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Loss Prevention Seminar SoCal
Residence Inn Burbank
321 S Ikea Way
Burbank, CA 91502
USA
(818) 260-8787

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Saturday, February 08, 2020, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM PDT
Category: Loss Prevention Seminar

Loss Prevention Seminar & Technician Training in Southern California

We are bringing our popular Loss Prevention Seminar farther north this year to Burbank on Saturday February 8th, 2020.

LOCATION & DATE HAS CHANGED!!

This is a popular annual training event held on a Saturday morning from 8am - 12pm. Technicians and field staff will greatly benefit from attending this seminar held only once a year! We provide (4) hours of professional development on a wide range of topics from field report writing to QAQC for various construction elements to attorney presentations on liability and key items that field staff should be aware of.

This year's topics and speakers are the following:

  • "An Engineered Approach for a Successful Soil Stabilization Project - The Technician's Role" by Marco Estrada, Pavement Recycling Systems
  • "Asphalt Batch Plant Inspection" by Tim Reed, Vulcan Materials
  • "Observation & Testing - Preparation of Field Reports" by Neal Berliner, Geocon
  • "Construction Defect Litigation & Liability: A Field Technician's Role" by Michael Edwards, Byron & Edwards

*Speakers may be subject to change

Schedule:

7:30am Registration & Hot breakfast

8:00am Session 1: "An Engineered Approach for a Successful Soil Stabilization Project - The Technician's Role" by Marco Estrada, Pavement Recycling Systems

Marco is the Director of Business Development for Pavement Recycling Systems of California.  Marco is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Engineering.  He is an Industry Co-Chair for the Caltrans Pavement & Materials Partnering Committee (PMPC), as well as of the Green Book Stabilized Base Task Force.  Over the last 30 years, he has been involved in both the engineering and construction industries in the implementation of soil stabilization and asphalt recycling engineering strategies.   

His topic of discussion today is “An Engineered Approach for a Successful Soil Stabilization Project”.  Soil stabilization processes with lime and cement are established engineered and sustainable technologies that provide structural and economic advantages in construction of pavement and building foundations.  Soil Stabilization is founded on the principle that unsuitable soils can stabilized to improve their engineering properties; it is a design alternative to costlier and less sustainable “removal and replacement” construction processes.

Marco’s presentation will include focusing on the technician’s role in the soil stabilization process and the nuances of testing lime and cement stabilized soils. 

9:00am Session 2: "Asphalt Batch Plant Inspection" by Tim Reed, Quality Control Manager for Vulcan Materials in charge of Southern California

Tim has 18 years of experience of Quality Control and Quality assurance testing and inspection of asphalt plants.  He has served as quality manager for many projects including paving projects for the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach, LAX and many projects for Caltrans.  Tim sits on the board of directors with the California Asphalt Pavement Association and sits on various expert task groups working with the state of California on specification development and adjustment.   Tim currently holds personal certifications from the state of california, ACI, and NICET.

Tim will be presenting a perspective of how to conduct a good asphalt plant inspection from the view of an Asphalt Production Facility.  What would an inspector look for?  What matters most when it comes to asphalt plant inspection?

10:00am Session 3: "Observation & Testing - Preparation of Field Reports" by Neal Berliner, Geocon

Mr. Berliner is responsible for the management of Geocon’s technical practice in the greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and Riverside County areas. He began his professional career in 1992, gaining geotechnical engineering experience throughout southern California. His experience encompasses a wide range of projects for both public and private clients, and includes multi-story office buildings, regional shopping centers, parking structures, sound stages and studio facilities, educational facilities, mixed-use and multi-family residential developments, large-scale land developments, roadways and paving rehabilitation, bridges, pipelines, solar fields, and more. Mr. Berliner has an expertise on projects requiring deep excavation/shoring and mitigation of groundwater, as well as projects that require drilled and driven piles, micro-piles, stone columns, cement/lime stabilization, soil nails, compaction grouting, underpinning, and ground mitigation. He has a strong background in forensic geotechnical engineering and provides support for project dispute resolution, serving at times as a geotechnical expert witness. Mr. Berliner started his career working in a soils testing laboratory, followed by years of inspection and testing on construction sites. He is familiar with construction site politics, the need for proper communication between the responsible engineer and field technician/inspector, and is mindful of the importance of a properly detailed inspection and testing report which could cause or prevent the need for a costly construction change order, or potential litigation.

11:00am Session 4: "Construction Defect Litigation & Liability: A Field Technician's Role" by Michael Edwards, Byron & Edwards

The field tech is the company’s eyes and ears on the job so daily reports and actual discussions with the office engineer are very important.  What are the differences between the contractor’s contractual obligation to perform and the geotechnical engineering firm’s contract to provide construction observation services?  One would think that the difference between the contracts would not create the level of liability that California’s legal system has apparently bestowed upon geotechnical consultants.

We will describe the importance of the field technicians in a geotechnical company and how valuable they and their field documentation is to their firms and the success of the project.  Construction defect litigation may occur years after the project completion.  Geotechnician’s need to remember that five (5) or so years later, during the course of legal investigation and representation, the daily reports will be carefully looked at by experts in the field.  We will also discuss and provide suggestions on contents of the daily reports on the job and how they can assist in the successful defense of the firm.

Michael Edwards is a shareholder in Byron & Edwards, APC. His areas of concentration are contract law, contract negotiation, construction litigation, professional liability (specializing in defense of architects and engineers), real estate, land use, and CEQA. He is the author of “Liability for Innovative but Unproven Designs,” Cushman/Hedemann, “Architect and Engineer Liability: Claims Against Design Professionals” (Second Ed. 1995).

He has been elected by his peers to be among the “Top Lawyers in San Diego” for years and by Martindale-Hubble as a Preeminent Peer Rated counsel.
In addition to being the author of numerous articles concerning liability issues of architects and engineers, he has also lectured extensively on this subject and was an invited speaker at the CNA Annual Meeting of Invited Attorneys on three occasions.

12:00pm Conclusion & distribution of PDH certificates

Short breaks will be provided after each speaker and a raffle with CalGeo and gift card give-a-ways will be conducted.

Registration:

ONLY 56-seats available. SOLD OUT!

Early-bird member registration: Pay before December 31st and save $20 per person! Only $130 for (4) hours of specialized technician-focused training.

$150 CalGeo members, $225 Non-members.

Not a member and want to save money?? Contact Kelly Cabal about our trial-membership and receive a free registration to this seminar!

*CalGeo will validate for parking costs at the Residence Inn, Burbank

Thank you to our generous sponsor, Pavement Recycling Systems

 


Contact: Kelly Cabal, [email protected] (949) 391-2436 with any questions.