September Dinner Meeting - Dr. Rick Deschamps, Ph.D., P.E., Vice President of Nicholson Construction

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Rick Deschamps earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of South Florida and his Ph.D. from Purdue University, where he studied under Professor Jerry Leonards. He began his career with Dames and Moore in Tampa, then served on the civil engineering faculty at Purdue University, focusing on pile foundations, constitutive modeling, and slope stabilization. In 1996, he received the Harold Munson Teaching Award from Purdue.

In 1999, Dr. Deschamps joined FMSM Engineers in Lexington, Kentucky, where his work centered on numerical modeling for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dam remediation projects. Since 2004, he has been with Nicholson Construction Company, leading the design team in developing competitive design-build and value-engineered geotechnical solutions nationwide. In 2014, he received the ASCE Wallace Hayward Baker Award for innovative geotechnical practice.

LECTURE OVERVIEW:

The successful implementation of innovative geotechnical solutions often depends on a motivated owner, a unique problem, reliable geotechnical information, appropriate analytical tools, and the willingness to try something new. In this lecture, Dr. Deschamps will present four projects where such solutions were applied to address significant engineering challenges:

• Arlington, Virginia: Construction of a 48-foot cantilever grade change wall to prevent encroachment on neighboring property.

• Crookston, Minnesota: Use of widely spaced deep shear walls to stabilize a slope failure threatening a major highway.

• Combined Sewer Storage Project: Design and construction of a 240-foot diameter diaphragm wall shaft for below-grade storage.

• Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin: Micropile remediation of a dam supported on deteriorating timber piles.

EVENT DETAILS

Check-in and social hour begins at 5:00 with drinks available for purchase at the bar. Food will start between 5:00 and 5:30, and the presentation will begin at 6:15. We look forward to an evening of insightful discussion, professional networking, and continuing education.