In this issue:
- December Regional Meeting: Seismic Response of Fine Grained Soils
- Getting the Angle on Inclinometers - Short Course Starting Soon
- LRFD Short Course - Part 1 in 2021
- Support our Students - your future employees
- DSA Public School Advisory Board
- Malcolm's Biggest Project: San Francisco
- Emerging Professional Events: Open to Everyone
- Light-weight Cellular Concrete in Action
- Looking for new hires? Use CalGeo's Career Center
- EP Virtual Holiday Party & Trivia Night
- Welcome New Members
- Upcoming Events - the e.Calendar
December Regional Meeting: Seismic Response of Fine Grained Soils
Join us on December 3rd at 12-1pm for our last Regional Meeting of 2020.
Liquefaction triggering procedures provided results consistent with observations of liquefaction across much of Christchurch, New Zealand during the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. However, there are cases where liquefaction assessment methods indicate that there should have been severe liquefaction-induced ground failure, yet none was observed.
Register now to learn more!

About the Speaker
Jonathan Bray, Ph.D., P.E., NAE is the Faculty Chair in Earthquake Engineering Excellence at UC Berkeley. Dr. Bray is a registered professional civil engineer and has served as a consultant on important engineering projects and peer review panels. He has authored more than 350 research publications on topics that include liquefaction and its effects, seismic performance of earth structures, earthquake ground motions, and surface fault rupture. He created and led the Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance (GEER) Association. Dr. Bray is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and has received several honors, including the Terzaghi Award, Ishihara Lecture, Peck Award, Joyner Lecture, Middlebrooks Award, and Huber Research Prize.
Cost
$20 CalGeo Members, $35 Non-members, Student members are FREE
If you missed Dr. Bray's Emerging Professional webinar on October 22nd, head on over to our Online Learning Library* where you can catch his incredible presentation on Challenges in Earthquake Engineering and his experience with G.E.E.R. (*library available to CalGeo members only)
Getting the Angle on Inclinometers - Short Course
Last chance to register for our Instrumentation short course starting Thursday this week. It will run for just 2 weeks, on Thursdays from 12 noon to 1:00pm Pacific Time.
Schedule & Instructor:
Lead by Geokon's Geotechnical Service Engineer, Rob Clark, this series will focus on "Getting the Angle on Inclinometers."
November 5th, Inclinometers 101: Installation and Monitoring Techniques
This webinar provides a summary of the inclinometer monitoring system and will include a discussion of inclinometer components, suggested methods for installation of the inclinometer casings, and suggested methods for performing manual measurements with inclinometers. The material is intended to provide a basic overview of the instrument and help guide the user in getting the most value out of a properly selected and installed inclinometer system. Subsequent webinars will delve deeper into the plotting and evaluation of the data associated with the inclinometer.
November 12th, Inclinometers 201: Data Evaluation & Case Histories
This webinar provides a continued discussion of the use of the inclinometer system. In the first half of this discussion, inclinometer data evaluation and plotting examples will be shared, along with identifying and dealing with common errors that can develop with the inclinometer systems. The second half of this webinar will be a presentation of case histories with examples of some good inclinometer experiences and some not so much.

Cost:
$50/Members. $150/Non-members. Consider joining as an individual member and gain our entire Online Learning Library access for the whole year! Individual membership is only $150 or contact Kelly Cabal about a new company Trial Membership savings.
Attendees may login through GoToWebinar to attend any or all of the live webinars. Each webinar will be recorded and the video plus any handouts and slides will be available to registered attendees through CalGeo's Online Learning Library for up to 1 year. You choose based on your schedule!
Load Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Short Course Series 1
Presented by Jerry DiMaggio, P.E., D. GE Senior Principal Civil Engineer, ARA Associates
To assist CalGeo's membership and partners to better understand the benefits of and accept and implement a Load Resistance Factor Design approach, CalGeo has organized a webinar series on LRFD.
The presenter of this series is Mr. Jerry A DiMaggio, PE, D.GE. Jerry has presented numerous webinars and live delivery training programs on LRFD during the past decade. He is internationally known and a certified master trainer. He has worked on approximately 1000 projects, in all 50 states and internationally. His technical specialty areas include design and construction of Geotechnical Features, risk management, forensics and dispute resolution.
Beginning on Thursday January 14th, 2021 participants will have access to a 90-minute webinar each week for four weeks. The webinar may be viewed live at the designated time or a recording watched at a more convenient time. The benefit of attending the live webinar is that participants may submit questions to the speaker for a short Q&A session at the end of the webinar. Sessions will be recorded and available to registrants for up to 60-days after the program conclusion.
Each webinar will be approximately 90 minutes in length and consist of a technical program followed by a Q&A session. The series will be presented over two time periods. The initial series, consisting of four webinars, will begin in mid-January 2021 and be presented each week. All webinars will be recorded and pdf copies of the webinar material will be available to participants for up to 60-days following the course.
The topics for the initial four webinars included in Part 1 of the series are:
- Load and Resistance Factor Design Fundamentals (Part I)
- Load and Resistance Factor Design Fundamentals (Part II)
- Best Practices for Geotechnical Site Characterization
- Design and Construction of Driven Pile Foundations
The second webinar series, Part 2, will address: cut retaining walls, ground anchors and ground anchor systems, drilled shafts, micropiles, shallow foundations and fill retaining walls. Separate registration for Part 2 required.

