Dr. Suji Somasundaram has 42 years of experience in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering services, including siting, investigations, design and construction quality assurance (CQA) for large public works and infrastructure projects including investigation and mitigation of liquefaction and landslide hazards, design of expansion and closures of solid waste containment facilities, remediation and final closure of Superfund hazardous waste sites, investigations for tunnels and pipelines, and ground improvement and foundation design for waste water treatment plants and industrial facilities.
He has led multidisciplined project teams on investigations, design and construction monitoring projects at some of the largest municipal solid waste landfills in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Imperial and Kern Counties, the OII, Casmalia and WDI Superfund sites, and at military bases in southern and central California. He has managed geotechnical services on public works improvement/expansion projects including the Puente Hills MRF, the Tulare Lake biosolids composting facility, the Joint Water Pollution Control Plant expansion, and the San Jose Creek and Valencia wastewater treatment plants.
He has extensively interfaced with multiple regulatory agencies, including USEPA, DTSC, US Army COE, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), and RWQCB’s in multiple regions. He has served as a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UCLA and has authored several publications related to evapotranspirative covers, landslide remediation and ground improvement.
Education, Professional Certifications
- Ph.D., Geotechnical Engineering, Geomechanics, University of Arizona, 1986
- M.S., Geotechnical Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology, 1981
- B.Sc., Civil Engineering, University of Sri Lanka, 1978
- Geotechnical Engineer, California, 1994, #2263
- Professional Civil Engineer, California, 1989, #44199
- 40-Hour OSHA Trained, 29 CFR 1910.120(e)(2)/8 CCR 5192
- 24-Hour MSHA Trained
- Visiting Lecturer in Geoenvironmental Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
- Unsaturated Soils Committee, Geo-Institute, ASCE
- Embankments, Dams & Slopes Committee, Geo-Institute, ASCE
- Reviewer, ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
- Member, Geosynthetics Institute
Major Experience
Solid Waste Engineering Projects
County of Orange, OC Waste & Recycling
- FRB Landfill – Geotechnical design and CQA for remediation of 60-acre landslide complex; Geotechnical investigations for 3 expansion phases, and CQA services for 7 cell expansions,
- Olinda-Alpha Landfill – CM/CQA services for Phase 1 and Phase 2 Final Closure of 152 acres of side slopes
- Prima Deshecha Landfill – Geotechnical services for 65-acre Phase 4B expansion
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
- Calabasas Landfill – existing cover evaluation and design of alternative ET final cover for 2 phases totaling 125 acres
- Scholl Canyon Landfill – Alternative final cover evaluation and design for 80-acres of side slope cover and design of alternative final cover for 84-acre top deck
- Puente Hills Landfill – Cover evaluation, alternative ET cover design and CQA services for final closure of 74-acre side slope
- Mesquite Regional Landfill – Geotechnical Investigations for Master Plan development and Permitting of 2,300-acre mega-landfill site
San Bernardino County, Solid Waste Management Division
- Colton Sanitary Landfill – CM/CQA for final closure of 90-acre landfill using Closure Turf®
- San Timoteo Sanitary Landfill – design and bid documents for Phase 3-1 cell expansion; Geotechnical investigations and CM/CQA services for 3 phases (Phase 3-2, 4 & 5) of expansion
Kern County Department of Public Works
- Design and bid documents for Cell Expansions at Taft, Mojave-Rosamond, and Shafter-Wasco Landfills
- Geotechnical and CQA services for final closure of Lost Hills and Bakersfield landfills
Superfund Sites
- Geotechnical investigations, design and CQA services for design-build final closure of 90-acre Operating Industries Inc. (OII) landfill, Los Angeles County
- Seismic slope stability and deformations evaluation update for OII landfill
- CQA Services for three phases of final closure (Area 3, CDA Cap & RCF Pond) at the Casmalia Superfund site, Santa Barbara County
Other Public Works Projects
- LA County Sanitation Districts Joint Water Pollution Control Plant, San Jose Creek Water Reclamation Plant and Valencia Water Reclamation Plant expansions – Geotechnical investigations and CQA services
- Tulare Lake Biosolids Composting Facility, Kings County – Geotechnical investigations and CQA Services
- Puente Hills Material Recovery Facility – Geotechnical investigations and CQA for MRF facility design & construction
- State Route 22 Freeways – Geologic and geotechnical investigations and construction observations for widening projects
- Los Angeles Metro Rail – East Side Extension – Geotechnical investigations
- Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific & Queensway Bay Downtown Harbor – Geotechnical investigation and CQA services for liquefaction mitigation, ground improvement and foundation construction
Publications
Somasundaram, S, Shenthan, T, and Raub, M, 2019, “Landslide Characterization, Stability and Mitigation at the FRB Landfill”, Geo-Institute Webinar, Technical Case Studies, Embankments, Dams & Slopes, December, 2019
Somasundaram, S., Khilnani, K, Shenthan, T, and Irvine, J, 2013, “Characterization and Settlement Modeling of Deep Inert Debris Fills”, Proceedings, 18th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
Somasundaram, S., Shenthan, T.D. Stark, and T.D. Wright, S, 2012, “Shear Strength Characterization and Back Analysis for a Progressive Landslide”, Proceedings, Geocongress, 2012, ASCE, Oakland, California
Somasundaram, S., Shenthan, T, Benson, C, and Nannapaneni, S, 2010, “Unsaturated Hydraulic Characteristics of Soil with Significant Oversize Particles”, Proceedings, 5th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Barcelona, Spain, September 2010
Somasundaram, S., and Ananthanathan, J., 2007. “Self-Sustaining Earth Covers for Waste Disposal Facilities in Arid and Semi-Arid Climates”, Proceedings, Sri Lankan Geotechnical Society, International Conference on Soil and Rock Engineering, Colombo, Sri Lanka, August 2007
Somasundaram, S., LaFountain, L., and Ananthanathan, J., 2004. “Performance Monitoring and Model Verification for an Alternative Evapotranspirative Cover”, Proceedings, ASCE Geo-Frontiers Conference, Austin, Texas, January 2005.
Somasundaram, S., Caldwell, J., Loan, A., and LaFountain, L., 1999. “Design and Construction of an Evapotranspirative Cover at the OII Landfill,” Proceedings, 4th Annual SWANA Symposium, June 1999.
Somasundaram, S., Weeratunga, G., and Khilnani, K., 1998. “Ground Improvement at the Queensway Bay Downtown Harbor, Long Beach, California”, Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Case Histories, St Louis, Missouri, March 1998