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Birmingham, Alabama

Building and Earth was founded in January 1999 in Birmingham, Alabama. Although we have grown to 17 different locations across the South and Midwest, we are proud to still serve the Central Alabama area through our headquarters in Birmingham. Our corporate office in Birmingham also serves as a base of operations for Chief Executive Officer Deepa Bhate and President Jeff Cowen, P.G, P.E. The Birmingham branch office is led by Regional Vice President George Ballock, P.E., and Assistant Branch Manager Richard Brown, P.E.

Our Birmingham team has an extensive knowledge of the area’s geology, enabling them to provide well-informed site knowledge to meet your project needs. In addition to geotechnical and environmental consulting services, our Birmingham office offers a full range of construction materials testing and special inspection services to ensure compliance with International Building Code (IBC) requirements, as well as special services, such as geophysical site evaluations, floor flatness testing, StructureScan Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Pile Driving Analysis (PDA), thermal image scanning, and more.

We would love to work with you—our team of professional engineers and CMT experts look forward to learning how we can help you build Alabama. Visit our Services page to learn more about the solutions we provide, and consider partnering with us—fill out our simple Request a Proposal form today.

What Birmingham Has to Offer

It’s nice to have you in Birmingham! Want to know what the “Magic City” has to offer? Birmingham is on the U.S. News & World Report’s Top Places to Live and Top Places to Retire lists. While some may come for the low cost of living and the great climate, Birmingham’s growing reputation as a foodie city is not something to ignore. Zagat recently named Birmingham one of the Most Exciting Food Cities in America.

The city also boasts an excellent selection of concert and sports venues, museums, and more. In 2019, Birmingham welcomes the Birmingham Legion, its first professional soccer team, and the Birmingham Iron, its own professional football team. They join the Birmingham Barons baseball team, which plays at the award-winning Regions Field ballpark, situated adjacent to award-winning Railroad Park, an urban oasis in the heart of the city. Birmingham is also home to Barber Motorsports Park and Museum, which hosts the annual Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, part of the IndyCar Series, on its 16-turn, 2.38-mile track. The museum has an impressive collection of over 1,600 motorcycles—recognized as the world’s largest motorcycle collection. While you’re here, make sure you check out the Vulcan, Birmingham’s city symbol and the largest cast iron statue in the world.

Interested in exploring a career with Building & Earth in Birmingham? Visit our Careers page to see our job openings. Click the links below to find out why Birmingham could be your next home:

What We Do

Construction Materials Testing

Building & Earth office provides a full range construction materials testing (CMT) services including Laboratory and Field Testing, Soil Testing, Asphalt Testing and Concrete Testing.

Field Testing

  • Compaction and Moisture Testing of Soil and Base
  • Foundation Observations
  • Concrete testing including Slump, Air Content, Compressive strength
  • Masonry Testing and Observation Services
  • Asphalt Testing Services

Soil Testing

  • Modified & Standard Proctor
  • Swell Testing of Plastic Soils
  • Classification Tests (Gradation/Atterberg Limit Tests)
  • California Bearing Ratio
  • Limerock Bearing Ratio

Asphalt Testing

  • Superpave Mix Evaluation
  • Stability & Flow
  • Marshall Density
  • Bulk Specific Gravity
  • Extraction/Gradation

Concrete Testing

  • Compressive Strength
  • Flexural Strength
  • Unit Weight
  • Mix Design
  • Splitting Tensile Test

Drilling and Coring Services

Our drilling and coring services team has vast knowledge of testing and evaluating subsurface conditions and materials.

  • Split Spoon and Shelby Tube Sampling
  • Rock Coring
  • Concrete Coring
  • Mineral Investigation

  • Borrow Pit Investigation
  • Well Monitoring
  • All-Terrain Drilling Capabilities

Environmental Services

To avoid the cost and stress of dealing with hazardous materials Building & Earth provides Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments (ESA) as well as lead and asbestos surveys.

  • Geological Investigations
  • Site Selection Evaluation Studies

  • Phase I ESA
  • Phase II ESA
  • ESAs to comply with National Environmental Policy Act

Geotechnical Engineering Services

Our professional geotechnical engineers possess significant experience with the unique subsurface geological conditions of each region we service.

  • Geotechnical engineering
  • Geotechnical consulting
  • Geotechnical Engineers staffing
  • Subsurface exploration
  • Geophysical seismic site classification
  • Dynamic soils properties (seismic and cyclical)
  • Ground penetrating radar (GPR) studies
  • Site excavation planning including dewatering design

  • Engineering geology/geologic studies
  • Mechanically-stabilized earth fill design
  • Sinkhole exploration and remediation recommendations
  • Impoundment liner design
  • Field permeability testing
  • Field soil strength testing
  • Geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring

Inspection Services

We offer a broad array of special inspection services including: structured steel inspections, masonry inspections, coatings inspections, roofing inspections, pavement inspections and failure investigation and analysis.

Structural Steel Inspections

  • Certified Welding Inspectors
  • Audit of plant and field procedures to determine conformance
  • Destructive and nondestructive testing
  • Welder and procedure qualification
  • Prepare and evaluate welding procedures

Masonry Inspections

  • Reinforcing steel observation
  • Preparing and testing mortar and grout specimens
  • Concrete block, brick and masonry prism testing
  • Observation of conformance with construction documents
  • Absorption and Efflorescence

Coatings Inspections

  • Fireproofing-thickness, density, adhesion/cohesion
  • Intumescent Paint
  • Paint – wet and dry film thickness

Roofing Inspections

  • Roofing Inspectors
  • Evaluation of roofing materials and specifications
  • Application and conformance monitoring

Pavement Inspections

  • Pavement management services
  • Pavement Condition Surveys and tests for functional and structural distress

Failure Investigation and Analysis

  • Evaluate distress in architectural and structural materials
  • Provide litigation support and expert services

Special Services

  • Seismic Site Classification utilizing shear wave analysis (Re-Mi)
  • Non-invasive studies utililizing StructureScan/UtilityScan ground penetrating Radar (GPR)
  • Floor Flatness Profiling utilizing FACE Dipstick Device
  • Thermal Image Scanning utilizing FLIR
  • Slip Resistance Testing
  • Concrete Floor Gloss Testing (Static Coefficient of Friction)
  • Condition Survey of Structures

Featured Project

Shops at Grand River - Geotech Eval & CMT

Shops at Grand River

Location: Leeds, AL
Project Value: $127 Million
Project Scope: Provided geotechnical evaluation and construction materials testing services for 350,000 sqf upscale outlet mall complex located on a 60-acre site with significant earth and rock material movement. 1st phase of a multiphase 6,500 acre master planned development.