This message was sent to ##Email## December 4, 2019 Vol. 49 No. 42          Home  |   About Us  |   Membership  |   Resources  |   Events  |   Contact Us Subscribe  |   Archive    GBA NEWS 5 More Case Histories Refreshed GBA Publications Committee Learn from others. Don’t repeat the mistakes of the past! GBA Case Histories are being used by our members for loss prevention discussions in support of professional development and mentoring. That is why GBA case histories are so valuable, and why GBA is updating them all, while adding new ones, too. Five more Case Histories have been re-issued. CASE HISTORY NO. 66 (download) By attaching the word “standard” to a recommended practice it had developed, a local contractors group gave the document a status it did not merit: it was not developed using ANSI methods; it was not generally followed; and it was not incorporated into any local codes. Nonetheless, its existence gave an attorney the ability to confuse a trier of fact, encouraging the developer and a design firm to settle a meritless claim rather than contest it at trial. CASE HISTORY NO. 67 (download) A Member Firm’s written agreement with a contractor included a limitation of liability (LoL) provision. After the Member Firm completed its services, the contractor asked it to do more, and the firm agreed. When problems arose from the additional services, the contractor alleged that the Member Firm was at fault, and that the LoL did not apply, because it was part of the written agreement and not part of the oral agreement for the additional services. CASE HISTORY NO. 68 (download) The Member Firm was retained by an owner to design a landfill and perform “related services” that included a variety of marketing functions. When the owner decided to auction the site, it expected another of the Member Firm’s clients to be the high bidder. Instead, the other client offered a surprisingly low price. Although no evidence of collusion between the Member Firm and low bidder existed, the owner assumed that collusion occurred and sued. CASE HISTORY NO. 69 (download) Although a Member Firm qualified its clean-up cost estimate of $525,000-$675,000, the qualifiers were not put into the form of clear warnings. Accordingly, when the actual costs came in at more than $2.8 million, the client sued. The contract between the Member Firm and its client included a limitation of liability (LoL). The client attempted to get around the LoL’s restrictions by asserting damages for gross negligence and breach of fiduciary responsibility. When a judge dismissed those allegations, the LoL held sway, but only after each side spent considerably more than the limitation involved. CASE HISTORY NO. 70 (download) “The design is more than sufficient to keep the ship permanently moored to the pier,” the dry-dock engineer told the restaurateur, more or less warranting design quality for life. But the dry-dock engineer had not counted on the fierce winds of a hurricane. The ship, being used as a cocktail lounge, slipped its moorings and sank, sinking, too, its owner’s $12 million investment. Insurance paid the damages, but retained the right to sue the dry-dock engineer. It did and, 22 years after making his statement, the dry-dock engineer was told by a judge that he had breached an express warranty and had to pay up. Because insurance does not cover breach of warranty, the dry-dock engineer was forced out of business. GBA Case Histories are FREE to all Members. Access all GBA’s Case Histories Here Register Now - Winter Leadership Summit GBA GBA’s Winter Leadership Summit is an annual gathering where the Board of Directors and Committees convene to discuss opportunities and issues that are impacting our members and the greater geoprofessions. It is a chance for our volunteers to network, collaborate, and complete assignments together for our current fiscal year and identify actions to focus on for the next fiscal year All committee members are invited to attend, participate, and connect on important issues with their peers. Please join us! Read More Here IN CASE YOU MISSED IT GBA The most Popular Article from our last issue of GBA NEWSlog: GBA's Top 5 Downloaded References  EVENTS Future GBA Events: Mark Your Calendars Now Winter Leadership Summit 2020: January 25-26, 2020 in Denver, Colorado Spring Conference 2020: April 23-25, 2020 at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort and Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Fall Conference 2020: October 22-24, 2020 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis Hotel, in Minneapolis, MN Spring Conference 2021: April 22-25, 2021 at the Marriott Marquis, San Diego, CA For more information: GBA EVENTS CALENDAR  MEMBER NEWS Cardno and Integra Demerger Raba Kistner The proposed demerger of Cardno and Intega was approved and