The May Meeting is the Annual Student Night!

Transcription

1 OREGON SECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL & ENGINEERING GEOLOGISTS May 2014 The Official OREGON SECTION AEG NEWSLETTER The May Meeting is the Annual Student Night! May Meeting Details Tuesday, May 27 th Location: Old Market Pub 6959 SW Multnomah Portland, Oregon 6:00 pm Social 7:00 pm Dinner Presentations throughout the night Physical Characteristics, Clay Mineralogy and Elemental Fingerprinting of Pinot Noir Vineyard Soils from the Willamette Valley, Oregon - Kathryn Nora Barnard, Scott F. Burns, Portland State University Thin Section Mineral Grain Boundry Analysis Using Unsupervised Machine Learning Clustering Algorythms on Scanning Electron Microscope Data - Jon Barnes, Portland State University Analysis of Big Stone Moraine Basal Till Deposits, Stevens County, Minnesota and Roberts County, South Dakota - Tiyana R. Casey, Portland State University, James F. Cotter, University of Minnesota, Morris Dinner: Pizza & Salad $20 Dinner ($5 Students) Reservations: mwegner@cornforthconsultants.com with AEG Reservation in the subject line or by 4 pm Thur. May 22 There is a $2 surcharge for those who do not reserve by the deadline Impacts of Soil Development and Stormwater in Robinwood Creek Basin, West Linn, Oregon - Lori Davis, Jessica Hickerson, Scott Burns, Portland State University Debris flow initiation on Mt. Rainier as a result of record precipitation from the November 2006 Pineapple Express rainstorm - Kassandra Lindsey, Portland State University Low-cost Sensor for Custom Water Level Monitoring in Observation Wells and Piezometers - L. Allen Mowbray, Advisors: Michael Cummings and Kenneth Cruikshank, Department of Geology, Portland State University Upcoming Meetings: September 16 th TBA Methodology of Wind Tunnel Experiments Applied to Gravel Megaripple Formation on Earth and Mars - E. M. Neely, Department of Geology, Portland State University, M. G. Spagnuolo, IDEAN, UBA-CONICET Ciudad de Bs. As., Argentina, S. L. de Silva, Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University, N. T. Bridges, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, J. R. Zimbelman, Smithsonian Institution Evaluating the Permeability Constant of a Laboratory Permeameter Experiment - Angela Piller, Kiri Hargie, David Weathers, Dustin Cramer, Elizabeth Barnhart, Curt D. Peterson, Portland State University The Terroir of the Columbia Gorge Wine Region, Pacific Northwest, USA - Hilary Whitney, Scott Burns, Portland State University Revisiting Ancient Cataclysmic Flood Deposits at The Dalles, OR - Kimberly Yazzie, Burl Carpenter, Dale Melton, and Dr. Scott Burns, Department of Geology, Portland State University

2 Page 2 Message from the Chair This is my last newsletter as Chair, and I want to thank all the AEG Oregon volunteers for their time and dedication to the Section. The dedication from the Board and our other volunteers, particularly Mike Marshall, Scott Braunsten, and Keith Olsen for all their work on the meetings, newsletter, and website. The Section s incoming Chair, Linda Mark, will serve with terrific drive and devotion to AEG, the Section, and the practicing community. Lastly, a special thanks to Robin Johnston, who is completing her 5-year volunteer term serving the Oregon AEG Section. Her leadership is a big reason why we have thrived as a Section and continued to foster a sense of community within AEG. We all owe her a big thanks! The AEG National meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona is coming up; and with the abstract deadline extended to May 15, we all still have time to participate and get our abstracts in! If you haven t gone in the past, I highly recommend attendance and participation, you will not regret it. Our final meeting of the season is the annual AEG student night on May 27. We have a great line-up of students ready to present, so let us make sure the professional community turns out in strong numbers to support the students. We are also planning our first field trip in a number of years to the Three Capes Loop Road Landslide, just west of Tillamook, Oregon on Saturday, May 31. If you are able to volunteer a van or other decently-sized people carrier, let me know we are trying to keep the costs relatively low. If you would like to attend, please notify Melinda Wegner (mwegner@cornforthconsultants.com). Additional information can be found on Page 4. I recently attended the AEG National Board of Directors (BOD) meeting in Golden, Colorado. As I mentioned at the end of the last Section meeting, a main point of discussion was the possibility of putting a vote to the general AEG membership on allowing a constitutional change to remove the requirement that Section Chairs also serve on the National BOD in an effort to keep the Board smaller with longer-term appointments. The BOD voted to allow such a vote to go to the general AEG membership, so keep your eyes open for a ballot over the next few months. The National BOD meeting to be held in September at the Scottsdale meeting will be the next time for the BOD to go forward with this initiative, so let Linda know before then if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks again to the AEG Oregon community for letting me serve as Chair on the Oregon Section Board. The experience has been terrific and, if you haven t already, I highly recommend volunteering your time and talents to this great community. Thank you, Darren Beckstrand, CEG Cornforth Consultants

