Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the Electric Power Systems Foundations Committee have released a new committee report, Design and Construction of Deep Foundations to Support Electric System Transmission Lines State of the Practice.

This state-of-practice report gathers into a single document the diverse deep foundation investigation, design and construction practices the power industry uses in North America, according to Peter Kandaris, P.E., Gannett Fleming (retired) and co-chair of DFI's Electric Power Systems Foundations Committee. "The committee brought together experts with a deep level of experience to create a shared repository of good practices. The report establishes the need for consistent and uniform foundation design and construction practice across a wide variety of subsurface conditions, geographic locals and climates, presenting the basis for future guideline documents, practices manuals and codes."

One of the primary reasons the committee started working on the document was the inconsistent and disjointed approaches to designing and constructing foundations for electric systems transmission lines, explained Matthew Glisson, P.E., DFI director of technical activities. "They recognised that the first step in developing a consistent practice was to document the current state of the practice. I am thrilled for the committee members to reach this milestone and look forward to continuing to work with them on the next steps in developing consistent practice across this industry."