Employee Profiles: Senior Professionals

Ted M. Sayre

Principal Engineering Geologist/Geological Engineer

Registration

Registered Geologist in California, RG 5711
Certified Engineering Geologist in California, CEG 1795
Engineer in Training (EIT passed 1986)

Education

M.E., Geological Engineering: Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, 1985
B.A., Geology: University of California, Berkeley, California, 1981

Areas of Specialty

Geotechnical peer review and investigation of proposed development, primarily in hillside areas, potentially constrained by slope instability, fault rupture, ground shaking and liquefaction

Representative Experience

Mr. Sayre has over 22 years of experience in the fields of engineering geology, geological engineering, and hydrogeology. As a supervising engineering geologist with Cotton, Shires and Associates, Inc., Mr. Sayre helps to administer a variety of projects. In this capacity, he is responsible for overall project supervision and coordination, compilation, collection and analysis of geologic and geotechnical data, and preparation and presentation of technical maps and reports. In addition, his duties include analysis of aerial photographs, field mapping of bedrock and surficial deposits and subsurface geologic exploration.

Mr. Sayre uses his combined background of engineering geology and geological engineering to investigate and resolve interrelated geologic and geotechnical issues. This background is especially useful when investigating landslide or seismic hazards that require close coordination between geologic characterization and engineering mitigation of the hazard. As a geologist, he has worked on a variety of projects in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon. As a geological engineer and hydrogeologist with the U. S. Geological Survey Nuclear Hydrology Program, Mr. Sayre conducted research to investigate water flux through the unsaturated zone at Yucca Mt., Nevada. This work was part of a detailed characterization program to evaluate candidate sites for the nation's first high-level nuclear waste repository.

Mr. Sayre currently is responsible for the coordination of geotechnical peer review, including evaluation of proposed land divisions and building permit applications, for several San Francisco Bay Area communities. Proper recognition, characterization and mitigation of unstable ground are topics Mr. Sayre critically examines in his review capacity on a regular basis. In addition, evaluation of other common Bay Area seismic hazards such as surface fault rupture, amplified ground shaking, liquefaction and seismically induced slope failure are also part of Mr. Sayre's responsibility as a quality control reviewer of development safety. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Mr. Sayre worked with the Santa Cruz County Earthquake Recovery Unit as a Supervising Engineering Geologist where he assisted in technical review of hundreds of building permit applications for repair of seismically damaged structures. More recently, Mr. Sayre has completed many residential damage assessments for local communities impacted by El Niño induced landslides.

Professional Affiliations

Association of Engineering Geologists
Geological Society of America
Earthquake Engineering Research Institute

 

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