The British Geotechnical Association (BGA) is the principal
association for geotechnical engineers in the United Kingdom.

October 2014 Newsletter

Headlines and Deadlines

Headlines and Deadlines

 

IMPORTANT:  the ICE database is being updated with 2015 subscription information this coming weekend so MyICE and online registration for events cannot be accessed between 16:00 on Friday 10October and 09:00 on Tuesday 14 October.

 Deadline extended for themed issue on Innovations in Deep Foundations design and construction in 2016 – 10October 2014

Joint Meeting with IGS: Geosynthetics – Design & specification, the way forward – 15October 2014

XV1 ECSMGE (Edinburgh) - Final full paper submission deadline:  17 October 2014

BGA Touring Lecture 2014 – 4-6 November 2014

Geotechnical Engineering Lecture – 12 November 2014

Booking open for Fleming Award – 10 December 2014

Keynote lectures announced for ECSMGE in Edinburgh:  13-15 September 2015

 

1       PAST EVENTS 2014

MISSED IT? 17 September 2014 BGA Hydraulic Fracking Debate A well-attended and informative debate – watch the recording at http://vimeo.com/icegroup/review/106591224/986d0ca423 to find out whether the motion:  “The geotechnical and geo-environmental challenges of fracking the UK are surmountable – yes or no?” was carried!

 

2       forthcoming EVENTS 2014

BOOK ONLINE 15October 2014 – 6.00 pm Joint Evening Meeting with IGS “Geosynthetics – Design & specification, the way forward” by Steve Corbet of AECOM. Tea and Coffee available from 5.30 pm.   Book online at http://www.ice.org.uk/Event?ID=2739 but if you unable to attend you can view online at https://ice-org.webex.com/ice-org/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=706760292
  29 October ICE BIM 2014 Full details at http://www.ice-conferences.com/ice-bim-2014/
New! 29 October SECED evening lecture at ICE Peter Woodward, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh speaking on “Investigating the Effects of Critical Velocity on the Behaviour of Railway Track at High-Speed”;  free at 6.00 pm at ICE – advance registration not required
  4-6 November 2014 BGA Touring Lecture Prof Eduardo Alonso on “Rapid Landslides”;  University of Sheffield, University of Manchester and Central Square, Newcastle.  See BGA Website for full details.  Advance registration not required.
Booking now open! 12 November – 6.30 pm Geotechnical Engineering Lecture Dr Fleur Loveridge to present her paper written with Prof William Powrie on “Pile heat exchangers: thermal behaviour andinteractions”.  Online registration required at http://www.ice.org.uk/Events-conferences/Events/Geotechnical-Lecture
  13 November 2014 GE Next Generation awards – inaugural event supported by Arup, Bachy Soletanche and BAM Ritchies Expanding on GE’s Young Geotechnical Engineer of the Year Award, two age categories will celebrate career achievements by leading recent recruits in the ground engineering sector as well as contributions made by talented people taking the apprenticeship route, have recently graduated, excelled in their post graduate studies, and those at top of the field of geoenvironmental or ground investigation work. Prof John Burland to be guest speaker. Full details at www.nce.co.uk/GENextGen or email GENextGeneration@emap.com for more information.
BOOKING NOW OPEN! 10 December 2014 Fleming Award Sponsored by Skanska – see BGA Website for full details;  registration essential at ice.org.uk/fleming14

 

3       OTHER NEWS

New! First call Employer Ownership Fund - open until December Follow up fund to the Employer Ownership Pilot,
  • Open to any company directly employing people in engineering occupations
  • Skills training outcomes additional to  employer’s current activity
  • Funding available for up to 50% of training costs (transferable skills)
  • Offers grants between £40k and £1.6m per company.
  • 2 competitions:  One on general engineering skills and one on women engineers. Focussed on Career Progression - enabling those currently in engineering occupations to move forward in their careers, or, conversion training allowing people to transfer from other occupations into engineering to fill skills gaps and to increase the talent pipeline.
  • May include pathways into Technician or engineering professions & opportunities for employees to achieve chartered status.
  • Excludes funding of 1st and post-graduate degrees, apprenticeships and traineeships programmes, ( certain levels of funding can be obtained through existing channels)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-ownership-improving-engineering-careers or https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employer-ownership-developing-women-engineers

