What happens when rock is mischaracterized? TRB will host a webinar on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 from 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern to discuss the consequences of mischaracterizing rock in transportation projects. There could be significant project cost overruns, legal claims, and project delays if the volumes, types, or locations of materials are substantially different from bidding documents. Presenters will explain how to better characterize rock to increase accuracy and expediency in transportation projects.

This webinar was organized by the TRB Standing Committees on Geotechnical Instrumentation and Modeling, and Soil and Rock Properties and Site Characterization.

Some registrants will need to pay $95 to attend this webinar. Sign into MyTRB.org to view registration information.

Webinar agenda and presenters

1. How to characterize soil and rock types and the interfaces between these materials: Bob Bachus, Geosyntec Consultants
2. Current state of the practice and potential improvements to the state of practice: Bob Group, Colorado Department of Transportation
3. Impacts on project cost and schedule and how these impacts compare depending on type of construction work: Ben Rivers, Federal Highway Administration
4. Question and answer session: Moderated by Sharid Amiri, California Department of Transportation

The first 60 minutes of the webinar will be for presentations and the final 30 minutes will be reserved for audience questions.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Identify risks related to soil and rock identification
2. Identify how to alleviate these risks

Professional Development Hour Information

Professional engineers (PEs) who register and attend the entire webinar as an individual will be awarded 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs). TRBs webinar program awards PDH credits only to the registered individual, and not to other members of a group that view the webinar together. To be eligible for the credits, individuals must remain signed in for the entire webinar, including for any question and answer session following the presentations.

Please check with your licensing board to ensure that TRB webinar PDHs are approved by your board.

TRB will report credits earned to the Registered Continuing Education Program (RCEP). Complaints about registered providers may be sent to RCEP, 1015 15th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, D.C., 20005.

Registration questions? Contact Reggie Gillum.