Geotekra LLC is a private geotechnical engineering and applied research firm. Free from the bureaucracy of traditional academic and government-dependent bodies, we unite leading academic experts, seasoned industry professionals, and regulatory specialists into a single, agile team. This unique collaborative synergy allows us to conduct rapid, targeted research and execute advanced site investigations, specialized laboratory testing, and innovative analytical methods to solve the complex geotechnical problems others cannot.
Every engagement receives principal-level attention — from design and review to forensic investigation, natural hazards research, and resilient design.
Design and analysis for geotechnical projects that demand special care — where ground conditions, loading, or consequences put the work beyond routine practice. We develop project-specific solutions from investigation planning through final design.
A second, independent set of eyes on another firm's geotechnical design or analysis. We verify assumptions, methods, and results before they become commitments — and say plainly what holds and what does not.
Some problems have no established solution — unusual ground, unprecedented geometry, conflicting constraints. We plan and carry out in-depth investigation and cutting-edge analysis specifically designed to answer the question, and develop a defensible design where the textbook ends.
When a project has failed or is showing distress, we investigate why. We reconstruct the sequence of events, prepare a clear and defensible report, and propose practical solutions to move the project forward.
Some conditions don't match any established design method: unusual geomaterials, extreme geometry, unprecedented combinations of constraints. These cases need in-depth investigation, analysis, and design — planned from first principles.
We start with advanced planning of the investigation itself — choosing the borings, testing, and instrumentation that will actually resolve the governing uncertainty. Then we bring cutting-edge analysis to bear: advanced constitutive and coupled numerical modeling, deformation analysis, back-analysis of observed performance. The result is a design with a defensible basis, not a guess with calculations attached.
A slope that moved. An embankment showing unexpected deformation. Settlement that exceeded every prediction. We investigate failures and problem projects, document the cause in a report that stands on its own, and propose solutions that work in the field — not just on paper.
Site inspection, review of records, monitoring data, and targeted field testing to establish the facts — followed by deep analysis and critical review: back-analysis of observed performance, re-examination of design assumptions and parameters, and testing of every credible failure mechanism.
A clear, structured report identifying root cause and documenting the evidence behind every finding.
Remediation options ranked by risk, cost, and constructability — with a recommended path forward.
Forensic findings are also useful before failure: owners, attorneys, and insurers retain us to assess distressed projects and provide independent technical opinions.
Earthquakes, landslides, floods, and dam failures are not abstract risks — they are the events that take lives and property. Our work on natural hazards, resilient design, and research in these fields exists for one purpose: helping communities prevent loss of life and property before the event, not after.
The natural events that put lives and property at risk — and the ground conditions that decide how hard they hit.
Designing ground and earth structures to perform — not merely survive — under hazard loading.
Research on natural hazards and resilient systems, turned into design guidance communities can act on.
Geotekra does not build its story around individual names. Behind every engagement are senior geotechnical experts who have delivered large-scale projects across the world, and researchers shaped by large-scale research programs — assembled to match what the problem actually demands.
That is deliberate. Ground problems that resist conventional practice — heterogeneous profiles, adverse geomaterials, poorly constrained geohazards — are solved by teams with depth in tailings and embankment dams, in geomechanics and constitutive modeling, in advanced numerical analysis and field characterization — not by a single résumé. We draw on a network of specialists worldwide and put principal-level oversight on every project we accept.
The practice is built around earthfill and tailings dams, embankments, and earth structures of every scale — not around any single region. We work wherever our clients' projects take us, on any continent.
Every conclusion starts with evidence. We plan investigation around the specific uncertainty that matters — not a default checklist.
Analysis is chosen and built to answer the actual question, from limit equilibrium to advanced coupled numerical modeling when it is warranted.
Findings are stated plainly: what we know, what remains uncertain, and a recommended path the client can act on.
Tell us about the site, the question, and the deadline. We'll tell you honestly whether Geotekra is the right fit — and how we would approach it.