3 AWG s 2014 Field Trip to the Canadian Rockies Registration ends May 21, 2014 Updated statewide landslide data now free to download Page 3 The Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG) annual field trip is headed to the Canadian Rockies August 28-September 7, 2014! The 9-day main trip itinerary includes a classic geological transect through the Canadian Foothills to Main Ranges of the Foreland Fold and Thrust Belt, the geology of the Columbia Icefields Parkway, the Rocky Mountain Trench, and Crowsnest Pass areas, and a hike to the Burgess Shale. An optional 2-day trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park and to the Royal Tyrrell Museum can be added on to the end of the main field trip. Registration information is available on the AWG website at - Attendance is open to anyone who is interested. More than 46,000 landslide locations are included in version 3.0 of the Statewide Landslide Information Database for Oregon (SLIDO), which is now available as free download or web services from the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI). More landslides have been mapped in the past five years than in the previous 60 years, says DOGAMI Engineering Geologist Bill Burns, and that s due in large part to lidar technology. Almost all of the nearly 20,000 landslides mapped since 2009 have come from geologic and landslide mapping that used lidar. When we ve finished mapping with lidar for the whole state, we ll have a very different and much better understanding of landslides, Burns says. The Statewide Landslide Information Database for Oregon (SLIDO) Release 3.0 by William J. Burns and Rudie Watzig, is available as a free download, as web services, or for purchase for $25 on DVD. Map services include landslide polygons (scarps, head scarps and deposits), historically active landslide points, and source map references. The complete SLIDO-3.0 publication file set, including the Esri ArcView version 10.1 geodatabase, report text, map plate, and appendices, can be downloaded. Download or purchase here: For more information, contact Bill Burns at or bill.burns@dogami.state.or.us.

4 Page 4 Photo of the Month (courtesy of Tim Shevlin, Geobrugg) Geobrugg North America hosts an 8-hour Tensioned Slope and Rock Stabilization Systems Workshop in Portland, OR. The workshop included a field trip to the recently completed ODOT Jefferson Street Rock Slope Stabilization project where an Anchored TECCO Mesh System was installed. Geobrugg would like to thank all the participants, installing contractor Rock Supremacy, and the Oregon DOT. Field Trip Announcement AEG Oregon has scheduled a field trip to the Three Capes Loop Road Landslide near Cape Meares, Oregon for Saturday, May 31. We are still in the planning phase (stops, vehicles, food, etc.), but we would expect to leave from the Portland area Saturday morning around 8am and return by approximately 5 or 6 pm. At this stage of planning, a bring-your-own sack lunch is anticipated. In an effort to keep costs low, if there are volunteers with passenger vans/suvs/minivans that could drive (and be reimbursed for their mileage) let me know. We would like to keep the group relatively small (~20), so please let us know early if you would like to attend or volunteer. If volunteered vehicles are not found, costs will be in the ballpark of $40/person. If you would like to volunteer to be a driver with your vehicle, please contact me. (dbeckstrand@cornforthconsultants.com) If you would like to attend, please contact Melinda Wegner. (mwegner@cornforthconsultants.com) Highlights: Large landslide overlooking the town of Cape Meares that has historically moved 100 feet in a season Significant damage to infrastructure Toes out into the ocean Large graben and tension cracks Unique geotechnical instrumentation Darren Beckstrand AEG Oregon Chair

5 Page 5 Keen observation is at least as necessary as penetrating analysis Karl Terzaghi

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9 Page 9 Keen observation is at least as necessary as penetrating analysis Karl Terzaghi

10 Page 10 Thanks For Supporting AEG Keen observation is at least as necessary as penetrating analysis Karl Terzaghi AMEC Environment & Infrastructure, Inc. Apex Companies, LLC Columbia Geotechnical Cornforth Consultants ESA Vigil-Agrimis GRI Oregon Department of Transportation PBS Engineering and Environmental Portland State University PRISM Climate Group, NACSE, OSU

11 Section Officers & Committee Chairs Chair: Darren Beckstrand Cornforth Consultants Program Co-Chair: Michael Marshall GRI Could Be You? Page 11 Legislature Chair: Vacant Chair Elect: Linda Mark ESA Vigil-Agrimis Could Be You? Program Co-Chair: Vacant Could Be You? Visiting Professional Program (VPP) Chair : Vacant Treasurer: Field-Trip Chair: Newsletter Editor: Adam Reese Erin Dunbar Scott Braunsten Apex Companies, LLC PBS Engineering and Environmental AReese@apexcos.com scott.braunsten@pbsenv.com Secretary: Stephen Hay Oregon Department of Transportation Stephen.HAY@odot.state.or.us Past Chair: Robin Johnston AMEC Environment & Infrastructure Robin.johnston@amec.com Membership Chair: Ruth Wilmoth Columbia Geotechnical, Inc. ruthwilmoth@comcast.net The Oregon Section is also on the web at National AEG webpage: Webpage Editor: Keith Olson PRISM Climate Group, NACSE, OSU olsonke@nacse.org PSU Student Chapter President: Tiyana Casey tcasey@pdx.edu The Oregon Section Newsletter OREGON SECTION AEG NEWSLETTER is published monthly from September through May. Subscriptions are for members of AEG affiliated with the Oregon Section or other Sections, and other interested people who have requested and paid a local subscription fee of $ subscriptions are free. Subscribe to the list by sending any message to aegoregon-subscribe@groups.electricembers.net. To be removed from the list, send any message to aegoregon-unsubscribe@groups.electricembers.net. News items are invited and should be sent to: Scott Braunsten, OR Section AEG Newsletter Editor, PBS Engineering and Environmental, 4412 SW Corbett Avenue, Portland, OR 97239, scott.braunsten@pbsenv.com, phone (503) Electronic media is preferred. Deadline for submittal is the 25th of the month. Advertising: business card $100/yr; ¼ page $200/yr; ½ page $350/yr; 1 page $450/yr. Please notify Scott if you have a change to your or mailing address. The Association of Engineering Geologists (AEG) contributes to its members' professional success and the public welfare by providing leadership, advocacy, and applied research in environmental and engineering geology. AEG's values are based on the belief that its members have a responsibility to assume stewardship over their fields of expertise. AEG is the acknowledged international leader in environmental and engineering geology, and is greatly respected for its stewardship of the profession.