Exposed trace Wasatch Fault Zone, Payson, Utah

One Airport  Phase II Fault Rupture Hazard Evaluation, Salt Lake City, Utah - Senior Geologist, 2014.  A 30-acre site near the Salt Lake City International Airport was investigated for exposure to surface fault rupture hazards related to the active West Valley fault zone.  Trenching on the site revealed fault displacements of pre-historic Great Salt Lake sediments on the eastern margin of the site.  Fault setback recommendations using State of Utah guidelines calculated and recommended for site development planning and layout for the proposed commercial/industrial use of the site.

Exposed trace West Valley Fault Zone, One Airport Phase II project, Salt Lake City, Utah

Surface Fault Rupture Hazard Evaluation, SR 201 Interchange Structures; Salt Lake City, Utah - Project Geologist, 2002.  This investigation was conducted to evaluate the presence or absence of surface fault rupture hazards that could potentially affect highway interchange structures included for consideration in an environmental evaluation. The study included the excavation and logging of five exploration trenches at two proposed interchange locations to evaluate potential surface fault rupture hazards impacting the construction. Trenches were excavated to depths that exposed Pleistocene-age sediments, and were observed to determine the presence or absence of fault-related deformation in the Pleistocene-age sediments. The findings of the investigation which were corroborated with previous work by others  concluded no indications of active fault deformation were observed in the trenches or believed to impact proposed structures.

SR-201 & I-215 Interchange showing mapped West Valley Fault Zone traces, proposed structures and fault evaluation trench locations, Salt Lake City, Utah

Soda and Grace dams, Caribou County, Idaho

Geoseismic Evaluation PacifiCorp Soda and Grace Dams; Caribou County, Idaho - Project Manager, 2006. The Grace Dam consists of a 51-foot-high by 180-foot-long rock-filled timber crib dam, with 250 acre-feet of usable storage capacity, and Soda Dam consists of: a 103-foot-high by 433-foot-long concrete gravity dam, with an active storage capacity of 16,300 acre-feet.  Because these dams were undergoing studies for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) re-licensing, the FERC requested that a seismic studies be conducted which addresses the capability of regional earthquake faults to the dam structures. The conducted required studies characterized the seismic exposure of the two dam sites consistent with the Federal Guidelines for Dam Safety, which include probabilistic earthquake parameters as well as calculating the Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE) and the Operating Basis Earthquake (OBE) for the site from the site.