An innovative engineering company in the Brazilian Civil Engineering Design Market
EGEL Engenharia Ltda had its beginnings in 2005. As a full-time professor, Dr. Eduardo Dell’Avanzi led the environmental geotechnical research group and the Environmental GEotechnical Laboratory of the Federal University of Paraná between 2005 and 2013. He has advised both undergraduate and graduate students (BS., MSc. and PhD. levels) in research involving the development of constitutive models for non-conservative mass systems (applicable to predicting the short and long term mechanical behavior of MSW); numerical modeling (FEM and FDM) of unsaturated flows, excavations, foundations and embankments; physical modeling of tieback walls, nailed walls, slopes and fractured media; development of soil-water repellency technology for application on MSW landfills cover systems; and development of analytical tools for evaluation of the vulnerability, reliability and risk assessment of geotechnical designs.
Aiming to apply the acquired knowledge to foment innovation in the civil engineering industry, Dr. Dell’Avanzi (as part-time professor) in partnership with Civil Engineer, M.Sc. José Quevedo founded, during the spring of 2013, the EGEL Engenharia Ltda, a consulting engineering firm focusing on geotechnical and structural designs. The leveraging of twenty years of experience in research and development with thirty years of experience in the management of civil engineering projects yielded a company that brings together the best in technological innovation with the consistent theoretical background of the academy.
In order to accomplish its mission of delivering the highest quality designs, the company has assembled a state-of-the-art geotechnical laboratory. Shear test apparatuses such as for tri- axially symmetric testing and direct shear testing, oedometer test apparatuses, and constant head and fallen head permeameters are some of EGEL’s laboratory equipment. Carefully executed soil testing allows for the evaluation of all pertinent hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of the geotechnical materials necessary for calibration and validation of the numerical models developed by the company’s staff. Since innovation and advanced technology leadership are at the center of EGEL’s mission, the company has established a corporate research institute that focuses on developing new technologies for the civil engineering field.
Why technology innovation must be continuously pursued in the civil engineering market
Innovation goes beyond dominating the state of the art in a given field. It is the fruit of continuous study, always identifying and pursuing new challenges, new opportunities, and new solutions. It is the art of believing that our dreams, together with hard work and focus, move us towards the achievement of extraordinary results. This is the spirit of leadership that moves EGEL. This is only possible with our collective commitment to excellence. “Every task, every job and every project carried out by any EGEL collaborative must be concrete, concise, clear and complete. The four ‘c’s’ rule applies to all our projects and excellence will be reached as a consequence of applying these rules to everything we do” says Dr. Dell’Avanzi. This is a small window into the EGEL philosophy. From the definition of the analysis domain to the validation of the numerical model, the design procedure developed is based on concrete objectives, clear hypotheses, concise solutions and complete fulfillment of the client’s.
Delivering more than just design: building strong, and clear long-term relationships with our clients
Any business relationship between two people is considered excellent by both of them only if both parties have their expectations met, or exceeded. This sense of joint accomplishment is only possible with the development of a strong relationship that, over time grows, is respectful, and crystalizes into a relationship. In business terms, it could be defined as a corporate partnership – both sides contributing to a common objective with clarity and integrity. How does one get there? Civil Engineer José Quevedo, P.E. and CFO of EGEL, says “Exceeding client expectations is our main objective: we constantly aim to address their interests, deliver value-adding engineering solutions that completely fulfill their goals. Our staff even addresses aspects such as losses throughout the production chain, from the wrong positioning of pile foundations to the incorrect specification of equipment, materials or geo-products. It isn’t the case of just delivering drawings but, actually, that of a complete product including dimensioning memorials, specification manuals and technical support.”
An efficient design goes beyond simply having good drawings. It involves intensive team discussions in order to reach the best solutions for all relevant subjects with minimal risk levels
Skilled Teams
Pursuing the best engineering solutions to meet client objectives is only possible with a highly qualified team. To consistently achieve this outcome, EGEL Engenharia maintains in-house training courses, in all technical areas, for the continuing education of all team members. The courses include subjects such as constitutive models of geomaterials, field instrumentation and monitoring, risk evaluation and risk assessment, emergency work, training in best practices, numerical modeling procedures, laboratory testing, scaled modeling, rock and concrete fracturing, and materials weathering among others.
Multi-disciplinary teams
Integrated solutions involve, mandatorily, multi-disciplinary teams working in harmony. Extensive discussions are good if an agreement is reached based on a technical rationale, ending up with a vulnerability matrix comparing all engineering solution 2 alternatives, including respective risks during construction and when in operation.
Consistent Decision Trees
Vulnerability matrixes are useful mainly when the final decision about which solution alternative is more convenient, involves the agreement of government agencies or any other public administration offices. They show in a clear, concrete, concise and complete way the risk involved in each engineering alternative.
Opening the vulnerability matrix up to the construction steps, permits identifying critical paths with their respective risks involved. This kind of information allows making a better budget management plans based on a more reliable workflows, preventing work delays due to key steps unexpected problems.
EGEL’s core business is engineering solutions. Its main objective is to help clients achieve their goals.
URBAN MOBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE
Executing deep excavations in heavily crowded urban environments, while avoiding litigation due to unpredicted horizontal displacements is the desire of every construction company. This is a challenging task that the EGEL engineering team knows very well. Our reliability‐based design procedures adopted in all our projects offer our clients important information about risks at each construction step, including performance scenario estimates that help the interpretation of instrumentation readings.
OIL & GAS
The EGEL engineering team experience in developing integrated civil (structural and geotechnical) and mechanical designs of storage tanks, including the interconnection of plumbing and pumping, allows for cost minimization of solutions and optimization of the benefits of global storage management activities. As an example, soil‐structure interaction analysis allows for the evaluation of the viability of safely using O-ring foundations.
REAL ESTATE
Developing the structural and geotechnical designs simultaneously allows adopting non-‐conventional subsoil construction methods such as the inverted excavation method, avoiding the need for time-consuming and expensive anchored structures. The advantage of this excavation method yields cost savings and reduces project completion timelines.
PORTS & OFFSHORE STRUCTURES
The right definition of the layout concept of a port facility is the keystone for operating success. The experience of the EGEL team in developing port solutions, from storage area layouts to the geotechnical and structural design of offshore structures and breakwaters enhances the accuracy and reliability of engineering solutions.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Many times we face unpredictable and challenging situations. In civil engineering these situations vary from auditing engineering solutions due to unexpected budget overruns resulting from emergency situations caused by unexpected occurrences or behaviors. The experience of the EGEL team in studying and developing new material and engineering solutions under tight timeframes has helped many clients to successfully resolve their project obstacles.