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Geotechnical News • September 2012
GEO-INSTITUTE NEWS
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G-I News
Wissmann becomes new G-I
Board Governor
The G-I Board of Governors proudly
announced that
Kord J. Wissmann,
Ph.D., P.E., D.GE
will become the
new G-I governor at the conclusion
of the fall 2012 Board meeting. Upon
learning of his new role, Wissmann
stated, “It is an honor and a privilege
to help lead the Institute in such a
special way. I’m excited about the
prospects of serving our great profes-
sion and the wonderful people who are
our G-I constituents.”
Wissmann has been the president and
chief engineer at Geopier Founda-
tion Co. in Mooresville, NC since
2001 where he is responsible for
company operations, business plan-
ning, engineering activities, design
approach development, and research/
development. Prior to joining Geopier
in 1998, he was a principal engineer
with Shannon & Wilson, Inc., in St.
Louis, MO from 1995-1998 where he
specialized in soil and site improve-
ment, ground modification, driven
piles, seismic studies, finite element
analyses, cellular cofferdam designs,
tunnel support design, and dewatering
and relief well systems, in-situ testing.
Wissmann earned his Ph.D. and his
B.S. in civil engineering at Virginia
Tech and his M.S. in civil engineer-
ing at the University of California at
Berkeley.
Wissmann has been an active
GeoInstitute member currently serving
as a member and past chair of the GI
Organizational Member Council, as
well as other numerous activities.
What G-I LinkedIn members are
talking about
When was the last time you added
your “two cents” to a geotechnical
discussion on the Geo-Institute Linke-
dIn page at
Here’s what folks have been talking
about lately:
• SPT-N Value in Foundation Design
• Pile interaction between retaining
wall piles designed for k0
• Sampling depth problem
• Recommendations on the pres-
suremeter test? Which soils / rocks
are best for this test? Any experi-
ence with erroneous data?
• Swell test data for assessment of
earth pressures
• How to evaluate soil stability when
drilling through without casing
• Requirements on drilling mud
• Lateral creep of the soil under per-
manent transverse bending of the
drilled shaft
• The use of helical foundation
products on commercial construc-
tion projects
• When do you use Pocket Penetrom-
eter and Torvane and how do you
sequence them?
• Swell test data for assessment of
earth pressures
G-I introduces new ethics web
page
Take a minute to visit the G-I web-
site’s new ethics page at
.
org/geo/Ethics/Ethics/
where you can
earn PDH’s by viewing current and
future videos.
The Academy of Geo-Professionals
hosted its inaugural ethics session dur-
ing the 2012
Geo-Congress in Oakland, CA. During
the session,
Ron Smith, P.E., D.GE,
F.ASCE
, provided real-life examples
of business ethics situations. His
presentation was recorded and is avail-
able for viewing on the ethics page.
Highlights of the recorded lecture
include:
• Personal, Business and Professional
Ethics
• ASCE Fundamental Ethical Prac-
tices
• ASCE Cannons of Ethics
• ASCE Bylaws Regarding Ethics
You can earn up to 2.0 PDHs when
combined with a review of the case
history presentations on the AGP
website at
ethics2.html
. Upon completion, send
an email to
to receive your credit.
Kord J. Wissmann
