January/February 2023 - 63

the FPS. On the topic of track pressures, the Working
Platforms Group will be developing a standard detail or form
that specifies what is needed from rig manufacturers to
produce the detailed inputs necessary for realistic use of the
FPS track pressure tool.
In case you missed it, DFI offered a Working Platform
Design & Verification course in December 2022. The course
covered working platform design including both track pressure
calculation and the design of the working platform itself.
Several real-world examples are included to expose some of
the limitations and related risks. The good news is the course
will be offered in February as well, so use the QR
code to sign up soon! (See page 35)
The EFFC-DFI Field Research Study #1 (FRS
#1) started in fall 2022. Several contractors
already undertook the opportunity to trial the four candidate
instrument systems and provide feedback. All members,
including consultants and general contractors, who want to
learn what platform testing and verification methods are
available are encouraged to participate. Under
FRS #1, all the equipment is available for free,
so please sign up and contribute to the data set
and impact of the project. Program details can
be found here by using the QR code.
We would like to both thank and congratulate Chris
Normand of Cajun Industries who has accepted the position
of vice chair, and Noah Miner, P.E., of Malcolm Drilling
Company who has accepted the position of secretary. We look
forward to the contributions both will have and are grateful
for the help!
COMMITTEE CHAIR GERALD VERBEEK
Sustainability
As I write this report for the Sustainability Committee in the
middle of December 2022, I look back at a very successful year
with quite a few highlights. The first that comes to mind is the
webinar we presented in March. Four executives of U.S. firms,
Sue Frank, TEI Rock Drills; Seth Pearlman, P.E., D.GE, Menard;
Eric Drooff, Keller NA; and Victor Romero, P.E., CEG, CP.Eng.,
Jacobs Associates, gave their views on the topic of
sustainability, how it makes a difference for their companies
and why it simply makes sense to adopt it. If you did not
watch it already, it can be found on the committee webpage.
In addition to this, the committee also presented a webinar on
the Carbon Calculator, where Kimberly Martin, Ph.D., P.E.,
ENV SP, Keller NA, gave an excellent overview of how this tool
can be used. As you might expect, this webinar is also
available on the committee webpage.
Next was the launch of a regular column in Deep
Foundations magazine showcasing successful case studies of
" Foundations for a Sustainable Future. " So far, six of these
columns have been published, one of which was among the
last written contributions to DFI by Bernie Hertlein, FACI,
M.ASCE. Hertlein was a very involved member from the very
moment the committee became active again in 2020 until
shortly before he suffered a stroke in late November 2022.
This " British guy, with a German name, educated in France
and living in the U.S., " as he often referred to himself, passed
away a few weeks later and will be sorely missed.
The third item that must be mentioned is
the DFI-EFFC conference in Berlin this past
May, where the theme of sustainability
received a lot of attention through a workshop,
a panel discussion and two sessions of paper
presentations. During the conference,
the first in a series of guides to cover the
United Nations' Sustainable Development
Goals was presented. These guides
are a joint effort between the committee
and the Sustainability Working Group
within EFFC, which will continue in the
next couple of years. Scan the QR code for Conference
Proceedings
The fourth item was putting together a special
sustainability issue of this magazine, where committee
members Martin; Tony Amis; Melissa Beauregard, Ph.D.;
Karsten Beckhaus, Ph.D.; and Craig Shillaber, Ph.D., together
with Derrick Dasenbrock, P.E., D.GE, of the Federal Highway
Administration, focused on the sustainability theme from all
different angles. Topics covered included the use of energy
foundations, which is focus of a committee working group
chaired by Amis; the reuse of foundations, which will also be
the topic of a conference hosted by DFI Europe in March; and
the Carbon Calculator, which is the focus of another
committee working group chaired by Chris Nelson.
These four items are just the major highlights and the
committee members named above are but a few of those that
meet the last Tuesday of every month at 11 a.m., ET. As
committee chair, I am very grateful to the entire committee
for their involvement and enthusiasm, and I look forward to
another very productive year. If reading this report makes you
want to participate in DFI's efforts for a sustainable future,
please feel free to contact DFI's Technical Activities staff at
TechActivities@dfi.org or myself and we would be happy to
have you become part of this very active committee.
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JAN/FEB 2023 * 63
https://www.dfi.org/communities/industry-alliances/effc-dfi-working-platforms-task-group https://www.dfi.org/working-platforms-course https://www.dfi.org/publications/single-pub?pubid=22524&bundle=1
January/February 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2023
