Interview With a Survivor: Recent Episodes
Deep Foundations Institute
In the first series, Interview with a Survivor, hosts Lucky Nagarajan and Tim Siegel will be speaking with industry experts about their near misses, problem projects and resolutions. Sponsored by Pieresearch.
In this episode Lucky and Tim talk with all of our series guest about problems with communication.
Tom Richards, former chief engineer with Nicholson Construction Company, talks about a joint venture to install micropiles for a bridge. With the best of intentions when accepting the offer to joint venture, Tom and his team encountered problems ranging from an unexpected aquifer to difficulties implementing new design details. Listen as Tom shares his exasperation – even several years after the fact.
Thank you for watching, this episode concludes the first series from Broadcasting Common Ground - DFI's podcast channel. We will return later in 2022 with more discussions for the deep foundations industry. If you have any questions or would like to be involved, please reach out to podcast@dfi.org.
Music by Scott Holmes
The episode features David Wilshaw, President of Integrity Drilling and Geophysical Services, LLC who shares insight on being an expert witness and adventures of legal system which is not everyone’s cup of tea. He has testified about 40 trials and given over 160 depositions. Episode covers conversations on challenges of being an valued expert witness, differences between trials and depositions, why are they important, cross examinations and much more. Music by Scott Holmes
The episode features discussion with Cassandra Wetzel, District Office Manager & Principal at GZA. Our guest Cassandra brings in owners perspective and will share challenges of stabilizing and repairing a retaining wall in a tight, urban location like Bronx. What it means to work for a non-technical client and also when a retaining wall is shared by two owners. Cassandra is a subject matter expert and known for creative problem solving also a well known rock star in the Metro NY area. Music by Scott Holmes
The episode features a discussion with Greg Righter, President and CEO of Berkel and Company Contractors with an emphasis on the business side of the deep foundation industry. Greg shares his story about design, construction, and an eventual claim for a support-of-excavation project. The SOE was located between a roadway and a railway line. We talk about shared goals, trust, expectations, disappointment, and trying (and succeeding) at getting paid.
Join hosts Lucky Nagarajan and Tim Siegel with guest, Sebastian Lobo-Guerrero Ph.D., P.E., of AGES, as they conclude discussions on Sebastian's adventures in Colombia. Music by Scott Holmes
Join hosts Lucky Nagarajan and Tim Siegel with guest, Sebastian Lobo-Guerrero Ph.D., P.E., of AGES, who will discuss his adventures in Colombia.
a. In Episode 2, our guest Kord Wissmann will share a few of his professional highs along with a significant low. Kord with Geopier is credited with 28 patents and has played a major part in changing the landscape of ground improvement contracting. But he also faced the challenge of working through the failure of a ground improvement system below an MSE wall in the US Midwest.
A discussion about an impending failure of a sheet pile wall at the North Charleston port. Billy Camp went through the proverbial “gauntlet” on this project. We step through the project, challenges and Billy's role. Sponsored by Berkel.