Geotechnical Society of Edmonton

NEWS 2005

Posted May 30, 2005

June 16 and 17 Calgary, Alberta

CGS AND CSCE SPONSORED SHORT COURSES

The Calgary Chapters of the CGS and CSCE are sponsoring two one-day
short courses to be held in Calgary on June 16 and 17.

Professor Fred Kulhawy of Cornell University will be giving his short course on Estimation of Soil Properties for Foundation Design on June 16. The cost for National CGS members is only $100 ($250 for non-members) and includes lunch and notes.

On June 17, Prof. Kulhawy, with an introduction to the topic by Dennis Becker, will present a course on Geotechnical Uncertainty and Reliability-Based Foundation Design (RBD). This will be useful for those interested in Limit States Design for Foundations, which will be required under the 2005 Canadian Building Code. This is a repeat of a course that was held in Winnipeg in February 2005. The cost for national CGS members is $200 ($250 for non-members) and includes lunch and notes.

Further details are provided below. Please contact Chris Workman at 403-253-9217 or cworkman@thurber.ca for further information.

WHAT THESE COURSES ARE ABOUT
Estimation of Soil Properties for Foundation Design The first day (June 16, 2005) will be broken into eight sessions. Morning topics will include strategies for evaluation of soil properties and inference in soil property assessment, an evaluation of in-situ test types including SPT and CPT tests, and assessment of soil properties based on these tests. The afternoon will include evaluation of in-situ stress, strength (effective and total stress) and deformability of soils, followed by a discussion period.

Geotechnical Uncertainty and Reliability-Based Foundation Design (RBD). The second day (June 17, 2005) is an intensive short course. The morning session will introduce Limit States Design for foundations, which will be required under the 2005 Canadian Building Code, and provide an overview of the related Reliability-Based Design (RBD) method for foundations including a practical RBD approach for foundation engineering developed in North America. This will be followed by a discussion of the basic concepts, analytical tools and models for RBD. The afternoon session will focus on applications of RBD for foundations including evaluation of static soils parameters, modelling and development of soil design parameters. This will be followed by RBD equation basis and RBD example calculations.

Each day will be independent, so participants can attend either one day or both days. The Calgary Geotechnical Society is subsidizing the Day 1 cost for National Canadian Geotechnical Society members.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
The first day will be most helpful to geotechnical engineers. The second day will be valuable to those interested in Limit States Design for foundations, including: geotechnical and structural engineers, architects, and government officials.

COURSE DETAILS
Date: June 16 and 17, 2005
Time: Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. Course times 8 am to 5 pm
Location: Austrian Canadian Cultural Centre 3112 11 Street NE, Calgary, Alberta
Cost: Non Members $250/day
National CGS Members on Day 1 $100
National CGS and CSCE Members on Day 2 $200
Full Time Students $50/day

Registration Information
Pay at the door (cash or cheques), but pre-registration is required. Please register before June 13 by calling the APEGGA office at 262-7714. Full payment is required unless cancellation is received before June 8. Documentation of CGS/CSCE membership is required when paying.

SPEAKERS
Professor Fred Kulhawy, Ph.D., P.E. G.E. Fred Kulhawy is a professor at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Graduate Faculty of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and heads their Geotechnical Engineering Program. Professor Kulhawy has lectured widely, having given over 1000 presentations around the world. As a consultant, he has extensive experience worldwide, with much of this dealing with foundation engineering and soil/rock property evaluation.

In research, he has pioneered on many fronts, most notably with foundations and property evaluation since the early 1970¹s. Since the early 1980¹s, he has focused on geotechnical uncertainty and RBD for the electric utility industry. His research on these topics constitutes a majority of Day 2 of the short course. Professor Kulhawy is a member in good standing of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, served as Associate Editor of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal from 1992 to 2002 and presented the prestigious CGS Cross Canada Lecture Tour in 1988.

Dennis Becker, Ph.D., FEIC, P.Eng. Dennis Becker is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer and Principal of Golder Associates with over 25 years of experience on numerous large-scale civil engineering and resource development projects. He has experience with most aspects of geotechnical engineering and has developed extensive and varied areas of expertise.

Dr. Becker is active in many engineering and professional societies. He is now President of the Canadian Geotechnical Society, and serves on technical committees of the Canadian Standards Association, the National Building Code of Canada and the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code, being extensively involved with the development and implementation of limit states design for foundations.

CONTACT

c/o. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
7th Floor, Danadeo Innovation Center for Engineering
9211 - 116 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta
CANADA T6G 1H9
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