges and is a distillation of a series
of international master classes developed over many years at Arup. Arup
Geotechnics has been responsible for the design and back-analysis of
many of the largest, deepest excavations in the world for over 50 years.
Dr. David Henkel, Vice Chairman of the first Earth Retention specialty
conference held in 1970 at Cornell University, became leader of Arup
Geotechnics until his retirement as a consultant to the firm about 10
years ago. This course complements a keynote paper on the impact of
codes on the structural and geotechnical design of deep excavations
at the 2010 conference to be presented by Prof. Brian Simpson, OBE,
a past Rankine lecturer and until recently, the Global Geotechnics skills
leader at Arup.
Using the results of published and unpublished case histories, the
workshop will provide a robust, practical framework which will be
essential for practitioners, researchers, contractors and project
managers.
Course Outcomes:
Attendees will obtain a good grasp of:
»» the breadth of solutions to the challenge of earth retention, and how to go about
choosing suitable solutions
»» the range of contractual contexts, roles and responsibilities surrounding deep
excavations in urban areas
»» the importance of understanding the ground conditions and geomorphological history
of the site
»» the importance of construction sequence and schedule; the effects of wall and soil
permeability and stiffness
»» how to assemble a reasonable ground model and construction sequence for analysis
»» key aspects of soil-structure interaction analysis, including 4D effects
Instructors:
Ryan Berg, P.E., F.ASCE
Ryan R. Berg and Associates
Naresh Samtani, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
NCS
The goal of this course is to provide participants with state-of-the practice load and resistance factor design (LRFD) tools and the design of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls consistent with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guidelines and specifications.
Each participant will be provided with a copy of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration reference manual Design and Construction of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls and Reinforced Soil Slopes (Berg, Christopher and Samtani, 2009) that is a comprehensive design manual and contains several MSE wall design examples.
Course Outcomes:
»»Discuss reinforcement corrosion/degradation mechanisms in regards to the design life of reinforced soil structures; and evaluate steel strength percent decrease over time.
»»Select appropriate material properties and reinforcement/soil-interaction parameters used in design.
»»Apply LRFD concepts to design of MSE walls.
»»Prepare conceptual and basic (i.e., simple geometries) designs, and be able to check designs prepared by others (e.g., wall vendors).
»»Define LRFD load combinations and load factors for MSEW design.
Additionally, with further self-study and use of the course Reference Manual and AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, participants will be able to:
»»Complete MSE wall external stability detailed design, and review designs by others for simple and complex geometries and/or loadings.
»»Complete MSE wall internal stability detailed design, and review designs by others for simple and complex geometries and/or loadings.
Instructors:
Prof. J. Erik Loehr, P.E.
University of Missouri-Columbia
Dr. Jesus Gomez, P.E., D.GE
Schnabel Engineering
Allen Cadden, P.E., D.GE
Schnabel Engineering
Instructor TBD
DBM Contractors, Inc.
Micropiles have become a widely accepted technology in the United States for a variety of applications. Nowadays, micropiles are being used for underpinning of existing structures as well as for foundations of new construction, for excavation support, and many other applications. One popular application of micropiles is stabilization of existing slopes. Micropiles can be installed on sites with difficult access. They can work in tension, compression, shear, and limited bending, and can be interconnected by simple
structural grade beams that can be completely concealed after installation. A number of successful cases have been reported in the literature where micropiles provided a more cost-effective and attractive solution than tiebacks or other stabilization schemes.
The objective of the course is to provide the audience with a practical method to design stabilization of slopes using micropiles, based on previous experiences and experimentation. The course will focus on the use of micropiles for stabilization of slopes and procedures for design of such systems. The course will
start with an introductory presentation on current micropile technology. Then, a number of case histories will be presented to illustrate successful examples of stabilization of slopes using micropiles.
During the case histories presentations, the presenters will focus on the mechanics of the stabilization system, illustrating how and why the micropile system worked or did not work. Subsequently, the results of laboratory tests will be presented where model micropiles were used in a soil filled tilting container. A
simplified theoretical framework for design of micropile stabilization systems will be presented. The theoretical framework will focus on treatment of the individual pile as a laterally and axially loaded element, and of the system of micropiles as a structural frame. The issue of soil displacement and “squeezing” through the micropiles will also be addressed.
Course Outcomes:
»»Upon completing this course, participants will recognize the variety of applications for micropile technology.
»»Participants will learn a practical method to design slope stabilization using micropiles.
»»This course will provide several case histories which illustrate the mechanics of the micropile system and the forces acting on individual piles.