Specialist geotechnical engineering consultancy
Stronger ground, lighter footprint.
GES supports engineering firms, infrastructure owners and agencies when the ground is the difficult part of the project: expansive and weak soils, ground improvement decisions, and investigations into distress.
Led by a Professional Engineer licensed in Texas. Available for assignments in the U.S. and internationally.
Dr. Bhaskar Chittoori, Ph.D., P.E. (Texas), ENV SP, F.ASCE, is the founder and principal of GES. He leads every engagement personally and reviews every deliverable before it is issued, drawing on geotechnical design practice and more than a decade as principal investigator on funded work for state transportation departments, federal agencies and industry.
About Dr. ChittooriWhat we do
Seven services in three groups, each listed with a typical client need and what we deliver. Life-cycle and carbon assessment is available as a supporting specialty on any of them.
Soils, ground improvement and geosynthetics
Expansive and problematic soils
NeedHeave, shrinkage or sulfate risk on a site with reactive soils.
DeliverableSoil behavior assessment with heave estimates and a treatment-alternatives assessment.
Ground improvement and pavement subgrades
NeedChoosing, specifying and verifying a treatment for weak or reactive subgrades.
DeliverableTreatment-alternatives assessment, specification and testing program.
Geosynthetics applications and design reviews
NeedKnowing whether a geocell, geogrid or geotextile solution suits the site.
DeliverableApplication assessment or design review memorandum.
Investigation and review
Forensic investigation
NeedA slab, pavement, foundation or wall has cracked, heaved or settled, and the cause is unclear.
DeliverableForensic findings report with remedial alternatives.
Independent peer review
NeedA specialist second read before a geotechnical report, design or specification is relied on.
DeliverableTechnical review memorandum.
Research and training
Research consulting and proposal partnerships
NeedA laboratory study to plan, results to interpret, or a funded proposal to build.
DeliverableStudy plan and testing program, interpretation memorandum, or proposal partnership.
Professional training and technical workshops
NeedBuilding a team's capability on difficult soils, ground improvement or geosynthetics.
DeliverableCustomized workshop with course materials and worked examples.
Supporting specialty: life-cycle and carbon assessment. Treatment alternatives compared on carbon, energy and life-cycle cost, prepared by an Envision Sustainability Professional. More on life-cycle assessment
Why work with GES
Difficult ground rewards depth, independence and clear evidence.
Depth on difficult soils
Our principal has spent more than 20 years in geotechnical research and practice, with more than 100 publications and about $4.5 million in funded research behind the advice.
Independent advice
GES does not sell construction products or contracting services. Any commercial relationship relevant to an assignment is disclosed before work begins.
Sustainability you can measure
Where it matters to the client, we quantify the carbon and cost of each option, so a lower-impact choice is a defensible one.
Selected experience
Work by our principal at previous institutions and employers, before GES was founded. Outcomes are as reported in the published record.
- Problem
- Recurrent heave kept damaging a highway pavement over expansive clay. Earlier lime stabilization and moisture barriers had given only partial relief.
- Contribution
- Led laboratory characterization and swell estimates, then numerical modeling of alternative geosynthetic-reinforced pavement sections.
- Application
- The study placed the most expansive clay at least 6 ft below the pavement, beyond the reach of shallow chemical treatment. Modeling showed geocells to be the most effective option for reducing differential heave. ITD's reconstruction, completed in 2019, placed geocells over the existing lime-treated base.
Sources: forensic study, Transportation Research Record (2018) · ITD project summary
- Problem
- MDT needed protocols for deciding when and how to chemically stabilize problematic soils, including soils containing soluble sulfates.
- Contribution
- Led laboratory evaluation of lime and cement treatment on six Montana soils of different geology, with life-cycle cost comparison against MDT's current practice.
- Application
- Stabilization design protocols were delivered as a final report and technical manual. Treatment was viable for all six soils in the short term, but only three performed satisfactorily for long-term use, showing why mineralogy, moisture and curing must drive additive selection.
Sources: final report FHWA/MT-20-002/9389-522/FR · technical manual
- Problem
- The water district commissioned a comprehensive seepage and stability assessment of the two 1930s hydraulic fill dams that impound Eagle Mountain Lake, to bring an aging dam up to current design standards.
- Contribution
- Seepage, settlement and stability analysis as part of the Parsons Brinckerhoff team, organizing field and laboratory data and building seepage and slope stability models.
- Application
- The assessment was followed by rehabilitation of the spillway dam, completed in 2013 with a grouting program to reduce seepage and new instrumentation. The project received the ASDSO National Rehabilitation Project of the Year award in 2014.
Sources: TRWD award announcement · Renewable Energy World (2015)
Start with a free scope discussion
Tell us briefly about the site and the question you need answered. We'll arrange an initial conversation, at no charge, to understand the problem and confirm whether, and how, we can help. Technical findings and recommendations follow once an engagement is agreed.
You don't need to send project files to get in touch. Relevant reports, logs and data can be shared after first contact.