In this issue:
- CalGeo Turns 50 This Year
- Time is Almost Up! Submit Your Project by Jan. 30th
- Register for the Annual Conference - C'mon, its Lake Tahoe!
- February Regional Meetings: Dr. Ross Boulanger
- Loss Prevention Seminars - filling up fast
- Spring CPT Bootcamp in SoCal
- New Career Center Launched
- Welcome our New Members
- Upcoming Events - the e.Calendar
CalGeo Turns 50 This Year!

Its a new year and a milestone for CalGeo as we mark our 50th anniversary in 2020. That's right, we started back in 1970, can you believe it? Here is a list of accomplishments that CalGeo is proud of in our 50-year existence:
- CalGeo created the GE certification, adding a barrier to entry to our profession and elevating the practice of geotechnical engineering in California.
- Minimized Union control in consulting practice
- Created Student Chapters to get civil engineering students jazzed about geotechnical
- We advocate for Legislative bills and actions to support California businesses and our industry
- Loss Prevention Seminars to train your field staff, technicians and inspectors and reduce your risk and liability in the field.
- Webcasting of Regional Meetings to stay current on research and case history studies
- CalGeo Website and Members Club with materials and recorded webinars all at your fingertips
- Annual Salary Survey - look for the spreadsheet to go out in March to participate this year. We are up to over 60% participation by member firms
- e.Geo electronic newsletter - I mean, you're reading it now aren't you?
- Funding Applied Research
Time Is Almost Up! Submit your Project for an Award

We are now accepting applications for our Outstanding Project Awards for 2019. These awards will be presented at our Annual Conference and 50th Anniversary Celebration on April 24th, 2020 at the Project Award Luncheon at the Resort at Squaw Creek, Lake Tahoe.
The deadline for submission is January 30th!
Winners will be able to present their outstanding projects to conference attendees and accept their medal and award. Winning projects will also be featured in our e.Geo newsletter with a short article and photo.
This is a great marketing opportunity to show your clients that you have been recognized by a committee of your peers for the outstanding work you performed.
Any projects conducted in the past 5-years are eligible. Three size categories (based on budget) are available in both PUBLIC and PRIVATE sectors.
Both Affiliate members and Organizational members can submit projects!
Projects will be scored on:
- Innovation
- Difficulty of Investigation
- Design Team Interaction
- Social Impact
- Quality of Report
Download the application form and requirements here>>
Submit your application and fee online here>>
Documents and report can be e-mailed or uploaded to Dropbox by the deadline of January 30, 2020. Please contact Kelly Cabal for more information.
Annual Conference Registration is Open
- Join us in Lake Tahoe -
We are celebrating 50 years of CalGeo at the Resort at Squaw Creek in beautiful Lake Tahoe April 22-24, 2020. Short courses available on Wednesday April 22nd.
“Join the Rush” for our Gold-en Anniversary! Celebrating as we revisit CalGeo’s history and redesign the future.
PRINTABLE PROGRAM RELEASED! Download it here!
There is so much in store for you - we always have the best social events, food and fun. Plus you will stay on-top of technical issues, risk and liability, legislative action and our economic forecast for the year to come.
Save $100 on Early Bird registration (members only) until February 15th.
Sponsorships still available! Please download our Sponsorship Information (PDF) and complete the on-line sponsorship form to support 50-years of CalGeo!
February Regional Meetings
We are back in the Bay Area on February 5th for our NorCal regional meeting with Dr. Ross Boulanger, Professor & Director of the Center for Geotechnical Modeling at UC Davis.

Nonlinear dynamic analyses of Austrian Dam in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
In this presentation, Dr. Boulanger summarizes the non-linear dynamic analysis using the Austrian Dam/Loma Prieta case history. One of his goals in this talk is to make nonlinear analyses more accessible to practitioners, so the emphasis is on how to use the tools and not on the math/numerical methods.
The following week, Dr. Boulanger will be jetting to Southern California to join up with CalGeo, EERI and ASCE Geo-Institute in San Diego. He will be speaking on a slightly different topic and focus for this joint meeting
February 5, 2020: Scott's Seafood, Oakland $60 Members, $70 Non-members
REGISTER for the NorCal Meeting>>

2019 EERI Distinguished Lecture, "Liquefaction: Lessons, challenges and opportunities"
Liquefaction during earthquakes has been the subject of extensive study for over half a century and is now routinely addressed in engineering practice using a wide range of technical approaches that depend on the project size and importance. These past studies have produced major advances in our scientific understanding of liquefaction phenomena and the engineering practices used to address liquefaction hazards, but there remain numerous situations where knowledge gaps and engineering practice limitations hinder the efficient mitigation of earthquake-induced liquefaction damages to our infrastructure and communities. This presentation examines a number of lessons, challenges, and opportunities regarding the evaluation and mitigation of liquefaction hazards, including aspects of site characterization, engineering analysis methods, challenging soil types, remediation methods, performance-based engineering procedures, and risk management approaches.
February 11, 2020: Sufi Mediterranean Restaurant, San Diego
REGISTER for the SoCal Meeting>>
About the Speaker:
Professor Ross W. Boulanger is the Director of the Center for Geotechnical Modeling in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Davis. He received his PhD and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and his BASc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia. His research and professional practice are primarily related to liquefaction and its remediation, seismic performance of dams and levees, and seismic soil-structure interaction. His honors include the TK Hsieh Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Ralph B. Peck Award, Norman Medal, Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize, and Arthur Casagrande Professional Development Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers, and election to the US National Academy of Engineering.
Loss Prevention Seminars 2020: Technician & Field Staff Training - only held once a year!
Our Loss Prevention Seminars are geared towards field technicians of all experience levels, inspectors, staff engineers and staff geologists. These seminars will educate your staff and help them to do a better job in the field and therefore reduce the risk of mistakes and losses. That in turn, reduces liability and risk on every project.

