The British Geotechnical Association (BGA) is the principal
association for geotechnical engineers in the United Kingdom.
The British Geotechnical Association (BGA) is the principal
association for geotechnical engineers in the United Kingdom.
The BGA Touring Lecture 2014 will be given by Prof Eduardo Alonso from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya on the topic of rapid Landslides.
When estimating the potential damage from landslides the travel distance and velocity are key variables whose determination requires a dynamic analysis. Landslide displacements and velocity in nature are often moderate, but known cases of high velocity (>10 m/s) have attracted considerable attention following the extremely destructive Vaiont landslide (Italy) in 1963. Other examples include: Goldau, Switzerland, 1843; La Josefina, Ecuador, 1993; Qianjiangping, China, 2003; San Juan de Grijalva, Mexico, 2007.
The lecture is limited to those landslides whose evolving geometry is characterized by soil volumes which essentially maintain their original bulk stiffness and strength. The motion is explained by shearing surfaces where strains localize and accumulate, often involving clay materials in the vicinity of the shearing surfaces. The lecture focuses on thermo-hydraulic and mechanical interactions in the sliding surfaces. The widely documented Vaiont landslide is taken as a benchmark reference case. Topics covered include the derivation of practical criteria to estimate the risk of rapid slide acceleration, the scale effects and the relationship between the triggering of a rapid landslide and pre-existent creep-like motions.
Professor Eduardo Alonso is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, in Barcelona, Spain. He received his Engineering degree from the Universidad de Madrid and his PhD from Northwestern University (USA).
His main topics of interest are Reliability and Risk in Geotechnical Engineering; behaviour of partially saturated soils; expansive soils and rocks; numerical analysis of geotechnical problems; field measurements and geotechnical back analysis; slope stability; earth and rockfill dams. He has had over 450 papers published and currently chairs the ISSMGE Technical Committee TC6 on Unsaturated Soils. His most prestigious awards include the Telford Medal from the ICE, the Premio Jose Toran from the Comite Espanol de Grandes Presas in Spain, and the Conference Coulomb from the Comite Francais de Mecanique des Sols in France.