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If you’d like to present a geology-related topic or the latest in environmental or geotechnical technology to our section, contact our Chair or Vice Chair to schedule a presentation date!
Past meeting summaries and meeting announcements:
November 2012: This month, Anna Sojourner, MS, CEG of Caltrans District 4 presented “The Presidio Parkway, Phase 1 – Doyle Drive Replacement and Demolition” project to a packed house of engineers and geologists for our SFGI / AEG Joint Meeting at Scott’s Seafood in Oakland.
James Chinchiolo discusses the mechanics of holding back rockfalls and landslides.
October 2012: This month’s meeting was sponsored by Landslide Solutions, Inc! James Chinchiolo, CEO of Landslide Solutions presented “A Presentation on Landslide and Geostabilization Technology” which included the fundamentals on soil stabilization as well as latest developments in landslide and geostabilization technology offered by his company, including some fantastic projects along California’s Coast and in the Lake Tahoe region.
September 2012: We had a great time at our Happy Hour this month at Pacific Coast Brewing Company in Oakland. Congratulations to Sean Harvey and Craig Reid, lucky winners of fantastic bottles of wine!
July 2012: This month’s meeting was sponsored by Test America Laboratories!
Jennifer Bauer, our AEG President, spoke with the section regarding the latest AEG National news including website improvements and the drive to promote membership. Jennifer encourages all of us to take advantage of networking and educational opportunities at the Annual Meeting this September in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Jennifer Bauer speaks to our section about AEG National News and Landslide Mapping in North Carolina
For the technical part of the program, Jennifer Bauer spoke to us about “Landslide Mapping on Slippery Slopes: Lessons Learned by the North Carolina Geological Survey” which illustrated the need for mapping landslide hazards to protect human life and property in hillside areas.
Additionally, John Williams represented the AEG Foundation and launched an on-the-spot fundraising drive to benefit the foundation, which supports geology students and professionals with scholarships, field camp sponsorship, and financial offset to attend the annual meeting, among other programs. The donations were jumpstarted by matching donations by Bob Tepel and John Williams. In a span of 30 minutes, our section raised over $800 for the foundation! If you’d like to donate or apply for a scholarship, visit the AEG Foundation website.
Emma Jack explains challenging biological concerns to the project.
Bradley Erskine presents the Dam’s Excavation Plan
June 2012: Bradley Erskine, PhD of Kleinfelder and Emma Jack, PhD of Shaw Environmental presented “Building a Dam with Naturally Occurring Asbestos, Calaveras Dam Replacement Project: Challenges and Solutions” This month’s meeting was sponsored by Woodward Drilling.
Dr. Erskine illustrated the challenges and impacts to construction of a major public works project that involves the widespread presence of asbestos in soil and rock, requiring extensive dust control measures, construction worker respiratory protection, and decontamination procedures to protect the public.
Dr. Jack presented the challenges and solutions to biological concerns at the project site related to permitting and protection measures for species including eagles, red-legged frogs, and tiger salamanders.
Bill McCormick reveals the secret escape routes of Alcatraz island.
May 2012: Bill McCormick, PG, CEG of Kleinfelder presented “Geology and Geohazards of Alcatraz Island (and other cool behind the scenes pictures)“
Bill’s presentation included a discussion of the challenges to mapping the island as well as the presence of parallel joint systems and a probable fault.
April 2012: Our Annual Student Presentation Night was sponsored by Cascade Drilling, L.P. and featured:
- Dylan Duvergé of San Francisco State University “Background Arsenic Concentration in Soil of the Urbanized San Francisco Bay Region”
- Kelly Nicole Dustin of San José State University “Intrusive Relationships and Deformation of Mafic and Tonalitic Rocks in Part of the Seven Fingered Jack Pluton, North Cascades, Washington”
- Mike George of University of California at Berkeley “Scour Assessment of Blocky Rock”
Excavating the Vargas Shaft
March 2012: Scott Ball and Rebecca Fusee of Hatch Mott MacDonald presented “San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Program New Irvington Tunnel – Ground Conditions” Their presentation featured hand samples of rocks found during tunnel drilling.
Scott Burns in his early days of wine making
February 2012: AEG’s 2012 Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer: Scott Burns of Portland State University presented “The Mystery of Terroir – The Relationship of Geology, Soils, and Climate to Wine” to a packed Valentine’s Day crowd.
Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore, the fourth in a series of tunnels connecting Orinda with Oakland
January 2012: Chris Risden of Caltrans presented “Caldecott Fourth Bore Project: Building Upon 80 Years of Tunnel Engineering” Mr. Risden filled the crowd in on the latest developments in constructing the Bay Area’s newest highway tunnel using the New Austrian Tunneling Method.
December 2011: San Francisco Section members enjoyed a Happy Hour at Pedro’s Cantina in San Francisco. Two lucky members won tasty bottles of wine in our raffle.
Glenn Borchardt talks about freeboard soil to a packed crowd of geologists and engineers
November 2011: We hosted the annual AEG / ASCE-SFGI Joint Meeting featuring: Glenn Borchardt, PhD of the Progressive Science Institute and Michael Dwyer Private Consultant who presented “Building on Ancient Soils Immediately Adjacent to Active Faults” with an extra feature “The Ten Assumptions of Science and the Demise of Cosmogony”