Geohazard Association Newsletter | November 2018
PRESIDENT'S NOTE
The summer has come and gone, and for me personally it seemed to have passed with a blink of an eye. The AGHP was a hub of activity, holding more webinars, great committee meetings, participating in conferences and planning future events.

At the beginning of the summer, many of our members attended the Geohazards 7 conference held in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. The conference had a diverse range of papers presented, all of extremely high quality. One of the highlights was a talk by Andy Esarte -Canmore’s Manager of Engineering- that recounted the devastating debris flood event in 2013 and the road to recovery they forged. The presentations, discussions and field trip underlined the strong and necessary connections between the engineers, designers and contractors who provide mitigation solutions with the community that they serve.

Also meeting at the conference was the AGHP’s Debris Flow and Steep Creek Hazards Mitigation Committee, holding their first in-person workshop that was a great success. Participants attended from the USA, Canada, Switzerland, South Korea, Hong Kong and China. A big thank you to the attendees and the people who organized it!

I would also like to highlight the work that the Rope Access Committee. They recently published an interesting article in Geotechnical News . It is an overview of their efforts and a call for building a culture of safety in our industry. Regretfully, shortly following the publication, the industry saw another tragic death of a worker who routinely put his own life in danger to protect others. The work of the Rope Access Committee is critical and represents a changing attitude regarding worker safety. The committee has initiated a recognition program sponsored by the AGHP that identifies and commends companies and agencies that have comprehensive safety plans and proven track records for working on dangerous slopes. Recipients were recognized at the Highway Geology Symposium in Portland, Maine. Congratulations to all involved! I encourage you and your organization to partake in fostering change. More information can be found at on the Rope Access Committee's page .

Lastly, the AGHP had some major changes behind the scenes: our association management will now be handled by Professional Management Associates (PMA). We would like to thank Minerva for the many years of support. They were an integral part in the founding and growth of the AGHP for which we will always be grateful. We look forward to PMA following in Minerva’s footsteps and becoming a key element in the success of our Association. The Board of Directors went through a rigorous RFP process and feel that PMA offered exceptional expertise that will help the AGHP to grow into the geohazard industry hub for North America and beyond.  

We wish you a safe and productive fall!

Sincerely,
Ahren Bichler
President, Association of Geohazard Professionals

AGHP BOARD OF DIRECTORS, TERM 2018 – 2020
  • President   |   Ahren Bichler, Trumer N.A.
  • Vice President   |   Colby Barrett, GeoStablization International
  • Secretary   |   Pierce Runnels, Geobrugg
  • Treasurer   |   Mike Koutsourais, Maccaferri
  • Individual Member Representative   |   Martin Derby, Golder Associates Inc.

MEMBER PROFILE: PETER WEBB, CANYON EQUIPMENT
Peter Webb is the owner of Canyon Equipment, a company specializing in the sales and service of drilling and mining equipment servicing the geohazards industry throughout North America. He has been carrying various lines of equipment for over 15 years, including Marini, RDH, PHQ and Furukawa. We welcome Peter and Canyon Equipment as one of our newest members.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
The Board of Directors would like to formally welcome the newest members of the Association of GeoHazard Professionals :
  • Tim Newberg from GeoStabilization International
  • Michael Zimmerman from GRI
  • Peter Web from Canyon Equipment
  • Mat Avery from Hiway Geostabilization
  • Dennis Mills from Exploratioin Instruments
AGHP COMMITTEES
The AGHP Committees are a great place to stay up to date on hot topics and have an influence on initiatives that will shape the future of the industry. Most committees meet monthly via tele- or web conferencing. Everyone is highly encouraged to join a committee and get involved in the association on a much deeper level and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge from your fellow members.

Please review our committees below and sign up today!

ROPE ACCESS SAFETY RECOGNITION WINNERS FOR 2018
To promote safe work environments within the Geohazard industry, AGHP initiated its industry-wide  Rope Access Safety Recognition Program . This annual program recognizes companies that develop and implement safe rope access work procedures, provide education and training to their personnel, and commit to enhancing the safety culture within their organizations. A review of the applicants’ safety program and performance metrics is conducted including Total Incident Rates and Lost Time / Modified Duty Rates statistics. Additionally, the review process measures management involvement & commitment to the firm’s safety program, reviews their written rope access safety procedure, and determines adherence to industry best practices.

Recipients of AGHP's 2018 Safety Recognition:
GeoStabilization International
Washington Department of Transportation
McMillen Jacobs and Associates
GZA Geoenvironmental Inc.
TECHNICAL NOTE - TO DEFORM OR NOT TO DEFORM: THAT IS THE QUESTION!
Flexible net rockfall catchment fences are one tool available to engineers for mitigating rockfall events. These systems have been in use for decades around the world with a rather impressive performance record. Though the basic concept of the systems has remained relatively unchanged during this time, the specifics of the fences have become more advanced, incorporating components that can accommodate large deformations and thus absorb large amounts of energy. In contrast, there has been a trend whereby the foundation designs have become more robust and most often entirely rigid, where even small deformations of the anchorage are not tolerated. This has led to rather large and expensive solutions for supporting an otherwise cost-efficient and flexible structure.

HKUST Debris Flow Research
Some exciting research is being conducted at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in the field of debris flow dynamics. The program is part of a theme-based research scheme project entitled understanding debris flow mechanisms and mitigating risks for a sustainable Hong Kong (T22-603/15N) that is being developed by Professor Charles W.W. Ng of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.

The Association of Geohazard Professionals (AGHP) was created to support the development of standards, specifications,
and best practices concerning the design and implementation of geohazard-related technologies and products;
and to support and provide education to the Geohazard Community and those it serves.

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