Department of Engineering Soil characterisation and Granular mechanics Ground improvement and Foundations Geotechnical Underground construction and Environmental Research Infrastructure monitoring Group Year Book Sustainability 2007-08 Geoenvironmental engineering Reservoirs, wells and pipelines Earthquakes and Geohazards have begun to use the new 2D servo-actuator. Other The Geotechnical and equipment developments have included the manufacture of components to enhance the Schofield Environmental mini-drum centrifuge, the design of a servo-hydraulic shaking table for the beam centrifuge, and the Research Group delivery of computer-controlled hydraulic consolidation systems for the two 1.5 MN presses. The Geotechnical and Environmental Research We are very grateful to Neil Houghton, the Group is home to eight academic staff, a senior Department’s Chief Design Engineer, and to Stuart technical officer, a computer officer, six technicians, Haigh, the Schofield Centre’s Chief Geotechnical three administrative staff, eight post graduate Engineer, for their efforts in bringing all this together. researchers and 46 graduate students. The interests of the group are wide, ranging from the fundamental In parallel with our small-scale modelling, we are mechanics of soils to encompass applications such as exploring new areas of research to improve construction processes; infrastructure; environmental techniques of field monitoring. We are collaborating engineering; petroleum engineering; sustainability and with contractors and infrastructure owners to earthquakes. Since its formation more than 50 years develop new field measurement technologies. These ago the Group has produced over 190 PhDs. aim to provide better control and monitoring of urban construction. Field monitoring with new The Group has extensive facilities for laboratory BOTDR optical fibre technology has continued on a testing, centrifuge modelling, and numerical analysis. number of piling projects, on major tunnelling We operate both on the main Engineering projects in London and Singapore, and for slope Department site, where we have the Geotechnical stability and soil anchors. Wireless networks of Research Office and the Geotechnical and Geo- MEMS are also being pioneered for a rich variety of environmental Laboratory, and in West Cambridge at monitoring applications. the Schofield Centre for Geotechnical Process and Construction Modelling. Laboratory work in permeation and chemical testing, soil mixing and sustainable products usually takes The Schofield Centre has "focussed on the key place on the main site, in our second-floor questions of construction and environmental laboratories. The upsurge of research in geo- technology, where field, computational and physical environmental engineering has put pressure on floor modelling studies can be integrated in collaboration and bench space, and we are grateful to our with industry", just as our original JIF grant promised. technician Chris Knight for keeping everything on Our technicians – John Chandler, Kristian Pether, track. We are looking forward to the creation of new Chris McGinnie and Richard Adams – have done laboratory space on the main site beginning next sterling work, keeping the modelling work flowing, year. and steadily upgrading our facilities. And our manager, Anama Lowday, continues to infuse the During 2007-8 a total of nine PhDs were successfully place with a sense of community and good order, as examined, and we hosted 13 international academic well as keeping the books. visitors. Research generated more than 100 publications by the group, and we were awarded The end of May 2007 saw the early retirement of our more than £1 million of project funding by the EPSRC chief technician Steve Chandler, who had suffered ill and other research funding bodies. In addition, we health from the preceding August. Steve made an received considerable support from industry both as outstanding contribution to the work of the direct funding and through collaborative activity in Geotechnical Group over 35 years, not only in the the field. We currently enjoy research collaborations creation of dozens of miniature strain-gauged with Highways Agency; Thames Water; Yorkshire instruments, but latterly as our technical team leader Water; Tubelines; London Underground Limited; during the upgrading of our centrifuge facilities. Crossrail; Rail Link Engineering; Cementation- Skanska; Boreas; BP, Shell; Fugro; KW Limited; Giken We have also seen changes in the academic staff Seisakusho; Geotechnical Consulting Group; Arup; following the decision of Dave White to stay at Atkins; and others. UWA, Perth, Australia as a Research Professor with Mark Randolph. Thushy Thusyanthan stepped very The purpose of this Yearbook is to summarise the effectively into the breech for two years, instigating activity of the Geotechnical and Environmental many new projects. He is now departing for a post in Research Group. Each researcher has written a short the pipeline industry at KW Limited. Although we article about their recent research. You may contact will miss his lively inspiration, we are pleased that he the research worker and supervisor of any project is turning himself at once into an industrial sponsor directly to request further information. Some and collaborator! information, of course, may temporarily be confidential to sponsors. The newly refurbished Turner Beam Centrifuge has been as active as ever, with tests taking place almost Professor Malcolm Bolton every week throughout the year. Centrifuge projects Head of the Geotechnical and Environmental Group Moments to remember from 2007-08 In October 2007 The Chancellor, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and the Vice- Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard visited The Schofield Centre. Seen here with Professor Robert Mair and PhD student, Alec Marshall The Chancellor was shown a live centrifuge test with Professors Mair and Bolton At the end of June 2008, Steve Chandler, our Senior Chief Technician, took early retirement. Steve has been a technician in the Engineering Department for over 35 years In October 2007 Kenichi Soga was promoted to Professor. Seen here on the occasion of his 40th birthday The 2007 Turner prize was awarded to Mohammed Elshafie and presented by Philip Turner’s widow, Frances Turner Dr Madabhushi and colleagues receiving the Medical Innovations Award in the Bone and Joint category for the Vibone impactor of the Medical Futures Innovation Awards 2007 Following a successful trip to China at Easter 2007, the Chinese made a return visit in September 2007 as part of the China Geonet Network collaboration Professor Kenichi Soga is selected as the 2007 recipient of the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize. "For pioneering research on the fundamental behaviour of soils with application to insitu monitoring, site remediation, and soil structure interation" This prestigious award is presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to recognizable notable achievements in research related to civil engineering Director: Professor Malcolm Bolton [email protected] Assistant Director: Dr Gopal Madabhushi [email protected] Manager: Ms Anama Lowday [email protected] Acting Chief Technician: Mr John Chandler [email protected] Senior Research Coordinator: Dr Stuart Haigh [email protected] which this is being achieved is in the development of novel low pH phosphate cements. WP I has provided experimental evidence of the impact of climate change on contaminated land and containment systems and together with numerical simulation has developed technical adaptation strategies for the management of current and the design of future systems. WP K has investigated the effectiveness of a range of waste compost, alone or combined with mineral additives, in the establishment of vegetation in contaminated soils. It also used magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the dynamics of the soil-contaminant-vegetation system. WP F has investigated the effectiveness of greening on remediated contaminated land. 2007 saw the fourth and final year of SUBR:IM. The consortium produced a book which details the work Abir Al-Tabbaa and findings of all its work packages. The book is Sidney Sussex College entitled: Sustainable Brownfield Regeneration: Liveable Places from Problem Spaces, edited by Reader in Geotechnical Engineering Dixon, Lerner and Raco, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 1405144033, published in September 2007. Output Dr Abir Al-Tabbaa leads a research group consisting bulletins were also produced by CL:AIRE. The of twelve researchers. Her current areas of research consortium also ran road shows of its activities in are ground improvement, deep soil mix technology, 2007. Further details can be found at sustainable remediation of brownfield sites, waste www.subrim.org.uk. Aspects of the SUBR:IM work minimisation and reuse, stabilisation/solidification and are being continued and expanded by a number of novel cements, construction products and processes. new PhD projects starting in October 2008. In Her research has been funded by EPSRC, DTI, US particular the potential for improving the Federal Highway Administration and industry. sustainability of contaminated land remediation investigated in WP E is being continued by looking at In the area of sustainable remediation of brownfield a range of hybrid remediation techniques including site Abir has been the leader of the Cambridge team combined biological/ chemical processes and heavily involved in the £1.92m