DFI | Deep Foundation Institute Europe

Short history of the Deep Foundations Institute

Like other organizations of its type, DFI was conceived during conversations wherein the participants expressed a need or desire for a body to represent them. In the case of DFI, it was one specialized sector of the civil construction field, deep foundations. One can imagine these fetal discussions taking place in the early seventies at the Pile Talks Seminars, where contractors, engineers and manufacturers came to discuss the pile driving industry. A few professors, and even owners, were drawn to these inclusive gatherings. The "Pile Talks Seminars" were annual commercial conferences, organized by Associated Pile & Fitting of Clifton, New Jersey, a pile accessory supplier.

More discussions continued and DFI, a non-commercial, not-for-profit organization was born. The newly named Deep Foundations Institute was incorporated in 1976. The idea that engineers, contractors, manufacturers & suppliers, academics & owners should have a forum for dialog and technology exchange with equal and interdisciplinary participation became the cornerstone of the Institute, and has been ever since. After a few years a professional office - DFI Headquarters - was opened at New Jersey (since 2004 Englewood Cliffs).

Today, DFI is an international organization with membership from 40 plus countries from 6 continents. Technical Committees represent the advancement and understanding of 10 foundations systems including: Augered Cast-In-Place Pile, Drilled Shaft, Driven Pile, Helical Foundations & Tiebacks, Marine Foundations, Micropiles, Slurry Walls, Soil Mixing, Testing and Evaluations & Tiebacks and Soil Nails. All ten committees meet at least once a year at the Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in the fall. Seminars to promote understanding of the state of the practice are programmed by the committees throughout the year to provide a balanced, non-commercial dissemination of information. DFI also has over 60 technical publications available.

On May 19, 2005, a European branch was founded by a few prominent European Members. DFI Europe was born as an independent association for the European DFI Members, who enjoy the benefits of the joined DFI and DFI Europe memberships. The new association started it’s own office at Harderwijk, the Netherlands. The European Conference at Amsterdam on 31 May- 2 June 2006 in co-operation with the EFFC, combined with the first General Meeting of DFI Europe, was an important milestone.

DFI A4 brochure download '01-09-DFI A4 brochure web.pdf'

Maurice Bottiau and Sikko Doornbos as incorporators signing the agreement of establishment of the European Association

Henk de Koning signing the Articles of Association, Amsterdam, 22 September 2005.

The DFI European Board Members are:

Sikko Doornbos, President, Terracon International, the Netherlands

Maurice Bottiau, Treasurer, Franki, Belgium

Tony Butcher, BRE, UK

William van Impe, Professor Geotechnics, University of Ghent, Belgium

Vincent Joannes, ICE/IHC Marteaux Hydrauliques, France

John Patch, Vice-President,, Roger Bullivant, UK

Adriaan van Seters, Fugro, the Netherlands

Henk de Koning, Secretary

First General Meeting, Amsterdam, 30 May 2006,

DFI Europe Mission Statement

1. DFI Europe is open to all professional corporations and persons, involved in design and construction of foundations, they being academics, consultants, engineers, contractors, equipment manufacturers, material suppliers, public authorities or researchers.

2. The objective of the European Chapter of the Deep Foundations Institute is to provide a forum for these corporations and individuals in Europe, to improve the planning, design, construction and testing of deep foundations including deep excavations.

3. The association will work at eliminating the barriers between the different professions in the field of deep foundations and at improving the understanding and sharing of knowledge and experience.

4. More precisely, the association endeavours to achieve its objectives by
a. gathering, disseminating and cataloguing existing information among members primarily but also outside the institute;

b. influencing the improvement and extension of the knowledge of new ideas and practices of geotechnical and geo-environmental design, construction and testing;

c. participating and encouraging practical application of research in the field of deep foundations;

d. organizing short courses and training dedicated to the upgrade of the knowledge and competence in the field of deep foundations;

e. producing written material such as guidelines and manuals gathering the State-of-the-Art of deep foundations practice.

5. The association will establish contacts with existing organizations working on related goals, such as the EFFC and the ISSMGE and its national chapters.

6. The association will participate in or conduct events such as local and international conferences and other activities as will best promote the foregoing purposes, and all other related matters thereto.

Board Meeting, Brussels, 23 August, 2006