Please note: these events require an additional ticket. Attendees must be registered for the conference (full or daily) in order to register for the short courses.
Tuesday, February 25
Full-Day Short Courses
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Geotechnical Aspects of Pavement Design and Construction (7.5 PDHs)
Instructors: Charles W. Schwartz, Professor, University of Maryland; Barry Christopher, Ph.D., P.E., Consultant; Erol Tutumluer, Professor, University of Illinois
Synopsis: The new AASHTO mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedure implemented in the AASHTOware Pavement ME Design software incorporates significant improvements in material characterization, climate effects, performance prediction, and other elements of pavement design. This course covers the latest methods and procedures for addressing the geotechnical issues in pavement design, construction, and performance for new construction, reconstruction, and rehabilitation pavement projects and contrasts the new mechanistic-empirical aspects with older empirical pavement design techniques. Additional topics include the design and construction of pavement subgrades and unbound materials; special geotechnical issues such as compaction, geosynthetics, and problem soils; drainage; and subgrade stabilization and working platform design. This is an abridged version of the three-day National Highway Institute Course 132040 Geotechnical Aspects of Pavement Design. It is offered under the auspices of the ASCE Geo-Institute Pavements Committee.
Member: EB $375 | ADV $425 | ONS $475
Non-Member: EB $425 | ADV $475 | ONS $525
Stability & Stabilization of Natural and Man-Made Slopes with Climate Change (7.5 PDHs)
Instructors: Daniel Pradel, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE; Farshid Vahedifard, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE; Timothy D Stark, Ph.D., P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE
Synopsis: This will present recent advances on landslide behavior, unsaturated soil mechanics, shear strength, two- and three-dimensional slope stability analyses, slope stabilization, and analyses and the impact(s) of climate change on slope stability. These advances are contributing to a better understanding of landslide mechanisms and improved methods of analysis, hazard identification, risk assessment, and stabilization. The will focus on landslide triggering, stability analyses, and runout of the slide mass. It will first discuss the technical aspects of these topics and then illustrate the use of the technical information with a number of case histories.
Member: EB $375 | ADV $425 | ONS $475
Non-Member: EB $425 | ADV $475 | ONS $525
Morning Short Courses
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Ground Modification Methods and Their Recent Developments(4 PDHs)
Instructors: Vernon R. Schaefer, P.E., M.ASCE; Jie Han Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE
Synopsis: This course will provide training on the design of several ground modification methods including the latest FHWA/NHI Ground Modification Reference Manual published in April 2017 with updates on recent developments. The course will give a brief overview of ground modification methods commonly used in practice, provide guidelines for selection of appropriate ground modification methods for projects, and focus on densification methods (e.g., intelligent compaction, dynamic compaction, and vibro-compaction), rigid inclusions/column-supported embankments with and without geosynthetic reinforcement, and consolidation methods (e.g., preloading, surcharge preloading, and vacuum preloading). Included will be a short discussion of the ASCE Geo-Institute-sponsored China Scan Tour on the latest ground modification methods used in China.
Member: EB $275 | ADV $325 | ONS $375
Non-Member: EB $325 | ADV $375 | ONS $425
Implementation of Geotechnical Asset Management(4 PDHs)
Instructor: Mark Vessely, P.E., M.ASCE
Synopsis: This half-day course will introduce the concepts of asset management for retaining walls, slopes, embankments, and subgrades and provide example workflows and tools that can be used to begin asset management immediately. The course will include examples for developing the asset inventory, assessing performance and risk, and developing treatment and investment plans. The implementation framework presented in the course can be adapted by each agency to develop a simple asset management system for a resource-limited agency to implement asset management without a sizable upfront program investment.
Member: EB $275 | ADV $325 | ONS $375
Non-Member: EB $325 | ADV $375 | ONS $425
Afternoon Short Courses
1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Analysis of Seismic CPT Data to Derive Shear Wave Velocity Profiles(4 PDHs)
Instructor: Gerald Verbeek, M.ASCE
Synopsis: When it comes to analyzing seismic cone penetration test (CPT) data many practitioners still visually identify first arrival times and then assume straight ray paths to calculate the shear wave interval velocities. When they encounter negative relative arrival times (i.e., the first arrival at a greater depth precedes that at a shallower depth) the data is considered unreliable, and the fact that seismic waves don't travel in straight lines is ignored. Consequently the derived results are not necessarily correct. This course will present more advanced analysis methods that take into account actual ray paths (based on Fermat's principle), which will allow the attendee to generate more accurate interval velocity profiles.
Member: EB $275 | ADV $325 | ONS $375
Non-Member: EB $325 | ADV $375 | ONS $425
Design of Structural Compacted Fills for Better Performance(4 PDHs)
Instructor: Iraj Noorany, Ph.D., P.E., G.E., F. ASCE
Synopsis: This course covers a new and innovative approach for selecting design specifications for compaction of structural fills. Many structures such as residential or commercial buildings are constructed on compacted fills sometimes more than 30 m (100 ft.) deep, and with a uniform compaction specifications throughout the fill. Post-construction wetting from precipitation and landscape irrigation can cause significant heave, settlement, and lateral expansion of compacted fills and slopes. The first part of this course will review the mechanics of wetting-induced heave, settlement, and lateral extension of compacted fills. The second part will describe a method for performance-based selection of different compaction specifications for different fill zones that can reduce long-term fill deformation and mitigate post-construction damages.
Member: EB $275 | ADV $325 | ONS $375
Non-Member: EB $325 | ADV $375 | ONS $425
An Introduction to Earthquake Engineering Computer Simulation(4 PDHs)
Instructor: Zorica Radaković-Guzina, Ph.D., Senior Engineer
Synopsis: Civil, geotechnical, and mining construction has always occurred in seismically active areas throughout history. Today we have the tools capable of simulating the behavior of excavations and structures subjected to such powerful forces and to mitigate these hazards. This four-hour course will introduce key elements involved in preparing, using, and analyzing computer models simulating seismic loads on earthworks and geotechnical structures using FLAC and FLAC3D software. The first one-hour of the session will be an overview of the modeling approaches, available material models, and site data requirements. This will be followed by review and discussion of project cases showing the work flow starting from property assessment all the way to result interpretation. The project cases include a wharf, liquefaction mitigation with jet grouting, a tailings dam, and a foundation. Topics such soil-structure interaction, liquefaction potential, and the calibration and validation of models from site measurements may also be briefly touched on during discussion.
Member: EB $275 | ADV $325 | ONS $375
Non-Member: EB $325 | ADV $375 | ONS $425