105 Tradesman Drive Suite B, Hutto, Texas 78634
Joseph leads Geotechnical Testing Laboratory as Senior Laboratory Director at Alpine. Joseph holds Ph.D. and master degrees in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Missouri - Columbia. He has worked as a Geotechnical Laboratory Testing Director and oversees the operations of the Laboratory Testing for more than 16 years. Before working at Alpine, Joseph founded several other advanced Geotechnical Testing Laboratories in Central Texas. Joseph is active at ASTM, AASHTO, and ASCE committees and conferences. He is also volunteering as a peer reviewer for numerous journals, and several committee positions for improving the testing standards or specifications.
His responsibilities include supervising, training and monitoring technicians and laboratory workers. Joseph monitors projects’ scheduling, quality control, equipment management, and compliance & accreditations. Joseph’s work involves measuring soil engineering properties through performance of numerous laboratory tests, including both basic index property tests and high-end geotechnical tests such as advanced triaxial compression/ extension, direct simple shear, 1-D incremental (ILT), constant-rate-of-strain (CRS) consolidation tests, and evaluation of shear strength behavior using the SHANSEP method that provides stress history and undrain strength profile according to the imposed field conditions. Joseph is also responsible for all associated data reduction, analyses, and formal report generation. He is an effective director leading the lab team members to provide quality services and achieve a high level of testing accuracy, thereby contributing to a well-engineered project.
Publications
Chen, C-W, and J.Y. Wu (2012), “Effects of Wetting on the Pullout Resistance of Geogrids in Compacted Silty Sand,” The Electronic Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 17, pp. 2529-2540.
Chen, C-W., A. Tang (2011), "Evaluation of Connection Strength of Geogrid to Gabion Wall." Advances in Pile Foundations, Geosynthetics, Geoinvestigations, and Foundation Failure Analysis and Repairs, pp. 231-238.
Chen, C-W., A. Wang (2011), "An Examination of Fly Ash-Geogrid Interaction." Proceedings of the 14th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, May 23-27, Hong Kong, China, pp. 412-416.
Chen, C-W. (2010), "Triaxial Compression and Extension Tests for Fiber-Reinforced Silty Sand." Accepted to present at GoeShanghai, China.
Chen, C-W., and J.Y. Wu (2010), "Effects of Wetting on the Soil-geogrid Interaction" Accepted to present at the 9th International Conference on Geosynthetics – 9ICG, Brazil
Chen, C-W., and J.E. Loehr (2008), "Undrained and Drained Triaxial Tests of Fiber-reinforced Sand." Proceedings of the 4th Asia Regional Conference on Geosynthetics, June 17-20, Shanghai, China, pp. 114-120.
Chen, C-W. (2007). "A Constitutive Model for Fiber-reinforced Soils." Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Doctoral Degree, University of Missouri-Columbia.
Chen, C-W, H. Salim, J.J. Bowders, J.E. Loehr, and J. Owen (2007), “Creep Behavior of Recycled Plastic Lumber in Slope Stabilization Applications,” Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 130-138.
Chen, C-W. (2006). "Drained and Undrained Behavior of Fiber-reinforced Sand." Midwest Transportation Consortium of Student Papers, Transportation Scholars Conference, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
Loehr, J.E., J.J. Bowders, C-W Chen, K.S. Chandler, P.H. Carr, and T.W. Fennessey (2004), “Slope Stabilization Using Recycled Plastic Pins,” Proceedings of 55th Annual Highway Geology Symposium, September 7-10, Kansas City, Missouri, pp. 149-159.
Chen, C-W. (2003), “Engineering Properties of Recycled Plastic Pins for Use in Slope Stabilization”, Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of Master of Science Degree, University of Missouri-Columbia, 118 pp.
Bowders, J.J., J.E. Loehr, and C.-W. Chen(2003), Evaluation of Recycled Plastic Products in Terms of Suitability for Stabilization of Earth Slopes, Final Report to Missouri Department of Transportation and Recycled Materials Resource Center, Project RI98-007c, Report RDT 03-019, 125 pp.
Bowders, J.J., J.E. Loehr, and C-W Chen(2003), “Recycled Plastic Pins Used to Stabilize Slope,” Draft Provisional Specification to American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials (AASHTO) Designation.
Bowders, J.J., J.E. Loehr, H. Salim, and C-W Chen (2003), “Engineering Properties of Recycled Plastic Pins for Use in Slope Stabilization,” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Transportation Research Board, pp. 39-46.
Invitations of Journal Review
Alpine Lab, a third party independent Geotechnical Testing Laboratory with a certified DBE/MBE firm, has been established by experienced staff members who are responsive and take ownership in all aspects of their work. Alpine Geotechnical Testing Laboratory is AASHTO accredited and USACE validated. Our objective is to provide timely, professional, and quality laboratory testing services to our clients.
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