CalGeo Logo

September e.Geo

September 2019




In this issue:

  1. Regional Meetings Raise the Roof
  2. September Emerging Professionals Meeting
  3. DFI Traveling Lecturer and new Bay Area EP Chapter
  4. CPT Interpretation Short Course - November 8th
  5. Writing Course: Fundamentals of Professional Practice Savings
  6. Don't miss an opportunity with CalGeo's Job Board
  7. Membership Renewal - two weeks left
  8. Welcome our New Members
  9. Upcoming Events - the e.Calendar

Regional Meetings Raise the Roof!

If you didn't sign up early, you probably missed out on our SOLD OUT August regional meetings last week. We had 110-120 attendees at our Santa Ana and Walnut Creek locations (respectively) to hear David Baska with Terracon give us an inside look at seismic design updates for the California building code.

Download the slides from Dr. Baska's presentation on our exclusive members only Members Club page. If your company is a member and you do not have a login or need assistance with access, please e-mail Kelly Cabal.

A big thank you to Hayward Baker for sponsoring the bar at both events and we apologize for maxing out your credit card...oops!


September Emerging Professionals Meeting

Join the Sacramento Emerging Professionals group the 3rd Wednesday of every month for a casual dinner and interesting speaker.

September's meeting will be on Wednesday the 18th at GEI's offices in Rancho Cordova. Speaker TBA!

Cost: $20 Professionals, Students free!

Details: Dinner & registration @ 6:30pm, presentation @ 7:15pm

RSVP by September 16th to: [email protected]


We're Bringing the Deep Foundations Institute Traveling Lecturer to San Jose

CalGeo managed to snag a date with Willie NeSmith, this year's Deep Foundations Institute Traveling Lecturer. We are hosting a one-date-only event in San Jose on October 23rd to kick off our new Bay Area Emerging Professionals Chapter.

The new EP chapter hopes to meet every 2-months as they get off the ground and welcomes any young professionals, or interested geo-professionals to their invited speaker series.

Join us on October 23rd at Flames Eatery for dinner and Mr. NeSmith's presentation on Design Methodologies for Cast-in-place Piles. This lecture is an in-depth treatment of current design methodologies for cast-in-place piles. Conventional continuous flight auger (CFA) drilled displacement piles are addressed.

 

 

 

Willie M. NeSmith, P.E., is the former chief geotechnical engineer for Berkel & Company Contractors. NeSmith received a B.S. in civil engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1974, and for the following 25 years worked as a consulting geotechnical engineer on projects in the U.S., the Middle East and Africa. He began to specialize in deep foundations in 1990, and joined Berkel & Company in 1999, after serving as a consultant for implementation of Berkel's displacement pile system. He is a leading authority on the design and installation of cast-in-place displacement piles in the U.S., having designed or evaluated over 200 displacement pile projects nationwide. NeSmith has authored over 20 professional publications and is a past member of the DFI Augered Cast-in-Place (ACIP) Pile Committee. He also served as the lead instructor for the DFI ACIP Short Course. NeSmith received his first professional registration in Georgia in 1978.

The presentation will be similar in structure to our regular regional dinner meetings.

This meeting is open to all geo-professionals and interested attendees from CalGeo, ASCE, consulting firms, government organizations, students and more!

REGISTER NOW

Program:

6:00pm Registration/Arrival (restaurant validates at upstairs parking garage)

6:30pm Dinner

7:15pm Presentation

8:30pm Conclusion

Thank you to the Deep Foundations Institute for providing us with their 2019-2020 Traveling Lecturer, Willie NeSmith! For more information, please visit DFI.org

Cost

$50 CalGeo members and ALL emerging professionals, $60 Non-members

$20 students


NorCal CPT Interpretation Short Course

If you missed our April technical short courses in San Diego, not to worry! We are bringing Dr. Robertson back for his popular half-day CPT short course using worked examples in CPeT-IT and CLiq software.

Pro-tip: Its pronounced See-Pe-teet and See-Lick

Bring you laptop and enjoy a hot buffet breakfast at the Hyatt House in Pleasanton on Friday November 8th. Course will run from 8-11:30am and you'll get a chance to work through the examples on your own computer using a trial version of the software.

Click here for Registration and additional information>>

Cost: $180 CalGeo members, $280 Non-members. Includes breakfast and free parking at hotel.

Visit Geologismiki's website to download a free trial of the software.

CPeT-IT takes Cone Penetration Test raw data and performs basic interpretation in terms of Soil Behaviour Type (SBT) and various other geotechnical parameters using the current published correlations based on the comprehensive review by Lunne, Robertson and Powell (1997), as well as recent updates by Professor Robertson.

CLiq is a soil liquefaction software that addresses advanced issues such as cyclic softening in clay-like soils and thin layer/layer transition zone detection. CLiq provides results and plots for each calculation step, starting with the basic CPT data interpretation through to final plots of factor of safety, liquefaction potential index and post-earthquake displacements, both vertical settlement and lateral displacements. CLiq provides consistent output results by applying the state-of-the-art NCEER method (Youd et al, 2001) along with the calibrated procedures for post-earthquake displacements by Zhang et al (2002 & 2004). It also includes the latest assessment procedure developed by Robertson (2009) which is applicable to all soil type combining a check for cyclic liquefaction (sands) and cyclic softening (clays).


