Keller North America has expanded its field engineer / project engineer development programme after a successful pilot, formalising a structured path from site-based roles into project management and technical leadership. The scheme combines intensive on-the-job training on ground improvement and deep foundation projects with rotations through estimating, design, and operations, exposing graduates to tools such as geotechnical instrumentation, grout mix design, and pile load testing. For contractors and clients, the move signals a pipeline of early-career engineers with stronger design–build integration skills and site-ready competence.

Recent high-rise construction in South Florida is driving demand for deep foundations in karstic limestone, with Keller using large-diameter drilled shafts and augered cast-in-place piles to control settlement in weak, highly variable strata. The DFI Deep Foundations Magazine feature by Michael Meneses, Will Burgos, and James Hussin details case histories where groundwater levels near sea level, aggressive chloride environments, and strict lateral deflection limits governed design. For practitioners, the projects emphasise rigorous geotechnical characterisation, corrosion protection strategies, and construction QA/QC to manage risk in coastal high-rise work.

The British Geological Survey is advancing a national geotechnical data service to collate UK ground investigation records into a single, standardised digital platform for project teams. By aggregating borehole logs, in situ test results and laboratory data from multiple legacy sources, the system aims to give designers earlier visibility of variable strata, groundwater conditions and historical contamination. For geotechnical and civil engineers, this could reduce duplicate site investigations, refine ground models at concept stage and improve risk pricing for foundations, earthworks and underground structures.