“Between 1900 and 1980 we had about seven or eight king-tide events a year. Today, it’s closer to eighty. Resilience isn’t optional anymore—it’s survival.”Charleston City Councilman Mike Seekings joins Matt Silveston to talk about what happens when a historic coastal city faces a rising ocean. From king tides that now flood streets weekly to the rebirth of the Low Battery seawall and the launch of Lowcountry Rapid Transit, this conversation explores leadership in a city learning to live with water and move through it.
Mike shares how Charleston rebuilt its most iconic wall without raising taxes, why transit is a cornerstone of resilience, and what leadership looks like when every decision carries long-term consequences.
Key Themes:
The measurable rise in tidal flooding and what it means for the city’s future.
The Low Battery seawall: a century-old structure reborn through political persistence and public transparency.
Funding infrastructure through tourism revenues, not new taxes.
Why public transit and the 21-mile Lowcountry Rapid Transit project represent a new model of resilience.
On this episode of Rock Solid Leaders, Congressman Garret Graves joins Matt Silveston to explore what it means to build a Resilient Nation.
From leading Louisiana’s post-Katrina recovery to reshaping national policy on infrastructure and energy, Graves shares what he’s learned about preparing for storms—both literal and political.
This conversation dives deep into how America can move from reaction to readiness, from rebuilding to building stronger.
“Resiliency isn’t about bouncing back—it’s about bouncing forward.”
DIGGING DEEPER: Frédéric Massé on Urban Foundations and Real-Time Risk Management
What does it take to build safely in the middle of a crowded city?
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, Frédéric Massé (Nicholson Construction) shares hard-earned lessons from projects in Pittsburgh and beyond. From unexpected underground obstructions to managing noise, vibration, and logistics, he explains how geotechnical contractors solve the toughest challenges when space is limited and the stakes are high.
Listeners will learn:
How real-time monitoring has prevented costly failures on active sites
How re-purposing exiting site features can save both time and money
Why hands-on construction experience is essential for young engineers
The rise of design-build contracting in U.S. geotechnics
If you’re building in urban environments—or preparing to—this episode shows what it really takes to succeed underground.
Forty years is a long wait for an update.
The new Foundations and Earth Structures Design Manual (DM 7.2) is here — modernized, reorganized, and built to guide engineers through the most critical foundation decisions of our time.
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, Michael McGuire (Lafayette College), one of the manual’s lead authors, breaks down what’s changed, why it matters, and how it will shape the future of design education and practice.
Listeners will learn:
The biggest updates in DM 7.2, from shear strength to deep foundations
Why the manual is both a roadmap for students and a tool for practitioners
Where AI fits into the next generation of engineering design tools
This isn’t just an update. It’s a design revolution.
P-Y curves may sound like a niche topic, but they’re central to how we design deep foundations under lateral loads.
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, we get technical. Dr. Anne Lemnitzer (UC Irvine) explains why P-Y curves matter, how they’re evolving with new research, and what that means for geotechnical and structural engineering.
Listeners will learn:
How new testing is reshaping old assumptions
What engineers must consider when applying P-Y curves to real-world projects
Advice for young engineers
If you’ve ever designed or relied on a foundation, this episode will change the way you think about laterally loaded piles.
The future of geotechnical engineering won’t look like its past.
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, Dr. Carlos Santamarina (Georgia Tech) shares how geotechnical engineering is evolving — and how artificial intelligence is changing the way we study and design with soil.
Listeners will learn:
How AI is transforming subsurface exploration and data interpretation
Why cross-disciplinary thinking will define the next generation of geotechnics
The challenges of applying new tools to old problems like liquefaction and slope stability
How young engineers can prepare for a profession in transition
If you want to know where geotechnical engineering is headed — and how AI is accelerating that shift — this episode is for you.
Hidden Shaking: Russell Green on Earthquake Risks
When the Christchurch earthquake struck, entire neighborhoods sank as the ground beneath them turned to liquid.
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, Dr. Russell Green (Virginia Tech) explains why liquefaction remains one of the most destructive—and misunderstood—earthquake hazards. He breaks down what happened in Christchurch, what those failures revealed, and the new tools engineers use to analyze and prepare for the next event.
If you want to understand how earthquakes really reshape the ground—and what engineers are doing to stay ahead—this episode delivers the inside look.
Buried Risks: When the Ground Rewrites the Plan
A shipwreck under a city block.
A bulkhead failing in a storm.
A sensor that says “stop—now.”
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, Damian Siebert (Haley & Aldrich) takes us inside urban geotechnical work where surprises are guaranteed and decisions can’t wait.
You’ll hear:
The enabling work that quietly makes—or breaks—projects
How real-time monitoring can change the course of a project
What it takes to deliver bad news and keep trust
Designs that fail safely when the unknown shows up
Why denser cities and aging utilities raise the stakes
If you build in cities, this is your field manual for the ground you can’t see.
The ground never lies — but it doesn’t always tell the whole story.
On this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, I sit down with Dr. Ellen Rathje (University of Texas at Austin) to uncover the seismic truth behind earthquake risk.
Ellen reveals:
Why small details determine survival or collapse
How new tools are reshaping seismic risk assessment
What past earthquakes teach us about preparing for the next one
If you’ve ever wondered how we design for resilience when nature calls the shots, this is the seismic truth you need to hear.
Deep Foundations: Paul Axtell on Drilled Shafts
What really holds up our biggest bridges?
In this episode, Paul Axtell (Dan Brown and Associates) talks about drilled shafts, field challenges, and the mindset required to lead in geotechnical engineering.
A conversation about risk, resilience, and building strength from the ground down.
The biggest risk on any project isn’t underground—it’s in the decisions we make.
In this episode, Aaron Mann reveals how optimism bias, loss aversion, and overconfidence can quietly unravel even themost skilled teams. We talk about why smart people are more vulnerable than they think, and how leaders can build cultures that resist bias and protect judgment under pressure.
If you’ve ever led through uncertainty, this episode will hit home. Because no matter how strong your design, a single blind spot can bring it all down.
Nature’s Armor: Where biology meets geotechnical innovation
What if soil could protect itself?
In this episode of ROCK SOLID LEADERS, I talk with Dr. Brina Montoya of NC State to explore how microbes can turn sand into stone through a process called bio-cementation. From wave tank studies showing bio-cemented dunes resistinghurricane waves to field trials that balance plant growth and soil stability, Dr. Montoya’s research is reshaping the way we defend coastlines, slopes, and infrastructure.
This is more than science—it’s a new vision of resilience, built not with concrete and steel, but with biology itself.
Innovation in geotechnical engineering doesn’t come easy—Mary Nodine shares the wins, the pushback, and the promise of Measurement While Drilling (MWD).A discussion with Mary Nodine in advance of her presentation at GeoCarolinas.