BEA provides Geotechnical Engineering Services throughout Central and South Texas, which has highly variable geologic conditions that include sands, gravels, bedrock, and some of the most highly expansive clay soils encountered in the U.S.  The highly variable geologic conditions often become more problematic with the presence and/or seasonal changes of groundwater.  Each project’s unique combination of subsurface conditions create the need for the Geotechnical Engineer to approach each project with versatility while considering the distinctive development requirements for each project.  Our objective for each project is to provide the design team with the desired results, not a one-size-fits-all design approach. 

BEA provides Geotechnical Engineering Investigations for all types of projects ranging in size from small residential additions to high-rise hotels to 1,000 acre municipal landfills. We have performed over 1,000 geotechnical investigations on a wide variety of projects including wireless cellular towers; various commercial projects; local, collector, and arterial streets; residential subdivisions; private and municipal airports; Department of Defense facilities; Border Patrol and TxDOT facilities; new and existing schools and colleges; water towers; municipal and county infrastructure; dams; and retaining wall structures. For each project, our engineers communicate with the owner and design team to determine each project's balance between value and risk by evaluating the subsurface soil conditions, property size, intended use, and client's budgetary goals.

BEA determines the subsurface soil/bedrock and groundwater conditions for work areas prior to excavation or trenching operations, so that we can provide the contractor with measures to safely work around these excavations in accordance with OSHA Guidelines. An excavation may include any man-made cut, cavity, trench, or depression in an earthen surface that is formed during earth removal. Recommendations include dewatering, sloping or benching excavations, and/or reinforcing open cuts with soldier piers, sheeting, or shoring.

Groundwater encountered during construction can be a nuisance and cause significant delays to construction operations; weaken soils, structural fill materials, and flexible base materials which lead to failures of foundation and pavement systems; cause differential vertical movements in expansive clayey soils which cause more financial loss/damage to structures than all other naturally occurring events combined; facilitate the migration of subsurface contamination from one property to another; or create additional lateral earth pressures on retaining wall structures and sub-level structures that can lead to catastrophic failures. Therefore, knowing the groundwater conditions on a project prior to commencing construction is vital. BEA provides comprehensive Groundwater Evaluations that can determine the presence of groundwater and means to control groundwater during construction and throughout the design life of the structure.

BEA provides Feasibility Studies on properties during the early stages of conceptual planning to provide the design team preliminary information to be used for planning and budgetary purposes. During these Feasibility Studies, we determine if any unique geotechnical conditions exists on the property that would adversely affect the development on the property such as the presence of uncontrolled fill materials, groundwater, variable soil/bedrock conditions, slope stability and/or significant grading requirements, presence of karst features, and/or other specific limitations that the property may have. These feasibility studies provide the owner with a preview of what will be found during the development of the property; however, these feasibility studies should always be supplemented with more in-depth Geotechnical Engineering Investigations once the project is further along.

BEA provides both rigid and flexible pavement designs for a wide range of pavement systems including: commercial parking lots, flat-work, city/private residential streets, municipal collectors/arterials, private and municipal airport runways and taxiways, and pavement on Department of Defense facilities. BEA provides the design team with options for each pavement design, so that the design team may select the most cost effective design for their intended use. We choose from a variety of subgrade stabilization techniques for various soil types which will add the most benefit while considering the project's budgetary goals.

BEA performs Forensic Evaluations for various existing structures and pavement systems to either determine the causations of failures that have already occurred or to determine if an existing structure or pavement system will support a future use. BEA's engineers perform destructive and non-destructive concrete evaluations, pavement system thickness determinations, in-place structure member size and strength measurements, and slope stability analyses of existing embankments to assist the design team.

Our lab is the first laboratory in South Texas to adopt xGEL LabMate, the revolutionary paperless data processing system. BEA was the Beta Test Site for this electronic technology program called Lab Mate, which has been used on nearly 1,000 projects to date. The electronic data system allows efficient and accurate data collection and the data is transmitted directly into our engineering report system. This system is also linked to our boring log software so that the test results are automatically imported into report ready boring logs. Our approach to advanced technology has proven to be an essential tool in meeting our client's needs.