BCD Expands Gulf Coast Operations

tdunlap@bcdgeo.com          

G. Thomas Dunlap, P.E., R.P.G.

EDUCATION

 University of Mississippi, M.S., 1990 – Civil Engineer
University of Mississippi, B.S., 1989 – Civil Engineer
University of Mississippi, B.S., 1988 – Geology

REGISTRATIONS

 Professional Engineer:  Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky
Professional Geologist:  Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama

American Society of Civil Engineers
National Society of Professional Engineers
Association of Engineering Geologists
American Railway Engineering & Maintenance of Way Association

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

Burns Cooley Dennis, Inc., Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Geologist, October 1994 - Present
Burns & McDonnell Engineering Company, Inc., Geotechnical and Environmental Engineer, January 1991 - October 1994

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

Background.  Mr. Dunlap has worked on a variety of projects in geotechnical engineering over the past 14 years.  These projects include roadways, railway bridges, aviation facilities, waste water and water treatment facilities, dams, river levees, amusement parks, power plants, electricity substations and transmission lines, commercial and industrial facilities.  He has a wide range of general geotechnical experience over geographical regions throughout the United States and in areas outside the U.S. such as Mexico, Central America, the Middle East and Spain.

Experience.  Aspects of geotechnical engineering that Mr. Dunlap has been responsible for include supervising and coordinating subsurface, groundwater and borrow site investigations and special instrumentation studies, geotechnical data evaluation and design, preparation of geotechnical reports and specifications, and foundation and earthwork testing and inspection.  He takes advantage of his geology educational background in all projects by relating geology aspects of a site to geotechnical engineering design issues and has personally conducted subsurface and groundwater field investigations.  Other specific geotechnical related knowledge that Mr. Dunlap possesses is with rock excavation and mining, tunneling, braced excavations, sheeting and shoring, geophysical studies, basic dewatering and groundwater studies, and soil modification studies.

Deep Foundations.  Mr. Dunlap has performed or coordinated design and quality assurance for various types of deep foundations for a variety of clients.  Design aspects typically involve the set up of geotechnical investigation, evaluation of soil/rock data, evaluation of compression and uplift capacity of deep foundation elements utilizing various hand and computer oriented analyses, evaluation of any lateral and/or moment loading on the deep foundations generally using the finite difference computer analysis program COM624, evaluate internal stresses and loading for concrete drilled shafts or piling to establish needed steel placement and cap tie-ins, evaluate driveability and stresses of driven piling utilizing the Wave Equation Analysis Program (WEAP), set up and evaluate results of load testing including Osterberg load-cell and other deep foundation testing such as Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA) or auger cast pile sonic logging where warranted.  Economic optimization of deep foundation type, size and length is of paramount importance while performing these design items.  Typical projects have included driven concrete piles and drilled shafts to support nine bridges for State Route 304 and Interstate 55 in Desoto County, Mississippi for the Department of Transportation, pile foundations and embankment in river alluvium for south approach abutment and rock-socketed drilled shafts for north abutment for 63rd Street Bridge replacement project in Kansas City, Missouri; auger cast pile design and load testing for Hollywood Casino in Shreveport, Louisiana and hotel addition to the Silver Star Casino in Philadelphia, Mississippi; wood pole compression, uplift, and lateral load testing and screw anchor load testing for a H-frame supported transmission line through the Mayan Mountains and coastal swamps in Belize, Central America; drilled shafts in limestone and shale and PDA tested steel H-piles with points of various structures at the Thomas Hill, Missouri Power Plant for Associated Electric Cooperative; drilled shafts and H-piles in a bridge replacement for the City of Kansas City, Missouri where downdrag was an issue; precast-prestressed concrete piles for a fuel farm at the Washington National Airport where driveability, stresses, and capacities were evaluated using the WEAP, PDA testing, and static load testing; drilled shafts through construction waste with embedment into shale for a water ride at Worlds of Fun Amusement Park in Kansas City, Missouri; drilled shafts for a jib-crane at the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative in Cochise, Arizona; drilled shafts for a microwave tower in Columbia, Mississippi for the south Mississippi Electric Power Association; drilled shafts in problem soil and rock conditions requiring special design and construction for transmission lines in Kansas for the Kansas Board of Public Utilities and in Texas for Southwest Power Cooperative; steel H-piles for combustion turbine machine foundation with dynamic loading at the Andalusia Power Plant in Alabama for the Alabama Electric Cooperative; evaluate the alternatives of prestressed concrete piles, auger cast piles, steel H-piles, and drilled shafts to support a metal plating shop in Keyport, Washington for the U.S. Navy; steel H-piles for Bristol-Meyer Squibb's hanger at Mercer County Airport, New Jersey; auger cast piles considering liquefaction for fuel oil and chemical tank storage facility for the Kansas City, Missouri Water & Pollution Control Department; auger cast piles at the New Madrid, Missouri Power Plant for Associated Electric Cooperative.