Save $1000 on John Bachner's Fundamentals of Professional Practice

Looking to train your staff in technical writing?

Fundamentals of Professional Practice (FOPP) is a unique learning experience that immerses participants in the world of private practice, with an emphasis on professional communication, especially through the written word. The course comprises six months of mentored distance learning followed by a powerful two-and-one-half-day, course-concluding seminar. The course is conducted once per year. Course size is limited to the first 150 persons to enroll.

If your firm is insured by Terra Insurance Company (which specializes in geoprofessional coverages), you’ve likely had people go through FOPP (more than 2,000 alumni!) or plan to soon. There’s nothing else like FOPP. And CalGeo members get a $1,000 discount because CalGeo is a sponsor!

Click here for more information on John Bachner's Fundamentals of Professional Practice course.

*Note: Course started August 28th - sign up now as its only held once a year!


Don't miss an Opportunity - Check out our job board

Check out CalGeo's new and improved Job Board for new opportunities. Members can post for free on CalGeo's job board and expand to all of Zip Recruiter's job network for only $149. If you are asked to pay $249 (non-member price), your company account is not recognized as a member.

How to post a job:

  • Visit CalGeo's website and click on the Jobs link in Navigation.
  • Look for the Employers link on the top right corner to sign-in.
  • Click the blue Member Login button on the job board and use your CalGeo membership login credentials to get the member price.

Call or E-mail Kelly Cabal with any questions!


Membership Renewal Until September 15th

We hope you have found value in your membership with CalGeo this year. For a brief synopsis of what we've accomplished, download our Membership Value report HERE!

We have mailed out renewal packages to the key contacts of each firm. You have a couple ways to renew:

On-line Option:

Organizational members: Key contacts can Click here to complete a membership form/renewal and update your company size and information. Pay instantly online with a credit card or get an invoice e-mailed and pay before the deadline of September 15th.

Affiliate members: Key contacts can Click here to complete an Affiliate membership form/renewal, update company information and pay online or get an invoice e-mailed.

Individual members: Click here to login and complete a membership form/renewal, update your information and pay online or get an invoice e-mailed. Upgrade to a company membership so all your employees receive the benefit of membership, participate and receive in the salary survey and get voting rights!

Old-school Option:

Organizational members: Download our Membership Form, complete and remit with payment by the September 15th deadline. We take care of all the computer stuff!

Affiliate members: Download our Affiliate Membership Form, complete and remit with payment by the September 15th deadline.

Questions? E-mail or call Kelly Cabal 949-391-2436


Welcome CalGeo's Newest Members

We are pleased to welcome three new firms to the CalGeo family this month:

GENTERRA Consultants, Inc. was established in 1995. The firm provides civil engineering and geotechnical services for dams, levees and other facilities, dam safety evaluations, dam design, dam engineering, dam rehabilitation, dam safety and levee safety risk analyses, geology, surface water hydrology, dam failure analyses, ground water hydrology, water resources, mine waste, tailings dams, hydropower facilities, construction inspection, soil testing, third-party reviews and expert witness services. Learn more here>>

Geo-Logic Associates (GLA) is an employee-owned, multidisciplinary, consulting geologic, geotechnical, civil and environmental firm. Our highly experienced professionals manage projects through 26 US office locations and an office in Peru. Learn more about us, and our affiliates.

Giles Engineering Associates have been providing geotechnical engineering services for 40 years, including not only relevant engineering data specific to each project, but educating our clients on the inherent risks involved in their project and benefits derived from our practical solutions. Our clients include architects, civil and structural engineers, contractors, developers, and public and private sector owners that range from small municipalities to multinational corporations. Learn more here>>


The e.Calendar & Upcoming Events - The Geo-Calendar

Quick Browse: SoCal events in ORANGE, NorCal events in GREEN

CalGeo Events:

September 18, 2019: September EP Meeting, GEI Consultants, Rancho Cordova

October 16, 2019: October EP Meeting, North Natomas Library, Sacramento

 

October 23, 2019: DFI Lecture dinner meeting & Bay Area EP Kick-off, Flames Eatery, San Jose

 

November 8, 2019: CPT Interpretation Morning Short Course, Hyatt House, Pleasanton

Other Geo-Professional Events:

September 5, 11am Pacific Time: Webinar on More-Direct Conversion of Strain to Internal Force in Static Load Tests by Nucor Skyline & GRL.

October 14-16, 2019: Itasca Focused Seismic and Liquefaction Training, Crowne Plaza LA Harbor, Los Angeles

October 21, 2019 9am-5pm: AEG/EERI/ASCE-GI Short Course: Updates to the California Building Code and CGS Requirements for Schools and Hospitals, Citizen Hotel, Sacramento

SAVE THE DATE (No excuses!)

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