William Almes

William "Bill" S. Almes, P.E. Senior Engineer and Director of Geotechnical Services

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Education Doctoral Degree Course Work in Geotechnical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 2003-2004
M.S. Civil/Geotechnical Engineering, West Virginia University, 1991
B.S. Civil Engineering, West Virginia University, 1989

Licenses Licensed Professional Engineer in North Carolina (License No. 023103)
Licensed Professional Engineer in South Carolina (License No. 18786)

Experience Mr. Almes founded Almes & Associates' Carolina Regional office in 1996 after attending graduate school at West Virginia University (M.S.C.E.) and North Carolina State University and working as a consulting engineer for an international consulting engineering firm located in Raleigh, North Carolina. After serving as Regional Vice President and President of Almes & Associates (1996 to 2005), Mr. Almes merged the remaining assets of the family-owned business into a local site development engineering firm based in Cary, North Carolina (2006) in which he served as the Director of Solid Waste and Geotechnical Services. In November 2008, Mr. Almes accepted the position of Senior Engineer & Director of Geotechnical Services for Marshall Miller & Associates.

Throughout his career, Mr. Almes has been involved with earthen dam, solid and industrial waste, coal combustion residuals, coal refuse disposal (combined coal refuse and slurry impoundments) and forensic engineering projects throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and has more than 20 years experience in project management, design, engineering, permitting, construction management and construction quality assurance/certification. Specifically, Mr. Almes has been involved with the design, permitting, and construction of these types of facilities as well as other .specialty. geotechnical related designs. These projects have included feasibility studies, site evaluations, facility layout and design, permit applications, construction drawing and specification packages, detailed geosynthetic liner and cap design and analysis, and subsurface investigation/ recommendations necessary for shallow and deep foundations for building structures as well as for earthen embankments. Mr. Almes also has geotechnical laboratory testing experience, particularly in permeability testing, in researching alternative uses for artificially amended soil mixtures consisting of Class F and Class C fly ash stabilized with other industrial waste products and chemical additives. Since 1996, Mr. Almes has also been involved in the project management (or completion) of over 700 Investigative Engineering Investigations for the insurance and legal industry functioning as the lead Project Manager or Principal Investigative Engineer for these types of projects which related to residential and commercial property damage, accidents, failures and hurricane/storm damage claims.

Top 10 Specialty Areas

  • Conceptual Design, Siting & Feasibility Studies .Solid Waste and Coal Refuse Disposal Facilities
  • Earthen Dam / Coal Combustion Waste Impoundment Remediation and Repair Studies
  • Geotechnical Engineering Studies (Slope Stability, Bearing Capacity, Settlement, Retaining Walls and Foundation Design)
  • Slope Instability (Landslide) Evaluation and Stabilization
  • Waste Facility Leachate Management Design and Modeling
  • Soil Improvement Studies
  • Designing with Geosynthetics (Liners, Covers, Soil Improvement)
  • State, Local and Federal Permitting
  • Construction Drawings and Technical Specifications
  • Operations & Closure Services
  • Construction Monitoring, CQA/CQC and Certification Services
  • Forensic Engineering and Expert Witness Testimony

Select Listing of Publications and Presentations

  • Guest Lecturer Presentation, .Lessons Learned from the December 22, 2008 TVA Kingston Dredge Pond Failure,. 2010 Annual MSHA Dam Safety Seminar, National Mine Health and Safety Academy, Beckley, WV, April 28, 2010.
  • Guest Lecturer Presentation, "GIS Applications in the Solid Waste Industry," Accompanied by Mr. Eddie Staley, William Almes presented at the North Carolina Solid Waste Association of North America (NC SWANA) Annual Spring Technical Conference, Grove Park Inn, Asheville, North Carolina, April 17, 2008.
  • Guest Lecturer Presentation, "MSE Retaining Wall Failures - Lessons Learned," presented at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2006 North Carolina Section Annual Meeting, Sheraton Raleigh Capital Center Hotel, Raleigh, North Carolina, September 22, 2006.
  • Guest Lecturer Presentations, "Retaining Wall Failure Investigation & Use of Geosynthetics and Reinforced Earth Retaining Systems in Solid Waste Landfill Construction," and "Lessons Learned Relative to Design of Earthen Dams, Retaining Wall Systems, Solid Waste Landfills and Other Structures," presented to the North Carolina State University Advanced Foundations Design Classes (at the request of Dr. M. A. Gabr, Ph.D., P.E.), NCSU Dept. of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Raleigh, North Carolina, April 2001 and April 2006.
  • "Development of an Amended Fly Ash Barrier For Surface Infiltration Control Applications," Master of Science Degree Thesis, College of Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, December 1991.
  • "Stabilized Fly Ash Cover for a Municipal Waste Landfill," presented at the ASCE Energy Division Specialty Conference, "Energy in the 90s", Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 11 - 13, 1991.
  • "Stabilization and Utilization of Coal Ash in Environmental Applications," presented at the 22nd Mid-Atlantic Industrial Waste Conference, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 24 - 27, 1990.