the companies began trading separately on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) October 22. The new Intega Group Limited (ASX: ITG) is comprised of four companies, including Raba Kistner. “The Raba Kistner name, business, and culture continue, with the backing of Intega to broaden our national platform and competitive capabilities,” said Gary Raba, President of Raba Kistner. Read More Terracon Announces Key Organizational Changes Terracon Terracon, a nationally known and respected consulting engineering firm, announces several strategic organizational changes designed to guide the company as it continues its pattern of growth. Read More Modern Adventures in History: Digitally Preserving the Ancient City of Volterra American Surveyor Not many geospatial professionals enter the field thinking they will travel to Italy to document and digitize ancient sites. For many, it would be the ultimate adventure of combining history and technology—Indiana Jones without the boulders and snakes, and Star Trek without the intergalactic conflict. Three leaders in the Survey/Geospatial Practice of Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC) embarked on such an adventure to the town of Volterra as part of an international research team for two trips over the past three-year period. Read More Geotechnical and Earthquake Engineer, Sam Christie, Joins Kleinfelder's Seattle Team Kleinfelder Kleinfelder is pleased to announce Sam Christie has joined the Seattle team in the role of Principal Professional/Senior Project Manager. Responsible for providing project management and technical leadership, Christie will ensure Kleinfelder delivers responsive and high-quality geotechnical solutions for infrastructure projects throughout the Puget Sound region. Read More Stewart Pilsch Joins Kennesaw Office NOVA Please join us in welcoming Stewart Pilsch to NOVA! With over 10 years’ experience in finance and business operations, data analytics and personnel management expertise, Stewart has achieved measurable success in his career thus far. He will be a key asset to NOVA’s Kennesaw, Georgia headquarters as the Vice President of Finance. Read More KCB Recognized as Best Managed Companies BC Finalist for 12th Year Klohn Crippen Berger We are proud to be recognized for the 12th consecutive year as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, BC Finalists, and the sixth year as a qualified Platinum Member. This award recognizes our overall business performance, sustained growth, and the efforts of the entire company. Read More Dr. John Xiong Named Leader of Haley & Aldrich's Emerging Contaminants Practice Haley & Aldrich Haley & Aldrich, an engineering and environmental consulting company, today announced that Dr. John Xiong, Ph.D., P.E., will lead its Emerging Contaminants practice. In this role, Dr. Xiong, located in Haley & Aldrich’s Costa Mesa office, will lead the company’s efforts to develop and provide innovative technical solutions for emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4-dioxane, 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP), perchlorate, and inorganic contaminants such as chromium, molybdenum, and lithium. Read More Partnerships Forge Industrial Growth Gannett Fleming Gannett Fleming recently completed engineering and construction for the $40 million R. Steven Biggs Regional Wastewater Pretreatment Facility (WWPTF) in Clayton, North Carolina. Gannett Fleming recently completed engineering and construction for the $40 million R. Steven Biggs Regional Wastewater Pretreatment Facility (WWPTF) in Clayton, North Carolina. A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 10 celebrated the innovation and success of the state-of-the-art facility with community leaders and global health care company, Novo Nordisk. Read More  INDUSTRY NEWS Engineering Change Lab - Summit 7 ECL- USA Engineering Change Lab USA (ECL-USA) Summit 7 was held on October 21 and 22 at Northeastern University outside of Boston. The program for Summit 7 included provocations and extended discussion on technological driving forces impacting engineering and the future of consulting engineering. Discussions of these topics were framed around future challenges faced by society and engineers, as expressed in the National Academy of Engineering’s Grand Challenges for Engineering and the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Future World Vision initiative. The Summit report, “Engineering Challenges for the 21st Century,” summarizes the discussion and the key takeaways for the engineering community. The Summit 7 report is available on the ECL-USA website and through the ECL-USA LinkedIn page. We encourage you to distribute this report within your organizations and to your personal networks. We want the messages of ECL-USA to be shared broadly in the