Recent Addition - HCEA is pleased to announce that David Patron, P.E. has joined the firm.
Mr. Patron has over 28 years of experience in geotechnical engineering, construction monitoring & testing services, project management, and business development. Major areas of responsibility have included management of senior and staff level engineers, field technicians, and technical review and preparation of engineering reports and proposals, new client and business development, and client maintenance. He has developed and managed Construction Monitoring and Testing programs for construction phase projects and Geotechnical Engineering programs pertaining to feasibility studies, proposed site development, and failure analyses. Programs have covered shallow/deep foundation analyses for bridges, buildings, and other structures; slope stability analyses; pavement design; groundwater-related problems; forensic and/or diagnostic geotechnical engineering analyses for building, pavement and other structural failures; retaining wall design; and infiltration studies.
Back in Barbados - HCEA has been traveling to Barbados
on a project by project basis since
2006. Originally HCEA provided
extensive geotechnical studies on the
ABC Highway flyover project and
gradually expanded our customer
base to the point where it became
practical to establish a permanent
Caribbean business entity there in
2008.
Barbados is about 1600 miles
southeast of Miami located at 13º
N Latitude and 59º W Longitude
and is the most easterly island in
the archipelago of the Caribbean
islands. Barbados measures 34Km
(20 miles) by 22Km (about 15 miles)
encompassing about 166sq miles and
has a population of around 260,000,
known as “Bajan’s”. Barbados was
under British rule until 1966 giving the
island a strong British influence and in
fact is referred to as little England.
The Caribbean office is headed up by
Bill Carnes with daily management
of our Barbados work being the
responsibility of Cindy Shepeck,
engineering geologist and Manager
of our Hagerstown, Maryland office.
Much of the “hands-on” work on the
island is performed by Joe Mays. Joe
has been with HCEA for over twelve
years and has been a key member of
the HCEA team on many of our larger
projects including the ESSROCItalcementi
cement plant located in
West Virginia, the Western Maryland
Hospital, the Inter-County Connector
(ICC) and the US Customs and Border
Protection Leadership Campus. Joe
conducts our geophysical surveys, as
well as managing testing & inspection
and geotechnical exploration projects.
HCEA’s electrical resistivity (ER)
work in Barbados began in 2006 as
part of the geotechnical investigation
for the ABC Highway project.
While on-site, Joe was asked by the
Ministry of Barbados to give a brief
presentation to local Structural and
Civil Engineering fi rms about our fi rm
and our abilities which generated a
great deal of interest in our services.
Over the next fourteen months, HCEA
has had personnel in Barbados on
a full time basis serving a range of
clients.
Recently, HCEA services in the region
have expanded from geotechnical
engineering to include exploratory
test drilling using our own drilling
equipment. Our first drilling project
was for the future Port Ferdinand
Marina located along the west coast of
the Island. The Port Ferdinand Marina
is a very large and complex project
consisting of the design of a new
inlet off of the Atlantic Ocean with
three and four story condominiums
surrounding the new marina. The site was especially challenging
from a foundation perspective due to
the presence of over 90 feet of peat
deposits underlying the site.
Peat is plant matter that is partially
decomposed under conditions of no
oxygen. When dug from the ground,
peat is about 75 percent water by
weight. Once dried, it is about 60
percent carbon and makes a useful fuel
in many regions. Peat forms large and
widespread deposits in the northern
latitudes, where wet ground (peat
bogs and fens) and abundant plant
growth favor its preservation. Peat
turns slowly into coal with burial and
pressure as gentle heat drives out light
hydrocarbons. While peat has some
diversifi ed uses, it is generally not
suitable for the construction of shallow
foundation systems that support
permanent structures.
In order to determine which
foundation system was technically and
economically suitable for the project,
HCEA drilled over 1,000 linear feet
of Standard Penetration Test (SPT)
borings over 22 locations. The final
recommendation and design for the
24-inch, mandrel-driven pipe piles
was developed by our Structural
Engineering department. To ensure
that the pilings were meeting design
capacity, HCEA recommended that
selected piles be monitored with
the Pile Driving Analyzer (PDA)
during installation. Our foundation
recommendations provided the most
economical design using locally
available materials and also took
into account the familiarity of the
local Contractor’s recommended
methodology.
HCEA has provided services for
many other projects currently
under development/construction in
Barbados, including:
Baobab Tower II – a 10-story
commercial building; Warrens Tower II – a 10-story
commercial building; Apes Hill Club- a 470-acre
Residential Polo and Golf
Development; Clearwater Resort – a Four Seasons
Hotel and Residential resort; and Banks Holdings – a 60,000 square
foot expansion of the current bottling
facility.
HCEA will also be providing
geotechnical services for the
Buccament Bay Resort located on
the island of St. Vincent; home to
the “Pirates of the Caribbean” set.
Additionally, HCEA will be involved
with the Marquis Estate Resort located
on the island of St. Lucia. This 600
plus acre resort will include two Gary
Player Signature golf courses, a Pat
Cash Tennis Academy, a world class
spa, and marina.
