October 18, 2011

CalGeo Ambassador of Goodwill

Karl Terzazghi is not available to be a CalGeo Ambassador - are you?

Do you believe in CalGeo and our mission of supporting the state’s private-practice geotechnical engineers? Are you looking for a way to finally capitalize on that rolodex of contacts you’ve made through the years? If so, then we should talk.

CalGeo is digging around for a seasoned geotechnical professional with motivation and connections to act as our organization’s Ambassador of Goodwill. This person would meet face-to-face with representatives of different geotechnical companies across California – members and non-members alike – to spread the word about CalGeo. They’d encourage new members to join and meet with current members to check in, answer questions and promote greater committee participation. Listening to our existing members is just as important as recruiting new ones.

If you’re interested in this paid temporary position, click here for details or contact Executive Director Marsha Myers. We look forward to hearing from you!

Counsel’s Corner

California Supreme Court Decision Limits Your Exposure to Lawsuits

By Thomas R. Gill & Scott Wm. Davenport
Manning & Kass, Ellrod, Ramirez, Trester LLP

Our California Supreme Court recently made a very important ruling that will greatly reduce monetary damages in personal injury actions. Engineers are often brought iinto personal injury lawsuits with allegations that somehow, negligent design work caused or contributed to some type of accident. With this new law, exposure to monetary damages for medical bills will be greatly reduced in the future. Click here to read more specifics of this ruling.

Here Today, Gone To Maui

Haleakala Volcano

By Marsha Myers
CalGeo Executive Director

The volcano is classified as dormant, meaning it is more than likely to erupt again, possibly within the next 100 years. Haleakala’s last eruption was around 1790, near Makena and you can visit there and see the lava fields and lava flow down the mountain. The oldest rocks above sea level on Haleakala are about 910,000 years old. Measured from its actual base at the bottom of the ocean the mountain is an incredible 25,000 feet plus in height.

Do you want to reach new heights with CalGeo? Click here for information about CalGeo's Annual Conference in Maui.

Member News

Changes at Stoney-Miller Consultants, Inc.

Hannes Richter, G.E., CalGeo board member since 2008, has taken the helm as President of Stoney-Miller Consultants, Inc., effective August 2011. Hannes has been an integral part of the growth and development of the corporation over the past 25 years, providing a broad range of skills. Mike Miller, co-founder of Stoney-Miller and past president of CalGeo, will continue to be active in the firm for years to come!

Also, Stoney-Miller welcomes Dr. John Foster to its consulting team. Dr. Foster has been a professor of Geologic Sciences at Cal State Fullerton since 1989 and is currently emeritus Professor. With specialties in the geologic structure of landslides, landslide failure hazards, and water resource evaluations, Dr. Foster will be a great addition to the Stoney-Miller team.

New Branch Manager at BSK & Associates

CalGeo Board Treasurer Danny Cohen is now the Branch Manager for BSK & Associates’ Fresno office. Below is Danny’s updated contact information:

BSK & Associates
567 W. Shaw Ave., C-1
Fresno, CA 93704-2504
dcohen@bskinc.com
(559) 497-2880 office
(559) 273-6686 cell

Events

SFGI, GEER, PEER, & EERI Joint One-Day Workshop

SFGI and GEER will be hosting a post-earthquake reconnaissance training workshop October 21 at Preservation Park in Oakland. This one-day workshop is limited to the first 100 registrants. Click here for more details and to sign up.

GEO-Institute Meeting

Attention Sacramento-area members: The GEO-Institute is partnering with AEG to host a talk on the geotechnical aspects of the March earthquake in Japan on October 25 in Davis. Dr. Ross Boulanger of UC Davis and Dr. Leslie Harder of HDR Consultants will outline findings of their field reconnaissance efforts. Click here for details.

Landslide of the Month

Troy, New York

Click here to read more.

JOB BOARD

Visit our website for the latest information on current available positions throughout the industry, including:

• Business Development/Marketing Coordinator with BSK and Associates
• Geotechnical Engineer & Geotechnical Practice Manager with Geocon
• Project Engineer with Twining, Inc.

Safety First

Multilingual Training Guide

Courtesy of the California State Compensation Insurance Fund

The ethnic diversity in today’s workplace has changed the set of dynamics and corresponding challenges for employers, especially in regards to communicating necessary safety and health information. Employers cannot simply assume that workers understand the dangers of their work environment or that they are aware of emergency response procedures. And, because California law requires employers to ensure that any safety or health information that is given is understood, employers may need to provide the training information in a language other than English. To assist in this effort, multilingual training material is available from various sources including State Fund (www.statefundca.com) and Cal/OSHA. Workplace health and safety information in 17 languages can also be accessed at http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/MultilingualGuide/MultilingualGuideMain.html.

State fund believes that although individuals have preferences in the way messages are delivered and what language is spoken, safety and health issues should not be left to interpretation.

Thoughts to Ponder

Karl Terzaghi
Father of Soil Mechanics
1883-1963

e.Geo Standards for Publication