GRL Engineers, Inc.

10/23/2026

When one integrity test raised questions near the top of some drilled shafts, a second test helped put them in context.

On the Raritan River Bridge replacement in Perth Amboy, NJ, our engineers spent three years testing the foundations for a new bridge replacing a 1908 swing span, including 140 drilled shafts up to 8.5 feet in diameter. The full case study shows what each test found.

🔗 Read the case study:

GRL Engineers provided pile driving monitoring, integrity testing services, CAPWAP Analyses and other testing services on the Raritan River Bridge replacement.

10/21/2026

Before the hammer ever starts, our engineers are already at work.

On this bridge job, engineers from our Ohio office measured the steel pipe piles before driving began. During PDA testing, every hammer blow sends a stress wave down the pile and back, so knowing the pile’s exact length is part of getting the data right.

Click through for a look at a day on site.

10/20/2026

Our team is at OTEC 2026 in Columbus!

Find Ben White and Mario Saavedra at Booth 902 at the Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference, hosted by the Ohio Department of Transportation. They brought some of the equipment we use to check drilled shafts before and after the concrete goes in, including SHAPE®, SQUID™ and the Thermal Wire® Cables behind Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP).

If you’re at the conference today or tomorrow, stop by and say hi!

10/16/2026

A Cleveland project just won a national award! 🏆

The Irishtown Bend Stabilization project won a Pile Driving Contractors Association 2026 Project of the Year Award in Earth Retention: Over $10 Million. The project stabilized a 24-acre hillside that had been sliding toward the Cuyahoga River for decades, protecting the shipping channel that serves the region’s steel mill and industry.

GRL’s Ohio team, tested one vibratory-driven pile and confirmed it reached the required capacity without impact driving. That result allowed all 203 king piles to be installed the same way, making the work faster and safer over the river.
Congratulations to Richard Goettle, Inc.!

🔗 Read the full story: https://hubs.la/Q04zXrrs0

10/14/2026

At some point, every prediction meets reality.

Engineering analyses, calculations, and site information all help estimate how a foundation is expected to perform.
Static load testing provides an opportunity to directly observe that performance under load, helping engineers better understand foundation behavior and evaluate design assumptions.

The value isn't simply collecting another data point. It's gaining information that helps support important project decisions with greater confidence.

Learn more about static load testing:
🔗 https://hubs.la/Q04zVTCp0

10/13/2026

The best engineering investigations rarely end where they started.

Projects often begin with a specific question, objective, or concern. But as information becomes available, the direction of an investigation can change.

Sometimes a test confirms expectations. Sometimes it reveals information that prompts a closer look.

Those moments are often where the most valuable insights emerge. New information can change assumptions, reshape priorities, and help project teams better understand the conditions in front of them.

That's why investigations are about more than finding answers. They're about improving understanding.

Sometimes the most valuable outcome isn't confirming what we expected. It's uncovering information that helps us ask a better question next.

What's a project lesson that started with one question and ended somewhere entirely different?

10/12/2026

When environmental conditions change, infrastructure planning changes with them.

From long-term resilience to foundation performance, today's transportation projects require engineers to think beyond immediate construction challenges and consider how structures will perform for decades to come.

That's one reason we're looking forward to attending the DFI51 Annual Conference, hosted by the Deep Foundations Institute. Events like these bring together engineers, contractors, researchers, and infrastructure professionals to share ideas, lessons learned, and emerging solutions to challenges facing our industry.

We look forward to contributing to the conversation and connecting with colleagues from across the deep foundations community.

Learn more about our participation:
🔗 https://hubs.la/Q04zTJR-0

10/09/2026

By this time next week, the conversations will already be underway.

Over the next several days, engineers and industry professionals from across the deep foundations community will gather in Houston, Mobile, and St. Louis to discuss the benefits, methods, and risks of deep foundation quality assurance.

These seminars are an opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from real-world experiences, and connect with others who share a commitment to advancing the industry.

If you've been meaning to attend, now is the time. This is the final round of State of Practice Seminars for 2026.

Learn more and register:
🔗 https://hubs.la/Q04wKpw00

10/06/2026

When transportation projects succeed, most people never think about the foundation.

Yet foundation performance plays an important role in the long-term success of bridges, highways, retaining walls, and other transportation infrastructure projects.

That's why we're looking forward to attending the Ohio Transportation Engineering Conference (OTEC) and connecting with transportation engineers, geotechnical professionals, contractors, and project owners from across the region.

If you'll be attending, stop by Booth 902 to meet Ben White, P.E. and the GRL team. We'd love to discuss deep foundation testing, engineering analyses, and the role foundation performance plays in supporting transportation infrastructure.

Learn more about our participation:
🔗 https://hubs.la/Q04zdp8X0

10/05/2026

Some of the most important parts of a foundation are the parts you'll never see.

Once a drilled shaft is placed, understanding its condition requires more than what can be observed from the surface.

That's why Crosshole Sonic Logging (CSL) plays an important role on many projects. By evaluating ultrasonic wave transmission through the shaft, CSL helps provide additional insight into concrete quality and can assist engineers in identifying potential anomalies within the foundation.

The value isn't simply collecting more information. It's helping project teams build confidence in the information available as construction moves forward.

Learn more about CSL testing:
🔗 https://hubs.la/Q04zb62d0