Update: June 2022-August 2023

Since the last blog on June 1, 2022, the following notable activities have occurred:

Expert Consultation Services

Naresh continues to provide expert consultation services to several local, national, and international firms and agencies. These have included peer reviews, expert opinions, forensic evaluations, design guidance, construction trouble-shooting, and training designers, construction inspectors and contractors on a variety of geo-structural topics. Examples include a load test on a 10-ft diameter drilled shafts through caliche formations, re-design of drilled shafts based on load test results, preparation of performance specifications for true bridge abutments (i.e., abutments supported by spread footings on top of MSE walls), evaluation of a settling MSE wall, setting up new and more interactive practitioner based education programs, etc. Contact us to find out how Naresh and NCSG can help your projects in a similar manner and enhance your team and work products. Visit About Us to explore our services and Testimonials.

Virtual Workshops for the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Naresh developed and delivered several new virtual workshops. The following topics were addressed:

1. Drilled Shafts in Soils – Design and Construction
2. Lateral Analysis and Considerations for Induced Ground Deformations
3. Serviceability Effects of Foundation Movements and Deterioration on Bridge and Approach Structures.
4. Soil Nail Walls – Design and Construction
5. Spread Footings on Soil and Rock – Geotechnical Design Aspects

All of the workshops were well attended by participants within and outside the United States.

FHWA’s Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) No. 1 – Geotechnical Fundamentals for Transportation Projects (GFTP)

As noted in a previous update in 2019, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) selected the team of Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) to update the “Soils and Foundations” (S&F) manual to Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) platform. This updated manual will be re-titled as “Geotechnical Fundamentals for Transportation Projects” (GFTP) and will become the Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC) 1. ARA teamed with NCS GeoResources, LLC (NCSG) to develop the update. As with the previous S&F manual, Naresh is the lead author for this update with Jerry DiMaggio of ARA as the co-author. The draft version of this manual was completed, and a 4-day pilot course was presented in April 2023 in Gainesville, Florida, to the statewide geotechnical engineers Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Based on the comments received at the pilot course, the GFTP manual (GEC 1) is now in its final technical editing and 508 compliance phase and is expected to be released in Spring 2024.

FHWA’s Instructor Led Training titled “Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and Design Methods”

The technical walk-through for the Instructor Led Training (ILT) for the Geotechnical Engineering Circular (GEC 10) titled “Drilled Shafts: Construction Procedures and Design Methods” was completed in March 2021. NCS GeoResources, LLC, has been working as a subcontractor to Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA). Naresh is a co-Subject Matter Expert (co-SME) with Jerry A. DiMaggio on this effort. Earlier this year (2023) the final deliverables were accepted by the FHWA.

Annual Lecture at the University of Arizona

In January 2023, Naresh delivered his annual lecture at the Department of Civil & Architectural Engineering & Mechanics (CAEM) at the University of Arizona (UA) titled “Geotechnical Services – Some Considerations for a Construction Manager.” Naresh developed this lecture for the CE381 course organized by Dr. Dean Papajohn, PE, Professor, CAEM, UA, and has been delivering the lecture with updates annually since 2018. In this lecture Naresh teaches undergraduate juniors and seniors the importance of geotechnical engineering from the perspective of a construction manager. The class had 50 students this year.

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