The Lizzi Lecture was recently presented by John R. Wolosick, P.E., D.GE., on March 30 at the International Workshop on Micropiles in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

“I am pleased and honored to add my talk to the great list of lectures that have been presented in the past to honor Fernando Lizzi. On a personal note, an autographed copy of Lizzi’s original book is one of my prized possessions,” Wolosick says.

The workshop, now in its 13^th year, was hosted by the International Society for Micropiles (ISM), the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) and the International Association of Foundation Drilling (ADSC). This year’s theme was “Micropiles: Resisting and Remediating the Effects of Mother Nature,” and focused on the application of micropiles to resist and remediate extreme events, geo-hazards and other natural forces such as wind, water and soil movement.

The Lizzi Lecture honors the accomplishments of Dr. Fernando Lizzi (1914-2003), an Italian engineer who is considered the “father of micropile technology” and whose pioneering work is credited with saving many historic structures in his native country. Lizzi’s concept of restoration and consolidation spread to Europe and to many other countries in the ensuing decades.

Wolosick is the director of engineering at Hayward Baker’s Atlanta office, where he is responsible for engineering design and business development support for the company’s offices nationwide. His presentation, titled “Loading Effects on Battered Micropiles in Compression,” was the ninth annual Lizzi Lecture delivered since inauguration of the series in 2008. Wolosick’s lecture topic was based on a technical paper he co-authored with Robert F. Scott, Jr., P.E., a fellow Hayward Baker engineer.

With 37 years of experience in geotechnical engineering and contracting, Wolosick specializes in slope stabilization, support of excavation, soil nailing and micropile foundations including underpinning, plus grouting. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a registered professional engineer in 10 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.

Wolosick is the author of more than 15 technical papers related to micropiles and has been involved in more than 350 projects where micropiles were used for underpinning and/or foundation support, serving clients including state DOTs, industrial plants, power plants, hospitals, hotels and convention centers, airports, NASA and TVA.

The recipient of numerous industry awards, including the ASCE/Geo-Institute’s Martin S. Kapp Foundation Engineering Award in 2008, Wolosick is also the immediate past president of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI). Most recently, he was the recipient of the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers’ 2017 Engineer of the Year Award in Industry.

Hayward Baker has worked in ground modification and site improvement for 60 years, and offers a range of foundation support and rehabilitation services. For more information, visit www.haywardbaker.com.