The 2017/18 academic year began with a special event on Knowledge Development and Transfer in Geotechnical Engineering, with Nick O’Riordan (Arup) and Professor Malcolm Bolton (University of Cambridge) as speakers. An interesting and informative discussion followed, chaired by Professor Giulia Viggiani (University of Cambridge).
In mid October, a new series of biweekly seminars started. The first seminar of term was given by Dr Alex Rohe (Deltares) in Churchill College, on the use of material point method (MPM) as a numerical tool to address and soil-water-structure interaction for geotechnical and hydraulic structures, often with large deformations.
Dr Hoe-Chian Yeow (COWI) gave the second seminar of term at Fitzwilliam College. He discussed design and construction challenges of geotechnical aspects of the Canary Wharf Crossrail station.
The third seminar of term was given by Tony O’Brien (Mott MacDonald) in Queens’ College. Tony’s presentation used a number of case studies to look at why it is important to think carefully about how construction activities may influence ground behaviour and ground-structure interaction.
The final seminar of term was given by Professor Catherine Davy (Ecole Central de Lille) on the use of claystones for underground storage of nuclear waste. A number of imaging techniques were presented, which were used to access the naoscopic pore structure of the claystones.
The term concluded with a site visit to the A14 redevelopment project, where Skanska hosted a group of Society members. The trip involved a presentation from consultants (Atkins) involved in the project design followed by visits to a number of locations where Cementation Skanska are currently onsite working as specialist piling contractors.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this term such a success!