Landslide Technology
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      • Bull Run Flume
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      • Biscuit Rock Rockslide
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      • Cougar Dam Rockfall
    • Transportation >
      • I-15 (D3) Rock Slope Mitigation
      • Ketchikan Third Avenue
      • US Hwy 2 Libby Rockfall
      • Banks - Lowman Hwy
      • SR 191 Rock Cut Design
      • Going-to-the-Sun Road
      • SR 12 Rockfall Mitigation
      • Lakeside Rockfall
      • US 2 Badrock Canyon
      • South Tongass Highway
      • Weeksville Rock Bolting
      • US 26 Cove Palisades
  • Key Staff
    • Mike Meyer
    • Gerry Heslin
    • George Machan
    • Charlie Hammond
    • Brent Black
    • Darren Beckstrand
    • Chris Carpenter
    • Ben George
    • Wade Osborne
    • Tom Westover
    • Aine Mines
    • Adam Koslofsky
    • Logan Allender
    • Andy Kost
    • Collin McCormick
    • Anna Casady
    • Noah Kimmes
    • David LaPorte
    • Justin McCarley
    • Aleyna Donaldson
    • Michael Bunn
    • Andy Vessely
    • Larry Pierson
    • Derek Cornforth (Founder)
  • Resources
  • Contact Us

Derek H. Cornforth

Derek Cornforth, PhD., P.E.
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.

Mike Meyer - Gerry Heslin - George Machan - ​Charlie Hammond - Brent Black - Darren Beckstrand - Chris Carpenter
Ben George - Wade Osborne -  Tom Westover - Aine Mines - Logan Allender - Andy Kost - Adam Koslofsky
Collin McCormick - Anna Casady - Noah Kimmes - David LaPorte - Justin McCarley - Aleyna Donaldson
Michael Bunn - Andy Vessely - Larry Pierson - Derek Cornforth
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  • Home
  • Specialty Services
    • Geotech. Asset Mgmt. >
      • Montana Rock Slope Asset Mgmt. Program (RAMP)
      • Alaska Geotech Asset Mgmt
      • Ohio Landslide Inventory
    • Rope Access
    • 3D Modeling
    • Dam Safety & Slope Stability
    • Const. Sequence Modeling
    • Geotechnical Instrumentation
    • Construction Engineering
    • Expert Witness
  • Landslides
    • Hydropower >
      • Bull Run Flume
      • Swift Powerhouse
      • Frog Lake Dam Slide
    • Transportation >
      • Hwy 101 Johnson Creek
      • Looking Glass Hill Slides
      • SR 87 Arizona Slide
      • Togwotee Pass Road
      • Scoby Hill Landslide
      • Wrangell Airport
      • Snowbasin Access Road
      • Beartooth Debris Flows
      • Three Capes Scenic Loop Landslide
      • Richardson Hwy Slide
      • Bonners Ferry Landslide
      • Light Rail Station
      • Skagway Submarine Slide
    • Natural Resources >
      • West Africa Gas Pipeline
      • Greens Creek Mine Road
    • Private Clients >
      • Wasco County Landfill Landslide
  • Rock Slopes
    • Hydropower >
      • Biscuit Rock Rockslide
      • Skagit River Rockfall
      • JC Boyle Canal Rockfall
      • Prospect Dam Rockfall
      • Iron Gate Dam Rockfall
      • Cougar Dam Rockfall
    • Transportation >
      • I-15 (D3) Rock Slope Mitigation
      • Ketchikan Third Avenue
      • US Hwy 2 Libby Rockfall
      • Banks - Lowman Hwy
      • SR 191 Rock Cut Design
      • Going-to-the-Sun Road
      • SR 12 Rockfall Mitigation
      • Lakeside Rockfall
      • US 2 Badrock Canyon
      • South Tongass Highway
      • Weeksville Rock Bolting
      • US 26 Cove Palisades
  • Key Staff
    • Mike Meyer
    • Gerry Heslin
    • George Machan
    • Charlie Hammond
    • Brent Black
    • Darren Beckstrand
    • Chris Carpenter
    • Ben George
    • Wade Osborne
    • Tom Westover
    • Aine Mines
    • Adam Koslofsky
    • Logan Allender
    • Andy Kost
    • Collin McCormick
    • Anna Casady
    • Noah Kimmes
    • David LaPorte
    • Justin McCarley
    • Aleyna Donaldson
    • Michael Bunn
    • Andy Vessely
    • Larry Pierson
    • Derek Cornforth (Founder)
  • Resources
  • Contact Us