Deep Excavations Seminar
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 – 11:45 am
Lunch (On your own): 11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Afternoon Session: 12:45 – 4:30 pm
Soil Mechanics Review, OSHA Requirements and Slope Stability
Soil mechanics review
OSHA requirements for excavations
Safe vs. stable excavations
Slope stability for excavations
Shoring Options and Earth Pressure Theories and Influences
Shoring options
Earth pressure theories
Influence of surcharges
Influence of overlying slopes and seepage
Vertical Excavation Design
Modes of failure
ASD and LRFD design methodologies
Cantilever wall analysis
Influence of movement
Lateral earth pressures for braced walls
Braced walls
Anchored walls
Cofferdams
Basal heave
Horizontal deformation
Vertical deformation
Structural design
Case Histories
Open cuts
Vertical shoring
Cofferdams
Tie backs
Credits
Professional Engineers
6.5 PDHs
Architects
6.5 HSW Contact Hours
6.5 AIA HSW Learning Units
Contractors
Non-Credit Continuing Ed.
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers 6.5 PDHs to professional engineers and 6.5 HSW contact/continuing education hours to architects in all states, except Florida architects. HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education provider for North Carolina engineers.
This seminar is approved by the American Institute of Architects for 6.5 HSW Learning Units (Sponsor No. J885). Activities approved by the AIA qualify for North Carolina architects. Only full attendance can be reported to the AIA/CES.
HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for engineers in Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00000700), New York (NYSED Sponsor No. 35), North Carolina, and North Dakota. HalfMoon Education is deemed an approved architect continuing education sponsor in New York.
This event offers a non-credit continuing education opportunity to construction contractors.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
James “Jay” A. McKelvey, III, P.E., D.GE, F.ASCE
Director-Geotechnical Design Division at Earth Engineering Inc. in East Norriton, Pennsylvania.Dr. McKelvey is the director of the Geotechnical Design Division at Earth Engineering Inc. in East Norriton, Pennsylvania. He is a registered professional engineer (P.E.) in California, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Dr. McKelvey is also a Diplomate (D.GE) of the Academy of Geo-Professionals and a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (F.ASCE).
Dr. McKelvey has extensive experience in geotechnical engineering including site assessment and field investigations, deep and shallow foundation design for buildings, bridges, and other structures, retaining wall design, embankment stability, mechanically stabilized soil structures, and subsurface hydrology.
He also has significant experience in mitigating heavy construction claims and in litigation support pertaining to impacted heavy construction projects. Dr. McKelvey has also handled construction support and construction quality assurance projects. His environmental engineering experience includes technical contributions to the remediation of many Superfund sites and over 50 landfill design projects.
Dr. McKelvey has published over 30 technical papers in journals, conference proceedings and trade magazines. He is the past chair for the Delaware Valley Geo-Institute (DVGI) and is a voting member in ASTM committees Soil and Rock (D18), and Geosynthetics (D35). He is an editorial board member of the Geotechnical Testing Journal. Dr. McKelvey also serves on two Geo-Institute committees: Earth Structures and Embankments and Dams. For the latter, he is a member of the subcommittee on landslide risk assessment.