Driving the industry forward...

The Eurocodes have been with us for nearly 10 years now. Where are we at with implementing the original standards and the revisions that have come along since? The Eurocodes are under revision, and there will be major changes in Eurocode 7 to be accommodated soon. What are these and will they make our life easier and better in ground investigation?

Professor David Norbury has 45 years' experience in the investigation and assessment of the ground for the construction of geological, geotechnical and groundwater projects around the world. He provides robust practical advice to clients from all professions, placing great importance on geologists formulating an appropriate model of the ground and communicating this to the design and construction teams. He provides industry leadership in the standardisation through publication, committee work, drafting of Standards and lecturing. He continues to be a lead author on BS 5930 and chairman of the Revision and is also leading on the UK's implementation of European standards on site investigation and testing and in earthworks.

It is estimated that every year the design of thousands of piles constructed in London and the Home Counties rely on the design recommendations embodied in 'Guidance Notes for the Design of Straight Shafted Bored Piles in London Clay' (London District Surveyors Association, 2017). First published in 1999 the Guidance Note has had two revisions, the most recent published in 2017. At the heart of the Guidance Note is an empirically based pile design method that relates pile capacity to the undrained shear strength of the London Clay. To be compliant with the Guidance Note the undrained shear strength of the London Clay should be obtained using a carefully prescribed soil sampling and testing process. Derek's presentation reviews the ground information received for a number of London Clay piling projects to observe the level of compliance with the current LDSA Guidance Note of routinely provided ground information for the design of piles in London Clay.

Derek has over 27 years of construction and geotechnical design experience, working at a high level in the specialist geotechnical contracting and civil engineering consulting worlds. He maintains a wide interest in the industry, contributing to the work of the Federation of Piling Specialists (past chairman of the Technical Committee), has represented the UK on the European Geotechnical Execution Standards Committee and is a member of British Standards Institution Geotechnical Committee B526. Derek has a passion for the challenges of geotechnical engineering and is an enthusiastic communicator in his chosen area having written over 20 technical papers. He presents on geotechnical topics throughout the UK and abroad.

Data driven design is key to reaping the rewards of the digital revolution. As the availability and accessibility of data grows, new digital approaches are needed to gain insight from data to make timely and informed decisions on construction projects. From site investigation through to construction monitoring, data is required and generated on an increasing scale, but often unstructured, fragmented and incremental. Ben will look at how data can better serve our decision making throughout design and construction in our industry and the vital role that data visualisation plays, looking at recent case studies including Crossrail 2.

Ben is a Chartered Senior Geotechnical Engineer and has worked on energy, linear infrastructure, residential and commercial projects since joining Arup in 2010. Recent experience includes leading the Arup geotechnical team on the Crossrail 2 Tunnel and Systems Design contract, and redevelopment of the conventional Euston Station. Ben's role on Arup geotechnics digital taskforce includes developing and implementing digital strategies on a global and group scale, and championing Arup's digital transformation within geotechnics and the Infrastructure London Group. Ben's experience in visualising data to make decisions encompasses early stage small project tender stage through to major infrastructure project alignment and geotechnical design.

A series of case histories to demonstrate how failures have occurred due to inadequate consideration of geotechnical investigations and analysis in UK and overseas on large infrastructure projects in building, civil engineering construction, power & transport sectors.

Philip has over 40 yeasr experience in ground investigation and geotechnics. Philip is a UK and international expert on all aspects of ground investigation and interpretative reporting who has provided extensive committee work on associated BSI/CEN and Eurocode committees. He has recently been operating as the Lead Geotechnical Engineer on Phase 2b of the HS2 Phase 2b project from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. In this role he is the Client representative responsible for review and approval of all Geotechnical submissions received from major consultants such as, Arup. Motts, Capita, AECOM, Ramboll etc.

When assessing environmental risk the collection of high quality data is essential in developing a robust conceptual site model (CSM). In situ site investigation tools allow information on ground conditions to be collected with minimal disturbance and in higher resolution than traditional techniques offering the potential to reduce overall project cost and target remedial intervention more effectively if required.