Cost for Part 1 (includes the 4 webinars listed above):
$300 CalGeo Members, $550 Non-members, $75 Full-time students
CalGeo Member Benefit: Want to refer this course to one of your clients or partners at a structural or civil firm? Contact Kelly Cabal for a DISCOUNT CODE you can share to give them $100 off registration (non-member price drops to $450)
Group discount: Use the code 5ORMORE if your company is registering 5 or more attendees to save $50/pp!
Details about registration and dates for Part 2 of the web series will be released in the coming weeks.
Support Our Students: GeoWall Teams in Action
CalGeo is proud to support a growing number of student chapters at Universities across the state. Now more than ever, students need organizations and clubs to keep the connection to other students, industry and hands-on learning.
Many members have already donated to CalGeo's student fund during their membership renewal this year. We really appreciate the support! We plan to turn around and direct these funds directly to our student scholarships and supporting the local GeoWall teams.
CalGeo Student Support Plans for 2020-2021:
- Award $10,000 in scholarships to students continuing their education (undergraduate or graduate) in a geo-profession. The main award criteria is involvement in their CalGeo student chapter!
- Increase GeoWall team support from $500/team to $1000/team
- Aid with speakers and online web-events
- Provide access to our new Online Learning Library to CalGeo student chapter members
- Highly discounted course registration for student members
How you can help:
Donate to our Student Fund towards our scholarships and Chapter support
Donate directly to your favorite GeoWall Team:
Cal Poly Pomona: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter President
Cal Poly SLO: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter President
CSUF: E-mail Student Chapter President
CSUN: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter President
UCLA: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter President
UCSD: Sponsorship Request E-mail Student Chapter President

DSA Public School Construction Collaborative
CalGeo is excited to announce that Eric Swenson, one of CalGeo's Board of Directors has been accepted to the California DSA Public School Construction Collaborative (PSCC) on behalf of the geotechnical engineering community. Eric is joining on behalf of CalGeo to represent California's geotechnical engineers at the Division of the State Architect (DSA).
Congratulations Eric!
Malcolm Drilling's Biggest Project: San Francisco
Malcolm Drilling just announced their biggest project in company history at the Southeast Treatment Plant (SEP) in San Francisco, CA for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Built in 1952, the plant treats 80% of the city’s wastewater, but many of the plants aging facilities need to be upgraded to meet modern seismic standards while improving operational reliability and operational flexibility.
Our work will include the installation of over 800 drilled piles, 260.000 SF of temporary shoring wall with internal bracing and hundreds of tie-backs, over 120.000 CY of mass excavation, off-haul of all spoils and the dewatering of 2 major excavations. We have been engaged as one of the Core Trade Partners working for the MHW/Webcor JV as acting CM/GC following several years of pre-construction services for the owner – the San Francisco Public Utility Commission.
Stay tuned for further upgrades on this MEGA project!
For more information on this project please contact: Robert Small [email protected]
Emerging Professional Events - Open to Everyone
Think you're too old to learn some new tricks? Our Emerging Professional webinars are open to everyone, even the seasoned geotechs out there.
We have a couple exciting presentations lined up to round out the end of the year.
Registration is now open for our Emerging Professional Webinar on November 20th at 12pm:
Presented by Ed Hernandez, Project X Corrosion Engineering
The presentation will explain what corrosion engineers need to know to develop their corrosion control recommendations for common construction materials used in underground infrastructure to avoid costly future failures. We'll review how to collect soil samples and where to collect soil samples and the significance of various tests.

