Engineering Research

ROBERT L. PARSONS, Ph.D., P.E.

ADDRESS PHONE & E-MAIL

Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Office: 785-***-****

Learned Hall Fax: 785-***-****

**** *. **** ******, Room 2150 E-mail: ********@**.***

University of Kansas

Lawrence, KS 66045-2225

POSITION (University of Kansas)

2004 - Associate Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department

1998 - 2004 Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, Department

EDUCATION

1995 - 1998 Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

1991 - 1993 M.S., Geological Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

1987 - 1991 B.S., Geological Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology

PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

State of Kansas (2000)

TEACHING PORTFOLIO (1998 )

CE 487 Soil Mechanics

CE 588 Foundation Design

CE 787 Advanced Soil Mechanics

CE 788 Geotechnical Engineering Testing

CE 791 Waste Facility Siting and Design

CE 885 Advanced Foundation Engineering

CE 887 Earth Structures

AWARDS AND HONORS

2009 Selected by the Kansas Department of Transportation to represent KU by presenting the results of

our retaining wall research to the Kansas Secretary of Transportation and the KTRAN Research

Program Council.

2007 Miller Award - $4,000 award from the KU School of Engineering for exceptional performance.

2006 Miller Award - $4,000 award from the KU School of Engineering for exceptional performance.

2004 Most Popular Presentation, CEAE Professional Development Series (approximately 140 attendees)

2003 Special Recognition Award- Asphalt Pavement Alliance

2003 Bellows Scholar - $4,000 award from the KU School of Engineering for outstanding achievement

in research and service.

2002 Miller Award - $4,000 award from the KU School of Engineering for outstanding achievement in

research and teaching.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Chair of Student Competition Committee. ASCE GeoInstitute 2011 GeoFrontiers Conference. Dallas.

Deep Foundations Institute 2009 Annual Meeting Planning Committee and Scholarship Chair

Transportation Research Board Representative for the University of Kansas

Transportation Research Board, Committee on Cementitious Stabilization (AFS80) (2001-2010)

Transportation Research Board, Committee on Chemical and Mechanical Stabilization (AFS90)

General Chairman - Kansas Asphalt Paving Conference (2002 Current)

GeoShanghai 2006 Technical Committee Member and Proceedings Editor

ASCE Student Chapter Advisor (2005 - Current)

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS

2009 Parsons, R.L., Johnson, R.M. Brown, D.A., Dapp,S. Brennan, J.J. Characterization of Loess for

Deep Foundations . Deep Foundations Institute Journal, Deep Foundations Institute. Hawthorne,

New Jersey. 3(2). 11-21.

2009 Pierson, M., Parsons, R. L., Han, J., Brennan. Capacities and Deflections of Laterally Loaded

Shafts behind an MSE Wall . Transportation Research Record, Journal of the Transportation

Research Board. No 2116. National Research Council. Washington D.C. 62-69.

2008 Yang, X., Han, J., Parsons, R.L., and Henthorne, R.W., Resistance Factors for Drilled Shafts in

Weak Rock Based on O-Cell Test Data . Soil Mechanics: Transportation Research Record No.

2045. Journal of the Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington

D.C. 62-67. (Best Paper Award Winner for its Section)

2008 Han, J., Yang, X., Leshchinsky, D., and Parsons, R.L. Behavior of Geocell-Reinforced Sand

Under a Vertical Load . Soil Mechanics: Transportation Research Record No. 2045. Journal of

the Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington D.C. 95-101.

2007 Han, J., Oztoprak, S., Parsons, R. L, and Huang, J. "Numerical analysis of foundation columns to

support widening of embankments" Computers and Geotechnics. Elsevier. Thomas Telford.

London. 34(6). 435-448.

2007 Parsons, R.L., O Connor, M.S. and Cross, S.A. Mixing Efficiency for Stabilized Subgrades for

Low Volume Roads . Low Volume Roads: Transportation Research Record No. 1989. Journal

of the Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington D.C. v2. 27-35.

2007 Han, J., Huang, J., and Parsons, R.L. Influence of Bedrock Inclination on Elastic Settlements of

Flexible Shallow Strip Foundations . Computers and Geotechnics. Elsevier. 34(1). Thomas

Telford. London. 53-56. Technical Communication.

