Lanslide Technolgy :: Derek H. Cornforth

Derek H. Cornforth

Registration
Civil Engineer - OR, WA

Career
2001 - 2016
Staff Consultant
Landslide Technology, Portland, OR

1983 - 2001
Founder and Principal Engineer
Landslide Technology, Portland, OR

1974 - 1983
Vice President
Shannon & Wilson, Portland, OR

1967 - 1974
Managing Director
Nuttall Geotechnical Services Ltd.
London, England

1961 - 1967
Principal Engineer
Shannon & Wilson, Seattle, WA & Portland, OR

Education
1961/Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering
Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University, England

1956/M.S. in Geotechnical Engineering
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
(Fulbright Scholar)

1955/B.S. in Civil Engineering
Durham University, England

Honors/Societies
Committee Member, National Initiative for Landslide Hazards Mitigation
Sponsored by the USGS

President, American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Oregon

Diplomat, Academy of Geo-Professionals, GeoInstitute (ASCE)

Founder

Dr. Cornforth has had direct involvement in over 200 landslides during his long career as a geotechnical engineer. He founded Landslide Technology in 1983 based on his training and experience in this specialty. He is especially qualified in evaluating soil strength and properties, field instrumentation with inclinometers and piezometers, and producing innovative treatments to relatively difficult landslide occurrences. He has written numerous technical papers and lectured about landslides, and has served on national and international committees. On legal issues involving landslides, he has provided expert witness testimony on numerous occasions.

Dr. Cornforth's definitive book, Landslides in Practice: Investigation, Analysis, and Remedial/Preventative Options in Soils (Wiley, 2005) is currently available. This book received the prestigious Borwell Award by the Geological Society of America "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the interdisciplinary field of engineering geology." It has sold 2,000 copies worldwide.

Representative projects include the following:

Hagg Lake Perimeter Road Landslides, Gaston, Oregon
Crater Lake Lodge Caldera Stability, Crater Lake National Park, Oregon
Bull Run Flume Failure, Sandy, Oregon
Goat Lick Slide, Essex, Montana
Percy Slide, Leaburg, Oregon
Faraday Slides, Estacada, Oregon
Washington Park Slide, Portland, Oregon
Newport Hills Ravine Slides, King County, Washington
Hagg Lake Slides, Gaston, Oregon
Bull Run Dam No. 1 Access Road Slide, Sandy, Oregon
North Kelso Interchange Slide, Kelso, Washington
Ross Island Submarine Slides, Portland, Oregon
Terminal 2 Flow Slides, Portland, Oregon
Dock Failure Submarine Slide, Skagway, Alaska
Cantara Loop Railroad Slide, Dunsmuir, California
Frog Lake Slide, Clackamas River, Oregon

Dr. Cornforth is the author of 26 technical papers and a textbook on landslides. He has been an invited speaker at several universities and technical conferences, and has taught a graduate course in slope stability.