Jonathan will discuss the application of a range of in situ screening tools available in the UK market and how these can be used to delineate sub surface contamination.

Jonathan is a Senior Environmental Consultant and Chartered Environmentalist at Arcadis with twelve years' experience in environmental consulting. Jonathan has managed site investigation and remediation projects that have won and been highly commended at the UK Brownfield Briefing Awards. Jonathan is part of Arcadis' site investigation and remediation teams focused on the assessment and remediation of hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents and emerging contaminants particularly PFASs. He has worked on projects in the UK, Europe, and Australia, and written on remediation technology in peer reviewed journals. Jonathan has extensive experience in the use of in-situ screening tools such as the Membrane Interface Probe (MIP) and Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) probe

The presentation will focus on the work that Highways England has undertaken to enable the delivery of Health and Safety best practice on their sites.

Paul has worked in the ground investigation industry over 30 years and has worked for Highways England for the last 18. He worked in Category Management for over 10 years and led a team of procurement professionals on the delivery of category solutions in areas including Earthworks and construction plant, ground investigations, landscaping and aftercare, archaeology. Paul has a broad background having been a civil engineer for over 10 years prior to joining Highways England. Paul brings a balanced approach to delivery of category solutions, collaborating with the supply chain to produce the best outcome.

It has been a few years since PAS128:2014 'Specification for underground utility detection, verification and location' was published, and the take up has been quite good. This talk will remind us all of the detail, and the benefits of using the specification in enhancing the deliverables and protecting both the practitioner and the interests of the client. It will highlight the links between PAS128 and HSG47, and with BS5930 'Code of practice for ground investigations', and provide examples of the safety improvements following the specification can deliver. We will also explore what we have learned since the specification was published, and collect thoughts and opinions to feed in to the revision planned for later this year.

George Tuckwell is director responsible for the Geoscience and Engineering Division of companies within the RSK Group. He holds the position of Honorary Professor in Engineering Geophysics in the Civil Engineering department at University of Birmingham, UK. George is a Chartered Geologist and Chartered Scientist, and as a former Vice President of the Geological Society of London, was responsible for overseeing the award of chartered status to professional earth scientists and engineers. He contributed to the drafting of PAS128:2014 'Specification for underground utility detection, verification and location', and drafted the geophysical section of BS5930:2015 'Code of practice for ground investigations'.

The presentation explains the unique 150Hz High Frequency Sonic Drilling technology in general and its position in the drilling market. It will focus on how the different drilling applications benefit and how situations that seem difficult for sonic drilling can be overcome. Drilling companies demand a lower cost on their operations while working safer and with better quality. These challenges for the manufacture will bring innovative solutions.

Rutger van Goethem is a Sales Account manager at Eijkelkamp SonicSampDrill BV with over 11 years of experience with this revolutionary drilling technology he helps clients selecting the right equipment to lower operational costs for drilling and increase their sample quality. As a BBE Engineer (building technology) he can think out of the box and helps development of new solutions. His key clients work in mining, environmental site investigation, special foundations and geotechnical site investigations.

ISO TC182 WG2 is preparing standards on monitoring in geotechnical engineering. To date there are three published standards on General rules (BS EN ISO 18674-1), Extensometers (BS EN ISO 18674-2) and Inclinometers (BS EN ISO 18674-3). Draft standards also exist on piezometers, total stress cells, load cells and strain gauges, which will be published soon. ISO also has working proposals to enforce the use of these standards through qualification criteria for Technicans, Responsible Experts and Enterprises. It is therefore essential that industry engages with these new standards and recognises the skills shortage that exists in this vital sector of the industry.

Andrew Ridley is the Managing Director of Geotechnical Observations Limited, which specialises in the supply, installation, reading, reporting and interpretation of geotechnical instrumentation. He obtained his first degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham in 1984, followed it with a Masters Degree in Soil Mechanics from Imperial College London in 1988 and was awarded a PhD by Imperial College in 1993 for his work on "The Measurement of Soil Moisture Suction." He is the UK's representative on ISO/TC182/WG2, which is drafting International Standards for geotechnical monitoring and is Chair of ISSMGE TC220 on Field Monitoring in Geomechanics.