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phamEng is correct. The other facet that comes up is the cost of defending her position. I've been involved with the process of a suit that named everyone that touched the project because the attorney's know that most insurer's will cough up some money to walk away. Our legal system is about...

From an engineering perspective, seems that the controlling depth and pier size factors will be the lateral load from soil creep and lateral load from landslide movement and then figuring out the resistance of the bedrock beneath the soil/landslide. The bedrock orientation relative to the slope...

Thanks for the comments and ideas. I did have a colleague with experience with the heat of hydration issue confirm that the concrete set temperature should not be sufficient to damage electrical conduit PVC. I did obtain some data on current plastic pipe requirements and they typically are not...

Thanks - the owner is aware and just does not want disruption to service in their conduit. While I suspect it may not be an issue, I need soemthing to corroborate. I get the impression that they just want me to say go and then we get to see what happens. I've contact several PVC manufacturers...

We have a project where a set of communication conduits are immediately adjacent to foundation improvement work(compacted aggregate piers). The design-build contractor proposes to encase the PVC conduit in 3000 psi concrete to protect it from the drilling, filling and compacting operation...

Denision sample was designed for stiffer materials, Pitcher was designed to push inner barrel though softer material and avoid drill fluid contamination. Performance is dependant on samples seals so drill fluid does not enter sample.

A prime concern to me would be the potential for differential fill thickness beneath the structure and whether post-construction settlement will distress the improvements. Fill slopes constructed without plans that are not monitored during construction leaves the user at the whim of the...

Likely the design involves some sort of back drain system to keep the mse portion of backfill from becoming saturated. If so, the selection of the long-term phreatic surface is likely dependent on the performance of the drainage system. What happens if the system does not work as envisioned...

"You may not be interested in mother nature, but mother nature is interested in you, and if you do not follow mother nature’s commands and respect her power, you will die." The link provides perspective from an experienced Navy sub-mariner about the multiple failures in process that likely...

"Be careful with this. My insurance provider prohibits me from hiring a geotech. I can provide the project requirements and define the scope of work, but I give that to the client to send to the geotech for a direct proposal" This is the smart way to go and provides the geotechnical direct...

If I prepare and sign and stamp a report for a project, my last opportunity to see if the site conditions conform with recommendations based on limited exploration, testing and analysis is during construction. If I received a call from a client wanting me to provide construction testing and...

I'm working on a project involving temporary excavations to provide working benches for installation of permanent shoring walls. The boring lots indicate the material is fill comprised of Ml, GM, SM, GP materials. Stability analysis of existing topography indicates the slope is not stable as...

I wonder if the structural engineer documented his discussion with owner that it was his opinion that there was no need for a geotechnical study? I wonder why a structural engineer would take on the potential liability of telling a client that a geo study was not required? Why would the owner...

Geotechs tend to develop a lot of understanding over years of work that rely on an understanding of a site's geologic conditions that should guide their selection of an appropriate scope of field work (aka borings). When I worked with a regional firm, I have client's from another area give me...

Seems that cracks that allow water to intrude contribute to corrosion that contributes to ..... The "inspectors" reports - who is looking at them?

Boring log - if that is the design engineer's reference, it clearly shows about 1.2 m or so of debris fill. I'm not in the camp that assumes debris fill has any recognized properties when it comes to bearing, settlement or lateral resistance. So the foundation should start at the bottom of the...

The exam is crafted and presented to a group of volunteers selected by peers and the Board of Registration. This group reviews and refines the content based on the scope of work a geotechnical engineer will be working in. This group works to remove ambiguities and/or trick questions, yet...

Should you not design the minimum width of a filter based on 1) the estimated seepage volume coming from the finer material the filter is protecting?

Dilation - a measure of the ability of water to move in and out of a soil, usually performed as part of a visual classification in the field to provide guidance as to whether a soil would be classified as silty versus clayey. For visual classification, a pure silt would dilate (water moving...

You have a bit of complexity. The structure founded on "rock" will respond differently that those with the soil over rock configuration (upper left side of structure). Retaining walls above rock will experience soil response.