BGC has participated in a wide range of civil engineering projects from pre-feasibility studies through to final design and on-site construction inspection and control. We have also worked on several projects in conjunction with environmental consultants providing geotechnical engineering services required for the implementation of remedial measures. Senior members of the geotechnical group have also acted as technical reviewers on major engineering projects.

BGC has prepared design recommendations for large mine processing plant sites around the world. We have been involved in the geotechnical aspects of the preliminary design for large offshore gravity base platforms in overseas oil-producing areas where wave, ice and earthquake loads provide important cyclic / dynamic effects.

In Vancouver, BGC has worked on several projects for the Rapid Transit Millennium Line involving foundation design for elevated and at-grade guideway sections, as well as station structures. Local work also includes the design of ground improvement schemes for industrial developments and axial and lateral load capacity for deep foundations. Static and dynamic load capacity assessments have been performed for heavily and lightly loaded steel, concrete and wood piles including considerations for capacity and deformations where potentially liquefiable soils are present in the foundation.

Geotechnical earthquake engineering is one of BGC's areas of technical expertise and our involvement has commenced at the initial stages of seismic hazard assessment where we have interacted with seismic hazard specialists to define levels of seismic shaking required to provide acceptable engineering solutions. Seismic response analyses considering both 1D and 2D ground conditions have been performed to provide design response spectra for structural applications. Soil-structure interaction effects have been evaluated for both onshore and offshore projects using both simplified and numerical approaches. Based on the site response analyses, the potential for foundation soils to liquefy has been evaluated using a variety of procedures whereby the in situ and laboratory resistance of the foundation soils is assessed. Deformation analyses for foundations under different levels of earthquake shaking have been provided based on the results of ground shaking and liquefaction analyses. In addition to foundation assessments, the stability and deformation potential of soil slopes under seismic loading has also been analyzed using limit equilibrium and finite element analyses.

Deep and shallow foundations, ground improvement, earth and rockfill dam engineering, excavation support and anchor/tieback design and geotechnical earthquake engineering are areas where BGC can provide high level geotechnical analysis and design based on both technical qualifications and project experience.