November/December 2022 - 69

COMMITTEE CHAIR TIMOTHY SIEGEL, P.E., G.E., D.GE
Ground Improvement
The Ground Improvement Committee
met in Nashville during the S3: Slopes,
Slides and Stabilization Conference. The
call for abstracts for the 2023 S3
Conference, to be held in Boston on
August 8-10, is open. Organizers are
specifically interested in field performance
data for ground improvement in
Boston Blue Clay. The deadline for
abstracts is December 2.
The Committee is currently sponsoring
four projects funded through the
DFI Committee Project Fund:
* Aaron Gallant, Ph.D., P.E., University
of Maine - Development of a simplified
methodology to evaluate the factor of
safety for basal stability and magnitude
of lateral spreading for CSEs supported
on rigid inclusions
* Mohammad Khosravi, Ph.D., Montana
State University - Reinforcing
mechanisms of soil-cement columns in
liquefiable sand underneath an embankment
during strong earthquake shaking
* Armin Stuedlein, Ph.D., P.E., Oregon
State University, and Matthew Gibson,
Ph.D., P.E., Clarity Engineering -
Seismic performance of rigid inclusions
*
Jie Huang, Ph.D., P.E., University of
Texas - Polymer grouting; an alternative
to cementitious materials
Chris Woods, P.E., G.E., D.GE, LEED AP,
BD+C, Densification, and Jerold Bishop,
P.E., D.GE, Kiewit, are organizing what
will be two special DFI Journal issues
devoted to ground improvement.
Authors for these issues, as well as all
future papers, will have the opportunity
to present a short podcast introduction.
The content will be released to coincide
with publication of their manuscript as
a way of marketing the high-quality
content of the journal.
Lisheng Shao, Ph.D., P.E.,
G . E . , Ma l c o lm Dr i l l i ng
Company; Tanner Blackburn,
Ph.D., P.E., Keller and Roberto Lopez, P.E.,
Condon-Johnson & Associates, are
leading the review and update of commentary
on the selection, design and
specification of ground improvement
for mitigation of earthquake-induced
liquefaction. This will be an update to a
DFI paper published in 2014.
Miriam Smith, Peterson Contractors,
and Sam Warren, P.E., P.M.P.,
Farrell Design-Build, are leading a task
force to help position the Ground
Improvement Committee and DFI in
relation to rigid inclusions. This task
force is currently preparing a designrelated
document, as well as working
w i t h o t h e r s o n t h e
committee to develop a DFI
Committee Project Fund
proposal to host a summit on rigid
inclusions with members of American
Society of Civil Engineers, ADSC,
university researchers and others
involved in rigid inclusion-related
activities.
Bishop has also agreed to develop
and lead an exploratory group looking
into creating a DFI Think Tank. This
would be focused on subjects of key
interest to DFI and or those issues that
push conventional boundaries. An
example of a think tank activity would
be to determine a strategy to gain a
wider relevance and influence in
policy making.
COMMITTEE CHAIR GIOVANNI BONITA, PH.D., P.E., P.ENG., P.G.
Slurry Wall
There's a lot happening with the Slurry
Wall Committee. An active work group
has been set up and is in full motion to
update the Industry Practice Standards
and DFI Practice Guidelines for Structural
Slurry Walls publication, which was
released in 2005. Team leads have
been established for each of the major
sections of the document, and the
groups have been actively meeting
and generating content over the
course of the past year. The effort is
being led by Mary Ellen Large, P.E.,
D.GE, Nicholson Construction, and
Jewels Stover, Bauer Equipment
America. A draft of the document is
targeted by the end of 2022.
After eight years of leadership and
service to the Slurry Wall Committee, I
am stepping down as chair. Concurrent
with the leadership transition, the
Slurry Wall Committee and the Seepage
Control Committee
will merge to
form one committee.
The new
g r o u p w i l l b e
referred to as the
Structural Slurry
Wall and Seepage Control Committee.
Meeok Kim, P.E., Ph.D., Thornton
Tomasetti, and Amr Ragy, Bauer
Foundation Corporation, will co-chair
the committee and will continue the
current initiatives and projects of both
committees. The effective date for
combining the two committees is
January 1, 2023.
I am incredibly grateful to have
been able to work with all of you over
the last several years. I will continue to
serve as a member of the committee
and look forward to participating in the
future projects.
DEEP FOUNDATIONS * NOV/DEC 2022 * 69
November/December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2022