Registration is complimentary thanks to CalGeo's Affiliate members but only CalGeo members will have access to the recorded session and materials on our awesome Online Learning Library.
We also have a December EP Webinar on Thursday December 10th @ 11am:
Lightweight cellular concrete (LCC) is a mixture of portland cement, water, and air that can act as a lightweight, strong, durable, and inexpensive soil or fill replacement for geotechnical applications. LCC saves time, money, and natural resources by replacing aggregates with air bubbles in numerous project applications. This presentation will introduce construction professionals and the design community to LCC and assist them in specifying this product for daily use.

For more info and a look into Lightweight Cellular Concrete in practice, read on below!
Light-weight Cellular Concrete in Action
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) in cooperation with The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is widening the San Diego Freeway (I-405) between State Route 73 (SR-73) and Interstate 605 (I-605).The project will improve 16 miles of I-405 between the SR-73 freeway in Costa Mesa and I-605 near the L.A. County line.
OC 405 Partners (OHL USA and Astaldi Construction) lead the design-build team.
CalGeo's newest Affiliate member, Cell Crete is placing Lightweight Cellular Concrete (LCC) on the I-405 widening project. LCC will reduce settlement and increase strength compared to earth fill. LCC is also faster, reduces trucking by an order of magnitude, conserves aggregates, and often reduces total cost.
This placement is at the southeast corner of the intersection of I-405 with Magnolia in Fountain Valley. Magnolia will be wider with LCC between a new concrete retaining wall and the existing Magnolia embankment approach to the new longer-span bridge.
Looking for New Hires? Use CalGeo's Career Center
Some of our member firms are running ragged with loads of new work and struggling with employees working remotely or dealing with child-care issues. If you are in the market for some new staff, consider posting your positions on CalGeo's Career Center.
Check out our current postings plus more from ZipRecruiter here:
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Director of Geotechnical Services
Blackburn Consulting - West Sacramento, CA
Full-time
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Posted: Aug 3, 2020
Salary: $125,000.00 - $150,000.00 Annually
Application Deadline: Dec 31, 2020
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Emerging Professional Holiday Party & Trivia Night
T he Sacramento chapter of CalGeo's Emerging Professional group has organized a virtual Holiday Party on Thursday December 9th at 6:30pm. The Zoom-based meeting and trivia night will max out at 100 people so sign-in early.
Prizes are available to the trivia wizards out there courtesy of our Affiliate sponsor, Middle Earth Geo Testing. Thanks!
Register to attend and receive the zoom information now >>

New Members, Welcome!
We are so pleased to welcome the following new company members and individual members from across the US and Internationally. Click the logos below to visit each company's website.
New Affiliate Members:
Cell Crete has been placing Lightweight Cellular Concrete (LCC) since 1956. LCC is lighter and stronger than earth fill, reducing settlement and loads. LCC has been used routinely for underground tank/void abandonments, annular fills, and crush zones to protect utilities at fault crossings. Recent applications include raising sites on soft ground for sea level rise.
LCC is also faster, reduces trucking by an order of magnitude, conserves aggregates, and often reduces total cost.
New Individual Members:
Gobishankar Rajaskanthan, AECOM
The e.Calendar & Online Learning Events - The Geo-Calendar
All in-person events are cancelled for the foreseeable future. We will notify you when we plan to hold a dinner meeting or Emerging Professional event.
November 5th & 12th: Getting the Angle on Inclinometers, an Instrumentation Short Course
November 20th at 12pm: EP Webinar: Practical Approach to Soil Corrosivity Evaluation w/Project X Corrosion Engineering
December 3rd: Regional Meeting: Seismic Response of Fine Grained Soils w/Dr. Jonathan Bray
December 9th at 6:30pm: Virtual EP Holiday Party & Trivia Night
December 10th 11am-12pm: EP Webinar: Lightweight Cellular Concrete for Geotechnical Applications w/CNCA & PCA
January 14, 2021 11am-12:30pm: LRFD 4-week Short Course w/Jerry DiMaggio - PART 1
Save the Date:
January 23, 2021: Virtual Loss Prevention Seminar - Training for technicians, inspectors & field staff. Now available on-line for everyone!
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