My Blog-Updates

Wow, this ended up as a really long week. I had several projects at different stages in development all competing for my attention in various ways. I even had to juggle my work schedule to be available for a construction site visit on Friday. Let’s get the bullets out of the way and we can talk through some more details.

Provided timely, policy compliant, and technically sound technical assistance to field staff on multiple active construction projects.

Project 1 – Rock slope construction, reinforcment complete, test blast on Friday
Project 2 – GRS-IBS submittal reviews, discussion of construction methods
Project 3 – Request info for global stability analysis of contractor designed walls, supervising junior engineer to complete analysis

Provided timely, policy compliant, and technically sound review of design deliverables.

Project 4 – Review of retaining wall profiles, revise design, start design of rock reinforcement
Project 5 – Review special contract requirements for upcoming design-build project

Performed COR responsibilities for multiple contracts.

Project 6 – Answer questions about geophysical survey SOW.
Project 7 – Answer questions from bidders.

Provided technical leadership to team to develop recommendations that meet partner goals and delivere quality projects.

See notes on Project 3 above, met with project partners to discuss outcome of the analysis and implications for the project.

Completed trainings and attended meetings to maintain technical expertise and awareness of state of the art in field.

AEG local chapter meeting, National Landslide Hazard Risk Reduction committee, rockfall prediction webinar

I’m not sure if this comes across in the bullets above, but I’ve got a lot of pokers in the fire currently. My major project in construction passed a milestone this week with the completion of the scaling and rock reinforcement, and start of major blasting for excavation of the cutslope. I had two contracts open for advertisement this week to procure investigations. Two other projects in construction needed support, one with a GRS-IBS and the other with review of a contractor’s retaining wall design. And we put the finishing touches on a design-build project prior to advertisement.

While all of that was happening, I was also trying to progress final design for a project with significant geotechnical features, including gabion and MSE walls, slide stabilization, and rockfall mitigation. My hope is that next week will allow some better focus time to dedicate to this project so that I can catch my work up to what roadway design has.

On another note, I used a combination of biking and public transit to get to the office everyday except for Monday this past week. I’m trying out a new work schedule, making use of our “Maxi-Flex” option. The most surprising thing about this experiment for me was discovering that I actually enjoy riding the bus. It’s a nice time to spend working on learning Japanese with fewer distractions in my face. And the short (less than 10 minute) bike trips are nice as well.

That’s all for this week. It's getting late, and I need to get ready for another day of work. Best of luck to you all, especially other feds.

← Back to the Blog