Video: What Is the Geotechnical Field?
This 5-minute video produced by the DFI Women in Deep Foundations (WiDF) Committee answers the question: “What is the geotechnical field?” The video features dynamic and engaging DFI members as they take you from the office to project sites and through the many roles available in the geotechnical field including designing, supplying specialty equipment, managing, constructing and more.
Helping Roadside Soils Bounce Back After Construction
January 22, 2020 – Everyone hates road construction, even the soils and bodies of water around the roads. Paved roads can’t absorb water, so that responsibility falls to the soil next to the road. Unfortunately, those soils are often damaged during construction. Water that runs off roads can contain harmful contaminants. If that water doesn’t infiltrate into nearby soil, those contaminants can make their way into bodies of water and be harmful. Rich McLaughlin and his research team at North C...
Video: On the Ground in Puerto Rico with Dr. Kit Miyamoto
On Jan. 7, 2020, a magnitude 6.4 earthquake shook the southern coast of Puerto Rico. It damaged about 10 percent of buildings in the area and collapsed several schools. The Miyamoto International team was dispatched to assist the government and people of Puerto Rico, who haven’t experienced an earthquake in 100 years.
Global Earthquake Recovery Specialist Heads to Puerto Rico
GUANICA, PUERTO RICO: At the request of the public, government and businesses, earthquake structural engineering and recovery experts from Miyamoto International will arrive in Puerto Rico on Sunday to assist with damage assessments and recovery plans. We will assess the conditions and assist the public as required. Dr. Kit Miyamoto, a structural engineer and a California Seismic Safety Commissioner, will lead a specialized team which has responded to more than 100 earthquakes. T...
Siemens Utilizes Fugro’s UXO Screening Technology in Herne, Germany
Fugro has completed an unexploded ordnance (UXO) screening project for Siemens AG at the site of a new gas-fired power station in Herne, Germany. Over 1300 foundation pile locations were screened for UXO and cleared down to 15 m below ground level without affecting other site preparation activities. In Germany, any areas that suffered bombing during the Second World War must have a UXO site survey before construction can begin. Conventional survey methods involve drilling boreholes that creat...
Video: Magnitude 7.1 Ridgecrest Earthquake
Structural engineers from Miyamoto International conducted earthquake reconnaissance in the Searles Valley immediately after California’s magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes on July 4 and 5. From an engineering perspective, Ridgecrest and Trona, the small towns most impacted by the earthquakes were lucky. Both have mostly one-story buildings that withstood the earthquakes reasonably well. Large urban areas would not be so lucky. And even in Ridgecrest and Trona, owners are finding that both struct...
USGS Research Helps Identify Impacts to Amphibians in the Prairie Pothole Region from Historic Oil and Gas Production
Advancements in wastewater disposal practices in recent years have greatly reduced ecological risks from oil and gas development, but impacts at some previous energy production sites still persist. Recent USGS research, however, may help prioritize some mitigation and restoration efforts and help with responses to future spills should they occur. USGS scientists studied how historic oil and gas production in a portion of the Williston Basin has affected native amphibians in the Prairie Pothol...
Volunteers from Across South Carolina to Clean Ditches in Flood-Ravaged Nichols, Thanks to Governor, Floodwater Commission
NICHOLS, S.C. — The population of Nichols, S.C., is expected to at least double Saturday as volunteers from across the state continue to sign up to help clean ditches and improve the town’s drainage system after two hurricanes in three years caused catastrophic flooding. The town of roughly 400 people is located in Marion County, about 50 miles northwest of Myrtle Beach. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster and the South Carolina Floodwater Commission (SCFC) are hosting Nichols Cleanup Day, whi...
Rebuilding Challenges Impacting Mexico Beach a Warning for all Floridians Facing Hurricane Season
(Clearwater, Fl) June 12, 2019 – Last year Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach in the panhandle of Florida. In the aftermath of the hurricane's shocking impact, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) declared the city "wiped out." 1 In the months following the disaster, city officials wrestled with passing new land regulations to prepare the city for future hurricane strikes. One of the main changes made to building codes is raising any new buildings or homes above the floo...
Massive Power Station Revegetation Project Completed in Australia
Drenching rains are helping an arid zone revegetation project in South Australia burst to life after almost a year of harsh, dry weather. Rehabilitating a huge ash dam at a former coal-fired power plant is among the most challenging conservation projects an ecologist can embark on. Add in to the mix a lack of water and summer temperatures approaching 50C and it is an almost impossible task. But the 320ha revegetation project on the edge of the outback at Port Augusta is proving the resi...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
