SOCORRO, N.M. – Civil engineering senior Chase Beckstead recently got second place for a technical paper at the Rocky Mountain Conference of the ASCE in Boulder, Colo.

Beckstead was recognized for his paper titled “Site Specific Liquefaction Analysis of a Proposed Foundation Selection Using the Simplified Method.” Along with his research advisor Dr. Mehrdad Razavi of the Mineral Engineering Department, Beckstead started the work as a senior design project for sponsor YeDoma Consultants of Albuquerque.

The purpose of the study was to determine the potential earthquake risks for a bridge-building project in the Zia Pueblo in northern New Mexico.

“The idea was to see if the site was potentially liquefiable,” Beckstead said.  “That means we want to see if the soil loses its ability to support a structure.”

Beckstead used Cone Penetrometer Test data and semi-empirical equations to model the likelihood that liquefaction could occur at the construction site. He then modeled the site to determine subsurface soil layers that would potentially liquefy during an earthquake event.

New Mexico is not generally prone to earthquakes as much as coastal locations such as California, Alaska or Japan. However, the Rio Grande Rift has seen events up to 5.25, which is enough to induce liquefaction.  

“We were given an analysis of the soil so that we can tell them what they need to do to avoid loss of strength of the soil in the case of an earthquake,” he said. “We could isolate risk factors and compare that to depth. This was a great opportunity to go through data, clean it up, and make a design recommendation out of this.”

Beckstead said he was approached by other members of the ASCE student chapter and asked to present a technical paper at the conference.  He expects to graduate in May with a bachelor’s in civil engineering and a minor in mineral engineering. He intends to start his career with YeDoma Consultants this summer.

– NMT –