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228 229 1930s,” he says. “By the ‘70s, it was still kind of a ‘black box science’ where structural engineers just wanted to know the design parameters, but it wasn’t really understood what they actually meant. Everybody assumes that the ground should be able to support anything–until it doesn’t.” Into that world stepped Jim Duffield, the com- pany’s namesake. He was practicing for a large, local architect-engineer firm that wasn’t devel- oping soils as a key area of the business. So, in 1976, Jim stepped out and formed a one-man geotechnical engineering firm. He understood that soils work with structure; an interplay of sciences that is the essence of effective design. Today, this interplay remains the foundation of Duffield Associates. “A design with soil is inherently uncertain, DUFFIELD ASSOCIATES, INC. A design with soil is inherently uncertain, unlike concrete or steel that is very precise. We were providing input for various founda- tions, and realized that in specialty situations, the structural engineers were adding additional factors of safety onto the soil factors, and clients were getting overly conservative designs. Being able to do construction and inspection services, and verify your assump- tions is critical. Therefore, we added specialty structural services into our repertoire. GUY MARCOZZI PRESIDENT AND CEO unlike concrete or steel that is very precise,” says Marcozzi. “We were providing input for var- ious foundations, and realized that in specialty situations, the structural engineers were adding additional factors of safety onto the soil factors, and clients were getting overly conservative designs. Being able to do construction and in- spection services, and verify your assumptions is critical. Therefore, we added specialty structural services into our repertoire.” Implementation of the Clean Water Act in the mid-80s propagated a slew of regulations related to natural resources. Duffield Associates was an early identifier of these opportunities because wetland science involves soil structure. It added those types of services, which led to permitting services, and ultimately water re- source services including flood control, ground-