The U.S. Permafrost Association (USPA) is pleased to announce the USPA Technical Training Webinar Series. The webinars are offered on Zoom. Each webinar is 1 hour long, including a 50-min lecture and 10-min Q&A. Certificate of Professional Development Hours (PDH) will be provided to participants who request it after each webinar. The webinars are free for USPA members and all students. For non-USPA members who are not students, the registration fee is $20 for each webinar.

The USPA webinar series is sponsored by Arctic Foundations, Inc., Shannon & Wilson,

PND Engineers, Inc., Geo-Watersheds Scientific, beadedstream, and Katherine Schexneider.

Registration and fees for each webinar

• USPA members: FREE
• Non-USPA students: FREE
• Employees of USPA corporate members: FREE
• Non-USPA members (non-student): $20
• Instructors to volunteer their time
• Recorded webinar freely available to all USPA members
• Minimum number of participants: 10. Maximum number of participants: 200

Registration link: https://uspa.memberclicks.net/technicalwebinar3

Date and Time: Friday, February 2, 2024. 2:00 to 3:00pm ET (10:00 to 11:00am AKT)

Instructor: Dr. John Thornley, P.E. and Andrew Daggett, PE, both at WSP USA in Anchorage, AK

Content of Webinar: Introduction to the use of piles in permafrost to support a variety of foundations.  Geotechnical explorations and critical field data to support design will be discussed. Several examples will be presented to show the process of designing piles in warm and cold permafrost, including axial, creep, and lateral considerations. Construction best practices will also be presented along with additional resources.

Brief Introduction of Instructors: Dr. John Thornley, PE is a geotechnical engineer with WSP USA and has been practicing for nearly 20 years.  He has provided design and construction oversight for pile foundation projects across Alaska.  He is a past president of the US Permafrost Association and is the chair of the Structures and Foundations committee of ASCE’s Cold Region Engineering Division

Andrew Daggett, PE is a geotechnical engineer with WSP USA and has more than ten years of experience. He has extensive design and construction experience with pile foundations across Alaska in frozen and unfrozen conditions.  

Format: The webinar is offered on Zoom. The webinar will be moderated. The seminar will be recorded and uploaded on the USPA website.