DFI Committee Meets at World of Concrete - Helical Pier World

By Rich Davis, Editor-in-Chief

The Helical Foundations & Tiebacks Committee of the Deep Foundation Institute met on Thursday, January 25^th, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada.  The committee determined at the October meeting last year that only one meeting a year was woefully inadequate to meet the ever increasing number of agenda items that need to be addressed.  The solution was to host a second meeting each year in conjunction with the absolutely massive World of Concrete conference and exhibition.

21 people attended the meeting including this author.  Committee chair, Robert Hoyt (member of HPW Advisory Panel), called the meeting to order, and the following topics were discussed:

• The committee continues to refine the performance specification for helical anchors.  The most recently submitted draft was reviewed by the DFI prior to the meeting, and it was returned to the committee with 11 comments.  The plan now is to review and discuss the comments, and then come up with another draft through a conference call on March 2^nd.
   
• Dr. Howard Perko (member of HPW Advisory Panel) was to present the final version of the PowerPoint presentation designed for university professors.  The conference room had neither a screen nor a projector for reviewing the presentation.  It was just as well because there were a number of comments on the presentation that needed addressing.  The comments were all minor and related to changing brand names to more generic titles, consistency of terminology and how to address the corrosion issue.  The next draft should be mailed out to the committee members within the next 2-3 weeks.
   
• There was a small update on the Ad Hoc Committee of Helical Foundation Manufacturers Acceptance Criteria (AC) submittal to the ICC-ES.  The period for public comments on the AC had just closed on the 23^rd of January.  Dr. Howard Perko, consultant and lead developer of the AC, will present the criteria at the ICC quarterly meeting in Los Angeles, California on February 6^th-8^th.
   
• Next up was a discussion on a theme, date, and a location for the 2007 Helical Foundations & Tiebacks Committee Seminar.  Recall last year’s seminar was in Newark, NJ.  Deciding on a theme for this year’s seminar was easy – “Natural Hazards.”  Papers are being solicited by the DFI with topics pertaining to natural hazards including hurricanes, earthquakes, expansive soils, etc… and their impacts and effects on foundation design (helical foundations of course).  The agreed upon date for the seminar is November 9^th, 2007.  The following locations for the seminar were suggested:  Portland, Seattle, New Orleans, Florida, Atlanta, Texas, and Charleston.  A vote was taken, and New Orleans was selected.  The date and location are officially tentative as both must still be approved by DFI management.
   
• At the last meeting, the committee decided to continue with the writing of specifications for various helical pier applications.  First drafts of the compression and the soil nail specifications were presented.  Gary Seider, P.E. (member of HPW Advisory Panel) was responsible for the soil nail specification.  The draft was roughly 50% complete, and the plan is to have it complete for committee review by mid-February.  There will be a review and comment period before a second draft is written.  Next was the compression specification drafted and presented by Phillip Slemmons, P.E.  The format or style of this first draft was immediately questioned.  The group vigorously discussed whether the specification was to be written as a prescriptive specification or a performance specification.  Slemmons had written it as a prescriptive specification.  A vote was taken, and the result was 18-2 in favor of a performance specification.
   
• Next up was the job of electing a vice-chair of the committee.  DFI management suggested that each committee adopt a vice-chair in order to cover for the chair during absences, etc.  The Helical Foundations & Tieback Committee was well positioned to accommodate the requirement as chairman Bob Hoyt had some time ago asked Dr. Howard Perko to fill the position of secretary for the committee – a position with essentially the same responsibilities as the new vice chairman.  The decision was an easy one, as the committee asked Dr. Perko if he would accept the new vice-chair position.  He agreed, and the position of secretary was replaced with vice chairman.  Adding a bit of levity to the situation, Dr. Perko asked for a pay raise.  His request was denied!
   
• Wait, there’s more. There was an agreement to create a technical sub-committee that will investigate the feasibility of university involvement in some potential field studies, along with the possibility of funding a graduate student and thesis.
   
• And last but certainly not least - HPW is honored to announce the DFI Helical Foundations & Tieback Committee has selected HelicalPierWorld.com as the medium through which industry wide load test data will be consolidated and made available worldwide.  At the DFI Committee meeting in Las Vegas in January, there was a consensus that the industry would be well served to publish helical pier load test results.  The question was how to deliver the information in an efficient and effective manner.  The suggestion was brought up (not by HPW) that Helical Pier World would be an appropriate place to store and manage this information.  This concept fits nicely into HPW’s overall mission of being the global information source for the helical pier industry.  HPW plans to organize and publish the data in a format similar to the Case Studies section on the website, which will make it easy to find and view the test data.  Helical Pier World is excited to work with the DFI Helical Foundations & Tiebacks Committee on this project and looks forward to continued collaboration in the future.
   

And on that note, the meeting was adjourned.