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2012 DFI Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Seminar Wrap Up
by Bill Bonekemper
July 10, 2012
The 2012 DFI Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Seminar was held June 14 in Denver. Immediately preceding the seminar, the Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Committee (HFTC) met with 58 people in attendance.
Below is a brief summary of activities at both events.
HFTC Committee Meeting:
- The HFTC’s subcommittee for code development announced that the attempt to submit revisions for helical pile code revisions for the 2015 International Building Code was unsuccessful.
- Chairman Perko reported that the Helical Pile University PowerPoint® Presentation is not yet completed as there remain a few questions from TAC left to answer. The goal is to complete the process by the DFI Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in October.
- The (new) Helical Research Initiative -
Chairman Perko reported that the Announcement of Opportunity (AO) is complete due to the work of Wei- Chung Lin (MacLean- Dixie). Perko asked for an informal monetary pledge by committee members to fund possible research projects. The informal pledge resulted in a (theoretical) amount of $36.5K. The request to move forward with this program has been sent to DFI officials for review. - Next meeting of HFTC will be held on October 17th at the George R. Brown Center in Houston, TX. This is just prior to the start of the 37th Annual DFI Conference on Deep Foundations.
- Bill Bonekemper suggested the Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Committee should change its name to replace the word “Foundations” with “Piles”. He commented the word “Pile” has now replaced the word “Foundations” in the revised AC358. Meeting attendees voted on several potential new names. Helical Piles and Tiebacks was the popular choice, and the name change has been submitted to DFI directors for approval.
- Victoria or Vancouver, British Columbia have been tentatively selected as potential locations for the 2013 Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Seminar, which is anticipated to be held in May or June next year.
DFI Helical Foundations and Tiebacks Seminar:
Mr. Moncef Souissi (HPW Technical Advisor) chaired this year’s seminar. A total of thirteen speakers made presentations to a crowd of nearly 80 attendees. Topics included:
- Fundamental Overview of Helical Piles by Darin Willis, P.E., Ram Jack Systems (HPW Technical Advisor)
- Load Capacity and Movement of Helical Piles by Allen G. Thurman, Ph.D., P.E., Consultant
- Deflection of Helical Piles -
A Load Test Database Review by James Cherry, P.E., Magnum Piering - Uplift Capacity of Helical Anchors in a Tropical Residual Clay Soil by Cristina de Hollanda Cavalcanti Tsuha, Ph.D., University of Sao Paulo (HPW Technical Advisor)
- Pitfalls of Helical Pile Design by Howard Perko, Ph.D., P.E. -
Magnum Piering - Torque Prediction of Helical Piles in Cohesive Soils by Mohammed Sakr, Ph.D., P.Eng, Worley Parsons (HPW Technical Advisor)
- Load Transfer Mechanisms for Instrumented Composite Helical Screw Piles Systems under
Monotonic and Cyclic Loading (Innovative Seismic-
resistant Helical Piles) by Yasser Abdelghany, Ph.D., P. Eng., Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure - Helical Foundation Systems -
Design and Construction by Jeff Warchall, P.E., E.I.T., MacLean Dixie - Hanover Brewer’s Hill Case History by Dianne Rundell, Park Range Construction
- Helical Pile Installations -
A Case Study Presentation by Jeff Kortan, P.E., Foundation Supportworks - A Day at the Beach by Mark Bryant, EI., MacLean Dixie
- Helical Anchors Help Build Infield Access Tunnel at Daytona Motor Speedway by Gary Seider, P.E., Hubbell Power Systems