engineering community. Read More Plastic Bubbles Incorporated into High-Rise to Reduce Concrete Usage by 35% Dezeen A German construction project has saved an estimated 136 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by incorporating air pockets made of recycled plastic within its concrete slabs. Read More Safety Feature: Winter Work Safety Safety and Health Magazine Limiting exposure to cold temperatures is paramount to preventing illness and injury when working in winter weather. Beyond investing in gear to keep workers warm and dry, safety managers should be rethinking how long – and at what time of day – crews are in the elements. Read More 4 Things to Do if You Love Your Job but Hate Your Boss CNBC Sixty percent of working Americans today say they’ve left a job, or considered leaving a job, because they didn’t like their direct supervisor, according to a survey from human resource consulting firm Randstad US. Though leaving a job may seem like the best solution for retiring a bad boss, that doesn’t mean that it’s always the best plan for your career. What should you do if you love your job but hate your boss. Read More Just Make a Decision Harvard Business Review You’ve come up with ideas, narrowed down your options, and looked at the available data. You’ve asked all the right questions to guide your choice. And yet, for some reason, you just can’t pull the trigger on a decision. What’s the hold up? Read More How to Disagree with Your Boss wikiHow Lots of bosses (and other authority figures) feel like their employees don’t tell them the truth, and lots of employees feel like they can’t tell their boss the truth. If you’re an employee, there are a few tactics you can take to politely and respectfully tell your boss you disagree with them without putting your job or your reputation in danger. Read More Three Keys to Faster, Better Decisions McKinsey Decision makers fed up with slow or subpar results take heart. Three practices can help improve decision making and convince skeptical business leaders that there is life after death by committee. Read More How the FIU Tragedy Could Change Bridge Construction Projects Construction Dive The National Transportation Safety Board has all but concluded its investigation into the March 2018 Florida International University pedestrian bridge collapse, which killed six people and injured several others. Its findings, foreshadowed by an earlier report from OSHA's Office of Engineering Services, laid the majority of blame on the span's design but also revealed major gaps in the project's construction and safety protocols. The big question is, what can the rest of the industry learn from this tragedy and how are these lessons likely to manifest themselves in future bridge projects? Read More Wind Energy is on the Rise in the Great Plains Yale Climate Connections Wind whipping across the Great Plains can generate a lot of electricity. But transporting that electricity from remote areas to cities and towns can be a big task. Read More Words of Wisdom "It takes humility to realize that we don’t know everything, not to rest on our laurels, and to know that we must keep learning and observing." -Cher Wang  BOARD OF DIRECTORS President: Arthur “Art” Hoffmann, P.E., D.GE (Gannett Fleming, Inc./ Harrisburg, PA), 717/763-7211 President-Elect: Kenneth R. "Ken" Johnston, (GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. / Norwood, MA), 781/278-3700 Secretary/Treasurer: Thomas W. "Tom" Blackburn, P.E., G.E., F.ASCE (Blackburn Consulting / Auburn, CA), 530/887-1494 Directors: Saiid Behboodi, P.E., G.E., (PBS Engineering + Environmental / Portland, OR), 503/417-7707 Chuck A. Gregory, P.E. (Terracon / San Antonio, TX), 210/641-2112 Christopher Matthew "Matt" Moler, P.E. (S&ME, Inc. / Greensboro, NC), 336/553-1245 Leo J. Titus, Jr. P.E., (ECS, Ltd. / Chantilly, VA), 703/471-8400 Martin LaRoche, P. Eng, M.Sc. (SNC-Lavalin / Montreal, Canada) Matthew "Matt" R. Poirier, P.E. (Sanborn Head & Associates, Inc. Concord, NH) NEWSlog Connect with GBA Recent Issues | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | Web Version  GBA Staff: Joel G. Carson, Executive Director, 301-565-2733 (office) | 402-517-1819 (cell) Sara Menase, Program Manager, 301-565-2733  Phillip D. Pettway, Controller, 301-565-2733  Barbara A. Nappy, Program Director, 301-565-2733 (office) | 727-457-2272 (cell) Geoprofessional Business Association 15800 Crabbs Branch Way, Suite 300  | Rockville, MD 20855 | 301-565-2733 | Contact Us  About GBA The Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA) helps its members and their clients confront risk and optimize business performance by delivering unique professional resources, programs, and services that make them stronger, smarter and more successful. 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