When? Where?
DATES AND LOCATIONS HAVE CHANGED!!
NorCal: January 25th @ Hilton Garden Inn, Fairfield (2200 The Courtyard) - ONLY 10 spots left!
SoCal: February 8th @ Residence Inn, Burbank (321 S Ikea Way)
Registration and payment MUST BE MADE IN ADVANCE! If selecting pay by invoice, please ensure payment is post-dated at least 10-days in advance of the seminar date to ensure your spot.
Online registration will close 2-days before the seminar date, or when SOLD OUT!
Registration:
$150 Members, $225 Non-members.
Click on the location links above for more details and registration forms.
Still not part of our exclusive Members Club? Join now with our trial membership and receive a FREE REGISTRATION to a Loss Prevention Seminar. Contact Kelly Cabal for more information.
Thank you to our sponsor, Pavement Recycling Systems for supporting our seminars and also speaking this year!
Spring CPT Bootcamp in SoCal Announced
Our CPT Bootcamp short course was such a success it sold out in just a week! Don't miss our SoCal extended version on March 6th at the Courtyard Marriott Santa Ana, just off the 55 freeway at MacArthur.

More Options, More Learning:
To offer more learning opportunities for geo-professionals with varying degrees of CPT experience we have extended this course to a full day format.
AM Session:
Background on Cone Penetration Testing, data collected and soil parameters. If you are new to CPT - this is for you! Learn all about how the data is collected and how to calculate basic soil parameters and the soil behavior type.
A basic introduction to the software program, CPeT-IT will be included to cover importing files, looking at the data and basic parameter selection.
PM Session:
The afternoon session will take a deeper dive into analyzing CPT data for pile design and shallow foundations. More advanced features of CPeT-IT will be discussed and the course will move quickly.
CLiq will be introduced for liquefaction evaluation and case history examples will be used to work through.
Choose your path!
Register for just the AM, just the PM or come for the full day - its up to you!
Cost:
Half Day single session (AM or PM) $180 members, $300 non-members, $50 student members
Full Day (both AM and PM sessions) $300 members, $500 non-members, $100 student members
What's included:
Half day sessions will include either breakfast (AM session) or lunch (PM session) and breaks. Full day attendees will receive both breakfast and lunch.
Please plan to bring a laptop computer to follow along with the software. Free 7-day licenses will be available for both CPeT-IT and CLiq if you do not own the programs.
More information on CPeT-IT & CLiq available from Geologismiki's website.
REGISTER NOW
New Career Center Launched
Our old Job Board was sooooo 2019 - check out our new Career Center launched just in time for the new year! Fully integrated with our website, you can use your same CalGeo login and password to access the new Career center and receive special member pricing on all your job posts.
Employer Posting Structure:
30 Day Posting: $39 Member Price. $100 Non-Member Price
60 Day Posting: $59 Member Price. $175 Non-Member Price
90-Day Posting: $79 Member Price. $199 Non-Member Price
Featured Upgrade: Only $25 for Members ($45 for Non-members)
Featured jobs will be promoted at the top of the board, highlighted, and published to the Google Jobs Network. These jobs are sorted with the most recently posted jobs appearing at the top. Non-featured jobs will appear in chronological order from oldest to newest below the featured jobs.
Attention Job Seekers! We haven't forgotten about you - check out the new Career Center to post your resume and apply for open positions. Employers can search through resumes and reach out to you directly.
Take me to the new Career Center >>
Welcome CalGeo's Newest Members
We are pleased to welcome a few new members to the CalGeo family this month:
Griffin Soil Group Since 1986 we have grown and developed into the industry leader using innovative techniques, equipment and expertise. Today, the Griffin Soil Group is comprised of Griffin Soil Stabilization, Griffin Materials, Griffin Engineering and Griffin NSB.
Divis Consulting Divis Consulting was formed in 2004 to provide project management, geotechnical engineering, construction observation, and subsurface investigation services to the San Francisco Bay Area. Divis Consulting, incorporated in 2007 and is registered as a Micro Local Business Enterprise (LBE) with the City of San Francisco since 2008.
See's Consulting & Testing, Inc. provides professional services as a geotechnical engineering and construction testing firm based in Fresno, California. We service areas as far north as Modesto and as far south as Bakersfield.
The e.Calendar & Upcoming Events - The Geo-Calendar
Quick Browse: SoCal events in ORANGE, NorCal events in GREEN
CalGeo Events:
January 15, 2020: Sacramento Area EP Meeting, GEI's offices, Rancho Cordova
January 21, 2020: Bay Area EP Meeting with Dr. Robert Kayen (UC Berkeley), San Jose
January 25, 2020: NorCal Loss Prevention Seminar (Saturday 8am-12pm), Fairfield
February 5, 2020: NorCal Regional Meeting w/Dr. Ross Boulanger, Scott's Seafood, Oakland
February 8, 2020: SoCal Loss Prevention Seminar (Saturday 8am-12pm), Burbank
February 11, 2020: SoCal Regional Meeting w/Dr. Ross Boulanger, La Jolla
February 28, 2020: Taber Drill Class, Capay Valley
March 6, 2020: SoCal CPT Bootcamp, Santa Ana
April 2-3, 2020: Rocscience Short course on 2D Numerical Modelling, Los Angeles
April 22, 2020: Roscience Short courses @ Annual Conference, Lake Tahoe
April 22, 2020: Prevailing Wage Short course @ Annual Conference, Lake Tahoe
April 22-24, 2020: CalGeo's Annual Conference & 50th Anniversary! You don't want to miss this one. Cross your fingers for some good snow and skiing at Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe
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