2005 Parsons, R.L., and Kneebone, E. Durability of Fly Ash Stabilized Subgrades . Ground

Improvement. Thomas Telford. London. 9(1). 33-38.

2003 Parsons, R.L, Milburn, J.P. Engineering Performance of Stabilized Soils. Transportation

Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board. No. 1837. National Research

Council. Washington D.C. 20-29.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS (CONTINUED)

2002 Parsons, R.L. and Frost, J.D. Evaluating Site Investigation Quality Using GIS and

Geostatistics. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE. 128(6). 451-

461.

2001 Deaton, S.L., Frost, J.D., Luna, R., and Parsons, R.L. GIS-Based Evaluation of Geotechnical

Borehole Log Quality. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation

Research Board. No. 1755. National Research Council. Washington D.C. 15-25.

2000 Parsons, R.L., Frost, J.D. Interactive Analysis of Spatial Subsurface Data Using a GIS-Based

Tool. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, ASCE. 14(4). 215-222.

2000 Parsons, R.L., McDonnell, J.J. Use of Electrical Conductivity to Determine the Location of

Subsurface Coal Mining Activity. Use of Geophysical Methods in Construction. ASCE

Geotechnical Special Publication 108. 170-186.

MAJOR PUBLICATIONS LEAD EDITOR

2006 Foundation Analysis and Design, Innovative Methods. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication

153. Eds. Parsons, R.L., Zhang, L. Guo, W.D., Phoon, K.K., and Yang, M. 346 pp.

PATENTS

2009 Parsons, R.L. and Schuler, M.L. Breakaway Casing Connection. Rights held by the KU Center

for Technology Commercialization. Patent Pending.

CONFERNCE PUBLICATIONS

2009 Parsons, R. L., Pierson, M., Han, J., and Brennan, J.J., and Brown, D.A. Lateral load capacity of

cast-in-place shafts behind an MSE wall. Contemporary Topics in In Situ Testing, Analysis, and

Reliability of Foundations. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 186. 560-567.

2009 Pierson, M., Parsons, R. L., Han, J., Brennan, J.J., and Vulova, C. Instrumentation of an MSE

wall containing laterally loaded drilled shafts. Contemporary Topics in Ground Modification,

Problem Soils, and Geo-Support. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 187. 352-361.

2009 Liang, F.-Y., Bennett, C.R., Parsons, R.L., and Han, J. A literature review on behavior of

scoured piles under bridges. Contemporary Topics in In Situ Testing, Analysis, and Reliability

of Foundations. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 186. 482-489.

2009 Han, J., Yang, X.M., Parsons, R.L., and Henthorne, R. Side resistance factor for serviceability-

based design of drilled shafts in weak rock calibrated using O-cell test data. Contemporary

Topics in In Situ Testing, Analysis, and Reliability of Foundations. ASCE Geotechnical Special

Publication 186. 292-299.

2009 Pokharel, S.K., Han, J., Leshchinsky, D., Parsons, R.L., and Halahmi, I. Behavior of geocell-

reinforced granular bases under static and repeated loads. Contemporary Topics in Ground

Modification, Problem Soils, and Geo-Support. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication 187.

409-424.

CONFERNCE PUBLICATIONS (CONTINUED)

2009 Parsons, R. L., Pierson, M., Han, J., Vulova, C. and Brennan, J.J. Longer Term Monitoring of

Strains In MSE Wall . Published in association with Geosynthetics 2009, Salt Lake City, UT,

Feb 25-27, 2009. 300-308.

2009 Bennett, C.R., Lin, C. Parsons, R.L., and Han, J. Evaluation of Behavior of a Laterally Loaded

Bridge Pile Group under Scour Conditions. Structures 2009: Don t Mess with Structural

Engineers. ASCE. 290-299.

2009 Han, J., Bhandari, A., and Parsons, R.L. (2009). Influence of base course gradation on response

of granular bases under cyclic loading: a micromechanical study. Proceedings of the 17th

International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Alexandria, Egypt. 5-

9 October 2009, 893-896.

2009 Pokharel, S.K., Han, J., Parsons, R.L., Qian, Y., Leshchinsky, D., and Halahmi, I. (2009).

Experimental study on bearing capacity of geocell-reinforced bases. Proceedings of the 8th

International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways, and Airfields, Champaign,

Illinois, June 29 to July 2.

