Dr. Scott Kieffer

Assistant Professor

Office Phone: (303) 273-3711
email: skieffer@mines.edu

Academic Appointment & Responsibilities

2002 – Present Colorado School of Mines, Mining Engineering Department

Assistant Professor – Tenure Track

Responsibilities include the education, mentoring, and professional development of undergraduate and graduate students, development of sustained research funding and the scholarly dissemination of research works, and service to the university and engineering profession. Current teaching includes Earth Retaining Structures, Design and Support of Underground Openings, Underground Design and Construction, and Engineering Mechanics. Areas of current research include void detection technologies, laser scanning and digital mapping of underground excavations, tunnel face pre-reinforcement, performance of disc cutters in heterogeneous ground, and geotechnical characterization of soil-rock mixtures.

2000 San Francisco State University , Department of Geosciences

Lecturer

Principal Instructor for the graduate course “Problems in Engineering Geology”. Course focused on identification and analysis of rock slope failure modes and included practical field exercises and detailed case history reviews.

Professional Experience

1998 – 2002 Jacobs Associates, San Francisco, CA

Associate Design Engineer

Performed engineering analyses and prepared design plans, specifications and contract documents for heavy civil projects involving construction of tunnels, caverns, shafts and deep excavations. Carried out numerical modeling to estimate stresses and deformations around underground openings, evaluate ground-structure interaction, and optimize ground control and support systems. Provided in-house technical expertise for a broad array of civil projects involving critical rock mechanics issues.

1994 – 1998 Independent Geotechnical Consultant, Berkeley, CA

Performed engineering geologic and geotechnical consultation for the siting, construction and rehabilitation of large dams and hydropower facilities in Europe, Central America and the U.S.A. Evaluated natural and excavated rock slope stability and developed design plans and specifications for rock reinforcement.

1992 – 1994 Harlan Tait Associates, San Francisco, CA

1998 – 1991 Staff Geologist

Conducted fault ground rupture and landslide hazard studies as well as engineering geologic investigations for civil projects involving construction of dams, transmission lines, roadways and commercial and residential developments. Performed aerial photograph interpretation, extensive geologic/geomorphic field mapping, geotechnical site characterization studies, and prepared final technical reports.

1991 – 1992 Dames & Moore, Honolulu, HI

Staff Engineering Geologist

Provided engineering geologic input for civil projects involving construction of high-rise, waterfront, military and commercial structures. Developed geotechnical design criteria for foundations, retaining walls and mass grading. Performed geologic field mapping, geotechnical site characterization studies, and prepared final reports.

1988 – 1989 Rogers E. Johnson & Associates, Santa Cruz, CA

Staff Geologist

Performed detailed logging of exploratory trenches for fault ground rupture and landslide hazard studies, aerial photograph interpretation, geologic field mapping, and technical drafting.

Professional Certifications

Professional Engineer (Civil)

No. 63196, California

No. 39497, Colorado

No. 40413, Virginia

Certified Engineering Geologist

No. 2156, California

Professional Geologist No. 6920, California

Education

University of California at Berkeley

Ph.D. Civil Engineering – 1998

M.S., Civil Engineering – 1995

University of California at Santa Cruz

B.A., Earth Sciences– 1989

Professional Publications

Kieffer, D.S. , Jibson, R., Rathje, E., and Kelson, K.I., 2006, Landslides Triggered by the 2004 Niigata Ken Chuetsu, Japan, Earthquake. Earthquake Spectra, Vol. 22, No. S1, January, 2006; Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Kieffer, D.S. , 2003, Rotational Instability of Hard Rock Slopes. Austrian Society for Geomech, Felsbau 21, No. 2, pp. 31-38.

Badr, S., Mendoza, R., Kieffer, S., Salamon, M.G.D., and Ozbay, U., 2003, Numerical Modeling of Longwalls in Deep Coal Mines (in review). Proceedings of the 22 nd International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Morgantown, WV.

Badr, S., Ozbay, U., Kieffer, S., and Salamon, M., 2003, Three-Dimensional Strain Softening Modeling of Deep Longwall Mine Layouts (in review). Proceedings of the 3 rd International FLAC and FLAC 3D Symposium on Numerical Modeling in Geomechanics, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Kieffer, D.S. , Caulfield, R.J., and Cain, W., 2001, Seismic Upgrade of the Claremont Tunnel, Northern California. Society For Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Proc. 2001 Rapid Excavation and Tunneling Conference, June 11-13, San Diego, CA.

Kieffer, D.S. , McRae, M.T. and Chern, J.C., 2001, Chi-Chi, Taiwan, Earthquake of September 21, 1999, Performance of Underground Structures, p. 162-172. Earthquake Spectra, Supp. A to Vol. 17, Pub. No. 2001-02, J. Uzarski and C. Arnold, Eds.

Goodman, R.E., and Kieffer, D.S., 2000, Behavior of Rock in Slopes. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Vol 126, No. 8, August, 2000.

Kelson, K. I., Kieffer D. S., Sitar, N., Wright, R., Wells, D., and Perkins, W., 2000, Fault-related Deformation Resulting from the Chi-Chi (Taiwan) Earthquake: Preliminary Conclusions of the NSF-PEER Reconnaissance Team. Proc. Seismological Society of America, pp.484-492 .

Kieffer, D.S. , and Goodman, R.E., 1999, FLAC Analysis of a Gravity Dam on a Soft Foundation. Proceedings of the 1 st International FLAC Symposium on Numerical Modeling in Geomechanics, Minneapolis, MN.

McRae, M.T., and Kieffer, D.S., 1999, Inelastic Rock Reinforcement Design for the Lake Mathews Outlet Facilities. Proceedings of the American Rock Mechanics Association, Vail, CO.