Desmond Blake, PE
Desmond is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh School of Civil Engineering and a California Registered Civil Engineer. Mr. Blake offers 30 years’ experience in civil engineering design and construction effort, nearly 20 of which have been with Drill Tech. Des possesses a wide and comprehensive breadth of expertise in engineering and management for construction services. His designs have ground improvement CIDH/augercast/bart/torque down piles, micropiles to CSM and jet/compaction/permeation/compensation grouting for various applications, soil nails, soldier piles, tiebacks, etc.). Shoring and ground improvement devices are often utilized for tunneling and shaft support. Mr. Blake is well-versed in—especially pipe-jacking/ramming and box-jacking methods, in wide variety of terrain and soil types.
Desmond's Featured Projects
Bear Creek Road Emergency Slide Repair Phase 1 | Boulder Creek, CA
Project Designer & Construction Manager
A portion of Bear Creek Road near the Santa Cruz Mountains was closed due to continuous rains, flooding and localized landslides. In response, Santa Cruz County contracted Drill Tech to coordinate an emergency response to re-open the important artery and re-establish fire/life services access. Drill Tech initiated geotechnical investigations and performed the design/build of a temporary soil nail shoring to stabilize the road embankment and restore traffic access within weeks. Drill Tech also designed and constructed a permanent slide repair micropile/ground anchor wall downstream, a soil nail and shotcrete headwall upstream and pipe jacked a new steel pipe culvert to upsize the failing 36" drainage system to a minimum 54" in diameter, allowing for more water flow to be directed away from the road. Drill Tech managed all traffic control and restoration, paving efforts to provide a 100% turnkey solution to the owner.
CADOT Replace Culvert | Fort Ross, CA
Project Manager
The California Department of Transportation contracted Drill Tech to perform a culvert replacement off the coast of California under Highway 1. Drill Tech rammed a 90 LF, 108" diameter steel pipe with 1.25" wall thickness under the road using a large pneumatic Hammerhead rammer weighing 27,000 pounds. This advanced the new pipe over the old, corrugated pipe which was cut up and removed. A pumped stream diversion and full-time traffic control were established to set up ramming equipment. 2,000 SF of temporary shoring, 300 CY of excavation and 85 CY of structural concrete were completed to construct a concrete headwall, and the placement of 1,200 tons of riprap protection, paving and erosion control installation finished the job.
Central Subway Receiving Shaft and Cross Passages | San Francisco, CA
Project Manager
Drill Tech constructed a 50’ x 50’ x 50’ inside dimension receiving shaft for retrieval of twin TBMs in San Francisco’s North Beach area. The shaft consisted of soldier piles and three levels of walers and struts, with the soldier piles set into 74’ deep CSM panels keyed into Franciscan bedrock. Compensation grouting was used outside the shaft to protect the surrounding buildings from settlement as the TBMs passed through. Drill Tech also mined 5 cross passages between the TBM tunnels, utilizing various combinations of spiling, ground freezing, and permeation grouting to provide ample pre-support. Tunnel lining consisted of lattice girders and shotcrete.
Cordilleras Tunnel | San Mateo, CA
Project Manager
Drill Tech installed 7,450 SF of 3’ diameter Secant Pile Shoring to aid construction of the TBM launch and receiving pit shafts of a new micro-tunnel under the Cordilleras Creek. This was the final portion of a new 5' diameter Bay Division Pipeline No. 5 for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) to avoid disruption of a Native American burial ground site. Drill Tech also performed relief hole drilling for hard rock excavation, and well abandonment operations for the.
Bear Creek Road Emergency Slide Repair Phase 2 | Boulder Creek, CA
Project Designer & Construction Manager
After another section of Bear Creek Road was closed due to heavy flooding and localized landslides, Santa Cruz County again contracted Drill Tech to re-establish fire/life services access under emergency conditions. After submitting a budget for a final repair solution, Drill Tech was selected to initiate geotechnical investigations and perform the design/build of a permanent road embankment stabilization. Drill Tech designed and constructed a permanent soldier pile/ground anchor headwall wall downstream, auger bored a new steel pipe culvert to upsize the existing failing 30" diameter system to a minimum of 48” and completed an engineered MSE embankment to restore the required road width.
Bollinger Creek Culvert Repair | San Ramon, CA
Project Design & Construction Manager
The City of San Ramon contracted Drill Tech to retro fit a failing 120” CMP culvert undercrossing on Bollinger Creek Road. This project involved a myriad of scopes including design and construction/excavation of access pit and bracing for jacking 180 LF of a 12’ shield under Bollinger Creek Road. A design build rib and lagging was engineered and used as a temporary support behind the advancing shield before installation of a final permanent shotcrete lining of the retrofit tunnel portion and rehabilitation of portions of the existing 13’ CMP culvert to other side of the access pit. The project involved all facets of the work including final restoration of the site and rebuilding storm drainage system that fed into the main culvert workings.