2009 Bhandari, A., Han, J., and Parsons, R.L. Discrete element method investigation of geogrid-

aggregate interaction under a cyclic wheel load. Poster presentation and CD publication at the

TRB 88th Annual Meeting, January 11 to 15, Washington, DC.

2009 Pokharel, S.K., Han, J., Leshchinsky, D., Parsons, R.L., and Halahmi, I. Experimental evaluation

of influence factors for single geocell-reinforced sand. Oral presentation and CD publication at

the TRB 88th Annual Meeting, January 11 to 15, Washington, DC.

2008 Zhang, Y.Z., Han, J., and Parsons, R.L. "Experimental study of deformation effect on

geosynthetic-soil interaction." Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium - Deformation

Characteristics of Geomaterials, Burns, Mayne, and Santamarina (eds), 22-24 September, Atlanta,

GA, 643-647.

2008 Han, J., Yang, X.M., Leshchinsky, D., Parsons, R.L., and Rosen, A. (2008). Numerical Analysis

for Mechanisms of a Geocell-Reinforced Base under a Vertical Load . Proceedings of the 4th

Asian Regional Conference on Geosynthetics. Shanghai, China. 741 746.

2006 Parsons, R.L. Young, C.B., and Kneebone, E. Storage and Analysis of Georeferenced

Geotechnical and Pavements Data. Geotechnical Engineering in the Information Technology

Age. Proceedings of GeoCongress 2006: Geotechnical Engineering in the Information

Technology Age, February 26-March 1, 2006. p115 (link page on CD-ROM).

2006 Parsons, R.L., Young, C.B. and Kneebone, E. Structuring a Comprehensive Georeferenced

Subgrade Database . Pavement Mechanics and Performance. ASCE Geotechnical Special

Publication 154. 173-179.

2005 Han, J., Parsons, R.L., Sheth, A.R., and Huang, J. (2005). Factors of safety against deep-seated

failure of embankments over deep mixed columns. Deep Mixing 05, Proceedings of the Deep

Mixing 2005 Conference, Sweden, May 23-25. 231-235.

2004 Parsons, R.L. Zhao, Y. Ramirez, G. and Schmitz, M.E. Lateral Pressures on Bridge Abutments

from CLSM. Proceedings of the 83rd Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board.

National Research Council. Washington D.C., January 11-16. CD-ROM.

CONFERNCE PUBLICATIONS (CONTINUED)

2004 Parsons, R.L., and Kneebone, E. Use of Cement Kiln Dust for the Stabilization of Soils.

Geotechnical Engineering For Transportation Projects. ASCE Geotechnical Special Publication

126. 1124-1131.

2003 Parsons, R.L., and Milburn, J.P. Monitoring Stabilized Soils Using the Soil Stiffness Gauge.

Proceedings of Soil Rock America 2003, 12th Panamerican Conference on Soil Mechanics and

Geotechnical Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp 2709-2713.

2003 Parsons, R.L, Milburn, J.P. Engineering Performance of Stabilized Soils. Proceedings of the

82nd Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington

D.C., January 12-16 (This paper was also published in the Transportation Research Record). CD-

ROM.

2002 Cross, S.A., Parsons, R.L. Evaluation of Expenditures on Kansas Rural Interstate Pavements.

Proceedings of the 81st Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board. National Research

Council. Washington D.C., January 7-11. CD-ROM.

2001 Parsons, R.L., Johnson, C.J., and Cross, S.A. Evaluation of Field Mixing and Construction

Procedures for Lime Modified Subgrades. Proceedings of the 80th Annual Meeting,

Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington D.C., January 7-11.

CD-ROM.

1998 Parsons, R.L., Frost, J.D., Chameau, J-L.A., Tsai, Y.C. GIS-ASSESS: A Spatial Analysis Tool

for Site Investigation Planning and Evaluation. Proceedings of ISC 98, International

Conference on Site Characterization. pp 251-256. Atlanta, Georgia.

ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS

2007 Parsons, R.L., Brown, D.A., Brennan, J.J., Johnson, R.M., and Schuler, L. Designing Drilled

Shafts in Loess . Foundation Drilling. ADSC, The International Association of Foundation

Drilling. 28(6). 27-30.

2006 Johnson, R.M., Parsons, R.L., Dapp, S., and Brown, D.A. Soil Characterization and P-Y Curve

Development for Loess. Kansas Department of Transportation. Final Report.

2006 O Connor M. and Parsons, R.L. Lime Application Methods. Kansas Department of

Transportation. Kansas Department of Transportation. Contract KU-02-2. Final Report.

USDOT TRIS Accession No. 01027342. 92p.

2005 Development of a Database of Historical Subgrade Information. Kansas Department of

Transportation. Final Report and User Guide. Contract KU-04-02. 21p.

2003 Milburn, J.P., Parsons, R.L. Performance of Soil Stabilization Agents. Kansas Department of

Transportation. Contract KU-01-08. 117p. USDOT TRIS ID: 00974977.

2003 Schmitz, M., Parsons, R.L., Ramirez, G., Zhao, Y. (2003). Use of Controlled Low-Strength

Material as Abutment Backfill. Kansas Department of Transportation. Contract KU-02-06. 76p.

USDOT TRIS ID: 00978483.

ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS (CONTINUED)

2003 Parsons, R.L. and Frost, J.D. Evaluating Site Investigation Quality Using GIS And

Geostatistics (Closure). Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE.

129(9). 867-868.

2002 Parsons, R.L. Subgrade Improvement through Fly Ash Stabilization. Kansas University

Transportation Center, Sponsored by the City of Overland Park, Kansas. 16p.

2002 Parsons, R.L., Foster, D.H., and Cross, S.A. Compaction and Settlement of Existing

Embankments. Kansas Department of Transportation. US DOT Publication ID: 00924258. 145p.

2001 Cross, S.A, and Parsons, R.L. Evaluation of Expenditures for Kansas Rural Interstate

Pavements- Final Report. Kansas University Transportation Center. Sponsored by the Kansas

Asphalt Pavement Association. 81p.

2001 Parsons, R.L. Recipe for a Stable Subgrade. KUTC Newsletter. University of Kansas

Transportation Center. Winter, 2001.

2001 Parsons, R.L., Johnson, C.P., and Cross, S.A. Evaluation of Soil Modification Mixing

Procedures. Kansas Department of Transportation. US DOT Publication ID: 00812526. 83p.

1999 Parsons, R.L. and Cross, S.A. Performance of Fly Ash as a Modification/Stabilization Agent in

Clay Soils. Research Report for Fly Ash Management. 8p.

1996 Saunders, M.F., Jones, A.J., Parsons, R.L., and Tsai, Y.C.; Policy Analysis for the Design and

Use of Intelligent Environmental Site Assessment Programs. Report produced for the U.S. Army

under contract DACA88-94-D-0025. 42p.

TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS

2009 Capacity of Laterally Loaded Shafts Constructed Behind the Face of a Mechanically Stabilized

Earth Block Wall. Presentation to the Kansas Secretary of Transportation and the Research

Program Council as the KU representative. Topeka, Kansas. April 1, 2009. Invited Presentation.

2009 Lateral Load Capacity of Cast-in-Place Shafts behind an MSE Wall. International Foundation

Congress & Equipment Expo 09. ASCE. Orlando, Florida, March 15-19.

2009 Longer Term Monitoring of Strains in MSE Wall. Geosynthetics 2009. Salt Lake City, Utah.

February 25-27, 2009.

2009 Capacities and Deflections of Laterally Loaded Shafts behind an MSE Wall. Transportation

Research Board Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. January 11-15.

2008 Capacities and Deflections of Laterally Loaded Shafts behind an MSE Wall. KDOT Construction

Conference. September 30, Salina Kansas. Invited.

2007 P-y design curves for laterally loaded drilled shafts in loess. Southwest Geotechnical Conference.

Kansas City. April 25, 2007.

