What lies beneath the surface shapes everything built above it. Soil conditions, rock formations, and groundwater all influence how infrastructure performs — and how much it costs when something goes wrong. DLZ’s geotechnical engineering practice gives clients the subsurface intelligence and engineering expertise to make confident design decisions, reduce risk, and build infrastructure that performs over the long term.
Geotechnical engineering is foundational — literally. The decisions made about soil, rock, and groundwater conditions shape everything that gets built above them. DLZ provides comprehensive services from initial site reconnaissance through foundation design and construction monitoring, with in-house drilling and laboratory testing that keeps clients working with one team from start to finish.
Our engineers have built deep expertise on exactly the kinds of projects where geotechnical work is most consequential. Bridges, dams, tunnels, retaining walls, complex urban infrastructure — these demand rigorous analysis of settlement, seepage, slope stability, and soil-structure interaction. DLZ delivers that analysis, designs foundation systems tailored to actual site conditions, and performs all work in accordance with applicable agency standards including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and numerous state departments of transportation.
Reliable subsurface data starts with experienced drilling. DLZ performs a full range of drilling methods across challenging site conditions, with the specialized equipment and expertise to work where others can’t.
From subsurface exploration to foundation design and construction monitoring, DLZ provides end-to-end geotechnical engineering services that reduce risk and support safe, cost-effective infrastructure.
David P. Hammer
Former Chief of Engineering, Ohio River Division, US Army Corps of Engineers
DLZ Lake Drilling
Tim
Hampshire, PE
Vice President
Ohio
Barry
Wong, PE
Vice President, DLZ American Drilling, Inc.
Ohio
Any project involving foundations, slopes, earth retention, or challenging soil and groundwater conditions benefits from geotechnical input. DLZ regularly supports transportation infrastructure, water resources projects, tunnels, bridges, dams, and large-scale urban development — anywhere subsurface conditions influence design or construction.
DLZ’s geotechnical capabilities span the full project lifecycle, including subsurface exploration and drilling, foundation design for shallow and deep systems, settlement and slope stability analyses, seepage studies, construction monitoring, and laboratory testing. Clients benefit from integrated services under one roof rather than managing multiple specialty firms.
Integration improves everything. When drilling, laboratory testing, and engineering are handled by the same team, data moves faster, coordination gaps close, and the engineers designing the foundation are working directly from the data they collected. The result is better accuracy, fewer surprises, and a more efficient path from investigation to design.
Yes. DLZ performs geotechnical work in accordance with applicable agency requirements, including geotechnical design guidance, and is prequalified for geotechnical engineering services in multiple states.
