Welcome to Delaware Valley Geo-Institute!

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Coming Soon: January 2025 Dinner Meeting
DVGI will ring in the new year on Tuesday, January 21st as Glenn Santulli, P.E., of GRL Engineers delivers a dinner presentation on “Load Test Drilled Displacement Piles in Difficult Conditions: The Jane Hotel Project, Manhattan, NY” (register here). Built in the early 1900s, the Jane was a famous stop in the early 20th century for ship crews docked nearby along the Hudson River piers. The guest roster ranged from the sublime, including many visiting royals, to the somber, such as the RMS Titanic‘s survivors when they were brought to New York.

Recently, the Jane underwent modernizing renovations, and maintaining the historic landmark’s character and exterior were critical. For a new elevator shaft within the structure, a deep foundation was used consisting of Stelcor helical piles installed in 5-ft sections. Grout was pumped into the piles during installation to create a grout column similar in size to the helical flights on the piles’ bottoms.

About the Speaker: Glenn Santulli, P.E., is a project engineer at GRL Engineers in the firm’s Holmes, PA office and has over 10 years’ experience in the deep foundations industry. He started his career as a general contractor’s field engineer on a Philadelphia highway/bridge project and has spent the past 8+ years with GRL. Glenn has extensive experience in deep foundation testing, analysis, and consulting services and focuses on: static and dynamic testing of existing and new drilled and driven deep foundations; quality testing of drilled foundations; nearshore and offshore dynamic pile testing and monitoring; and high-strain dynamic testing on piles reaching up to 30 ft in diameter. He is a registered P.E. in three states and Washington, D.C. and has published numerous papers and presented several case studies at geotechnical seminars. Glenn earned his BS and MS in Civil Engineering (structural concentration) at Drexel University.

Recap: December 2024 Webinar
DVGI kept its 2024-25 meeting schedule going through the holidays on Tuesday, December 17th, as Nahom Gebre, Esq., of Victor presented an ethics webinar on “Recent Trends in Geotechnical Claims.” He reviewed how, in recent years, geotechnical services in the CNA Professional Liability program have seen increased claim severity. Gebre discussed the underlying drivers for claims against geotechnical firms and discuss alternative actions firms might take to mitigate risks and structure practice management procedures to prevent significant losses. The webinar was an excellent learning experience on a topic of critical importance to all practicing geotechs.

DVGI Receives 2024 Best Chapter Award from ASCE Geo-Institute
During ASCE’s GeoCongress 2024, held February 25th to 28th in Vancouver, BC, DVGI was honored to receive the ASCE Geo-Institute’s 2023 Best Chapter Award. With the award, the Geo-Institute recognized DVGI’s accomplishments for its members and community. DVGI thanks the many volunteers whose dedicated service led to its selection out of the many deserving local Geo-Institute chapters.

DVGI members attending GeoCongress, including several present and former board members, accept the ASCE Geo-Institute’s 2023 Best Chapter Award from G-I President Jie Han, Ph.D., P.E., F.ASCE, at GeoCongress 2024 in Vancouver, BC, Canada.