2007 Mixing Efficiency for Stabilized Subgrades for Low Volume Roads. Low Volume Roads

Conference, sponsored by the Transportation Research Board. Austin, Texas. June 25, 2007.

2007 P-Y curves for Drilled Shafts in Loess. Presentation to AFS30 Committee Meeting,

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. January 21-24, 2007.

2006 Structuring a Comprehensive Georeferenced Subgrade Database. GeoShanghai International

Conference, Shanghai, China. June 6-8, 2006.

2006 Storage and Analysis of Georeferenced Geotechnical and Pavements Data. GeoCongress 2006:

Geotechnical Engineering in the Information Technology Age, February 26-March 1, 2006.

2004 Use of Cement Kiln Dust for the Stabilization of Soils. GeoTrans 2004 July 27-31, 2004. Los

Angeles, California.

2004 Design of Segmental Retaining Walls. KU CEAE Professional Development Series. Kansas

City, Missouri.

Monitoring Stabilized Soils Using the Soil Stiffness Gauge. Soil Rock America 2003, 12th Pan-

2003

American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Cambridge,

Massachusetts.

Performance of Soil Stabilization Agents. 85th Annual Kansas Transportation Engineering

2003

Conference. Invited Speaker.

2003 Field Performance of Stabilized Subgrades. Soil and Base Stabilization with Fly Ash Conference.

Overland Park, Kansas. Invited Speaker.

Engineering Behavior of Stabilized Soils. 82nd Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board.

2003

National Research Council. Washington D.C., January 12-16.

2002 Stabilization of Subgrade Soils. Professional Development Series. KU CEAE Professional

Development Series, Overland Park, Kansas. Invited Speaker.

2002 Evaluation of Expenditures for Kansas Rural Interstate Pavements. Asphalt Recycling and

Reclaiming Association, National Meeting. Tampa, Florida. Invited Speaker.

Evaluation of Expenditures on Kansas Rural Interstate Pavements. 81st Annual Meeting,

2002

Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington D.C., January 7-11.

2001 Evaluation of Expenditures for Kansas Rural Interstate Pavements. Asphalt Pavement Alliance,

National Meeting. Austin, Texas. Invited Speaker.

Subgrade Modifiers. 21st Annual Portland Cement Concrete Paving Conference. American

2001

Concrete Pavement Association, Missouri/Kansas Chapter. Kansas City, Missouri. March 6-8.

Invited Speaker.

Evaluation of Field Mixing and Construction Procedures for Lime Modified Subgrades. 80th

2001

Annual Meeting, Transportation Research Board. National Research Council. Washington D.C.,

January 7-11.

2000 Use of Electrical Conductivity to Determine the Location of Subsurface Coal Mining Activity.

GeoDenver 2000 Conference, ASCE. Denver, Colorado. August 3-8, 2000.

2000 Evaluation of Lime-Soil Mixing Procedures. Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara,

Guadalajara, Mexico. Invited Speaker.

Evaluation of Mixing Procedures for Lime Stabilized Subgrades. 79th Annual Meeting,

2000

Transportation Research Board. A2J01 Annual Committee Meeting. National Research Council.

Washington D.C.

1999 Use of GIS for Geotechnical Applications. KU Civil and Environmental Engineering

Professional Development Series, Overland Park, Kansas. Invited Speaker.

1998 Development and Implementation of a Spatial Analysis Tool for Site Investigation Evaluation and

Optimization. Joint meeting of the ASCE Geotechnical Section and AEG Section of Kansas City,

Missouri. Invited Speaker.

1998 Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Kansas. United States Universities Council on

Geotechnical Engineering Research Workshop. Sponsored by NSF. Newport, Rhode Island.

1997 Optimizing Site Characterization Activities. Computer Aided Site Representation

Session. First ASCE Geo-Institute Conference (GeoLogan). Logan, Utah.

1994 Landfill Construction Above a Room and Pillar Mine. Association of Engineering

Geologists, National Meeting. Williamsburg, Virginia.

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1993 - 1995 Staff Engineer, American Disposal Services

Responsibilities for this position included the supervision of engineering and environmental

activities and project management for landfills and hauling companies in Missouri, Kansas,

and Oklahoma.

Contact this candidate