Seismic.  Mr. Dunlap has evaluated various seismic design issues on a variety of projects as part of the geotechnical investigation.  These issues include determination of site design acceleration coefficients from probability based maps such as USGS maps by Algermissen, liquefaction potential analysis using computer program LIQUIFY and from evaluation utilizing USGS Open-File Report 85-457 “Estimation of Earthquake Effects Associated with Large Earthquakes in the New Madrid Seismic Zone”, evaluation of liquefaction effects and horizontal acceleration derived forces on deep foundation piling and piers, retaining/subgrade walls, various slopes/embankments, and landfills. He has assisted structural engineers on seismic design issues considering the more recent methodology, Normalized Response Spectra, which considers serviceability, ultimate load and surviveability, similar to the methodology presented in AREMA’s “Seismic Design for Railway Structures.”  He has provided seismic design for various projects in and around the New Madrid Fault Zone and other seismically active areas including power plant and levee embankment projects in southeast Missouri and west Tennessee, highway bridge projects in northwest Mississippi, water tank and substation projects in north Mississippi and building and embankment projects in Alabama.

Dams/Embankments.  Mr. Dunlap has provided geotechnical engineering related services on several dam and levee projects.  Aspects of these projects which he has had responsible charge has included some or all of the following:  establishing and coordinating the initial subsurface soil investigations and laboratory testing, performing various design analyses including slope stability, settlement, seepage, bearing capacity, and seismic, establishing project construction specifications and drawings, and monitoring earthwork instrumentation and construction.  Some of the dam/levee projects Mr. Dunlap has been involved with include a dam for a recreational lake for the Kansas City, Missouri Department of Parks and Recreation, a dam for a 150-acre well-fed levee-enclosed reservoir over the New Madrid Fault Zone in southeast Missouri for the Missouri Department of Conservation, an existing dam upgrade and a new 75-ft high train levee in Thomas Hill, Missouri for Associated Electric Cooperative, ash pond dikes adjacent to the Mississippi River at the New Madrid, Missouri Power Plant for Associated Electric Cooperative, an existing embankment at a Tombigbee Waterway barge unloading facility in Jackson, Alabama for Alabama Electric Cooperative, various lagoon levees in Morton and Byram, Mississippi, landfill embankments in Canton, Mississippi, existing embankment alteration due to construction of a Harrah's Casino addition in Shreveport, Louisiana, and several highway embankments for State Route 304 in DeSoto County, Mississippi for the Department of Transportation.

Railroads.  Mr. Dunlap has provided geotechnical services on many railroad related projects in recent years.  The various projects include new rail yards, contaminated ballast evaluations, slope stabilization and culvert rehabilitation projects, emergency bridge foundation repair evaluation, timber bridge replacement and upgrade, and bridge foundation installation.  Mr. Dunlap provided project management and technical analysis for the geotechnical investigations and/or foundation installation inspections.  The geotechnical investigations have included deep borings within difficult access locations, significant soil laboratory testing, deep foundation lateral and compression analyses, and driven piling criteria development using Wave Equation Analysis Program (WEAP).  Examples of specific railroad related projects and clients are a new transfer facility rail yard for Kansas City Southern in Richland, Mississippi; a number of culvert rehabilitation and slope stabilization projects for Canadian National – Illinois Central along their Brookhaven-Natchez, Mississippi, line and Yazoo line in Mississippi and Tennessee; and over 20 bridge replacement projects for Canadian National - Illinois Central throughout the entire Gulf Division in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.