Debanik Chaudhuri, Ph.D., P.E., G.E.

Dr. Chaudhuri's expertise includes design, analysis, and performance evaluations of shallow and deep foundations, earth retaining structures, waterfront structures, bridges, ground slopes, and buried pipelines. Dr. Chaudhuri has considerable experience in numerical modeling of soil-structure interaction, seismic ground response analysis, analysis of soil liquefaction, investigation of earthquake-induced ground failure, and also development of repair and stabilization procedures. He is also well versed with geotechnical exploration, in-situ soil testing, site characterization, and soil property evaluation.

Dr. Chaudhuri has performed damage assessment of residential and commercial structures, and has evaluated ground settlement, foundation, wood-frame structure performance, fire damage to concrete structures, and vapor transmission through concrete slabs. He also has experience with the evaluation of sites following natural disasters, such as earthquakes. He has investigated sites and structures affected by the Northridge, San Simeon, and Hawaii earthquakes. He has expertise in evaluation of dynamic soil properties, analysis of the behavior of wood-frame structures, retaining walls, slopes, and foundations during earthquakes. His expertise also includes testing and analysis of expansive and collapsible soils and their effects on foundations, retaining walls, and slopes.

Dr. Chaudhuri’s professional background includes a combined 19 years of design, construction, and management experience related to civil and geotechnical engineering.

Chaudhuri D. Pile foundation response to lateral ground movement. Geotechnical Special Publication No. 132, Advances in Deep Foundations: In Memory of Michael W. O’Neill. GeoFrontiers 2005, ASCE, Austin, TX, 2005.

Chaudhuri D. Liquefaction and lateral soil movement effects on piles. Ph.D. Dissertation, Cornell University, 1998.

Abdoun T, Dobry R, O’Rourke TD, Chaudhuri D. Centrifuge modeling of seismically-induced lateral deformation during liquefaction and its effect on a pile foundation. 6th Japan-U.S. Workshop on Earthquake Resistant Design of Lifeline Facilities and Countermeasure Against Soil Liquefaction, Tokyo, Japan, 1996.

Toprak S, O’Rourke TD, Chaudhuri D. Pile response to lateral spread—A benchmark case. 4th U.S. Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Conference, ASCE, San Francisco, CA, 1995.

O’Rourke T, Meyersohn DW, Shiba Y, Chaudhuri D. Evaluation of pile response to liquefaction-induced lateral spread. 5th U.S.-Japan Workshop on Earthquake Resistant Design of Lifeline Facilities and Countermeasure Against Soil Liquefaction, Snowbird, UT, 1994.

Sandford TC, Chaudhuri D. Lateral deformations in a soft clay foundation under an embankment loading. 2nd Geotechnical Engineering Conference, Cairo University, Egypt, 1993.

Reports

Lam IP, Kapuskar M, Dhaudhuri D. Modeling of pile footings and drilled shafts for seismic design. Technical Report MCEER-98-0018, MCEER, Buffalo, NY, 1998.

O’Rourke TD, Netravali AN, Pendharker SM, Tonkinson, AJ, Chaudhuri D. Evaluating service life of anaerobic joint sealing products and techniques. Report Submitted to Gas Research Institute, NY, Report No. GRI-96/0318, 1996.

Presentations

Chaudhuri D. Engineering issues for post-earthquake damage assessment. Co-instructor, Training for Insurance Adjusters based on technical requirements of California Department of Insurance, California Code of Regulations, Simi Valley, July 2006.

Chaudhuri D. Pile foundation response to lateral ground movement. Presented at GeoFrontiers2005 Conference, ASCE, Austin, TX, January 26, 2005.

Chaudhuri D, Wren J. San Simeon Earthquake: Damage patterns and trends. Presented at the American Society of Civil Engineering Forensic Engineering Technical Group, Los Angeles Section, September 14, 2004.

Chaudhuri D. Pile response to lateral spread—A benchmark case. Presented at the 4th U.S. Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Conference, ASCE, San Francisco, CA, 1995.

Chaudhuri D. Evaluation of pile response to liquefaction-induced lateral spread. Presented at the 5th U.S.-Japan Workshop on Earthquake Resistant Design of Lifeline Facilities and Countermeasure Against Soil Liquefaction, Snowbird, UT, 1994.

• Chief Geotechnical Engineer, Twining Laboratories of Southern California, 2007–2008
• Senior Engineer, Exponent, Inc., 2002–2007
• Staff to Project Engineer, Earth Mechanics, Inc, 1997–2002
• Project Manager, Casa Engineers Pvt. Ltd., India, 1990–1991
• Senior Engineer, Development Consultants Ltd., India, 1986–1990
• Trainee to Project Engineer, Cemindia Company Ltd., India, 1982–1986
  

Pier 400 Project, Port of Los Angeles, California—Performed finite element analysis to evaluate seismic hazard and liquefaction potential for the Pier 400 dike structure and landfill area. Prepared reports providing recommendations on dike performance, ground improvement, soil-pile interaction, and pile capacity.

New San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, California—Project Engineer responsible for conducting site response analyses using the finite element method to evaluate basin effects on ground motion. Performed soil-structure interaction analysis to develop pier-specific kinematic motions. Prepared geotechnical reports on ground motion, lateral pile design, and soil-structure interaction.

Seismic Retrofit of Six Bridges, County of Los Angeles, California—Project Engineer responsible for performing subsurface investigation, evaluation of liquefaction potential, evaluating embankment stability analyses under seismic conditions, evaluating foundation capacity and stiffness of the existing bridge structures, and providing design and construction recommendations for retrofit strategies.

Retrofit of Existing Tunnel Structure, University of California, Irvine, Medical Center, Orange, California—Geotechnical Engineer of Record for geotechnical investigation, foundation design and construction of the protective structure for retrofit of the existing tunnel structure located within the campus of UCI Medical Center. The new structure consisted of grade level “bridge” supported on drilled shafts to protect the existing tunnel structure from vehicular load.

Multiplex Theater Building and Parking Structure, Oxnard, California—Geotechnical Engineer responsible for geotechnical investigation, seismic evaluation, and design of foundation system for multiplex theater complex and a 4-story parking garage.

• American Society of Civil Engineers (member)
• American Society of Civil Engineers, Forensic Technical Group, Los Angeles (chair)
• California Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (subject matter expert)
• Forensic Expert Witness Association (associate member)
• California Geotechnical Engineers Association (student outreach liaison)