New Prof John Burland   Elected as Fellow of ICE in September 2014
New 14-21 December 2014 ICE and Snow Designed for young people and children accompanied by adults, the event attracts professional engineers and their families from around the UK and is an opportunity for graduates and students and unaccompanied or accompanied like-minded professionals to gather in a unique, inspiring environment(Meribel, France. Full details at http://www.ice.org.uk/Education/ICE-SNOW

4       YOUNG ENGINEERS

  Mid-September Pipe Jacking Association Bursaries available (circa £2,000) for appropriate MSc or other post-graduate research projects allied to pipe jacking industry. Full details of past research activities at www.pipejacking.org and further information available from andrew.marshall@pipejacking.org.
  ICE Textbooks for undergraduates As part of our mission to educate and inspire the next generation of engineers, ICE Textbooks have been created as concise introductions to their subjects and will provide undergraduates with clear, accurate, and practical information on the major principles of civil and structural engineering.

First in a series of 12:

  • Hydraulics for Civil Engineers (208pp, £30)
  • Core Principles of Soil Mechanics (288pp, £30).

For further information please visit www.icetextbooks.com.

 

5       INTERNATIONAL MATTERS - 2014

SAD NEWS 22 September 2014 Prof Marek Kwasniewski, President of ISRM NG Poland We have been informed that Prof Kwasniewski has passed away, having been ill for some time, while maintaining his interest in rock mechanics to the end.  Chairman Chris Menkiti will write on behalf of the BGA to  Grzegorz Smolnik, Secretary of ISRM NG Poland, to express the Association’s condolences.
  14–16  October 2014 8th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium "ARMS8 The Japanese Committee for Rock Mechanics (JCRM) is organising this symposium to be held in Sapporo in Hokkaido, the northern island of Japan.  See Bulletin No. 2 of ARMS8 at http://www.rocknet-japan.org/ARMS8/index.htm or visit http://www.rocknet-japan.org/ARMS8/authors.html for information on abstract submission.
REGISTRATION CLOSING 15-17 October 2014 Geostructure Asia Conference Singapore – organised by the Thai Geotechnical Society.  www.eit.or.th
Reminder:  Deadline for paper submission 15 October 2014 ISP7-PRESSIO 2015 The International Symposium for the 60th Anniversary of the pressuremeter “ISP7” organised by the Tunisian Association of Soil Mechanics (ATMS) as part of the 16th ARCSMGE from 27-30 April 2015 in Hammamet, Tunisia will take place on 1-2 May 2015 ;  full details at

www.cramsg2015.org

Further Deadline Extension Abstracts for Conference proceedings to be submitted by 30 October 2014 6th IS-TC 101:  Deformation Characteristics of Soils 15th to 18th November 2015 - Buenos Aires: Conference organized in parallel with Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering will bring together practitioners, researchers and educators engaged in understanding the deformation properties of geomaterials before failure, and the small strain parameters as fundamental characteristics of geomaterials. Visit http://conferencesba2015.com.ar/
New!  CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 1 November 2014 49th US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium 28 June – 1 July 2015:  Westin St. Francis, Union Square, San Francisco, California, USA;  full information from Peter Smeallie at smeallie@verizon.net  or visit www.armasymposium.org
NEW!  Deadline extension 1 November 2014 5th Int’l Symposium for Geotechnical Safety and Risk 13-15 October 2015: Rotterdam, Netherlands;  full details and preliminary programme at isgsr2015.org
FIRST BULLETIN – abstracts due November 2014 Albanian Geotechnical Society (AGS) October/November 2015 -Tirana, Albania. International Conference on: Geo-Environment and Construction – see BGA website
  10-14 November 2014 7th Int’l Congress on Environmental Geotechnics Melbourne, Australia plus four pre-congress short courses
  19 – 21 Nov 2014 GEOMATE 2014 Brisbane: see http://www.geomate.org/ for full details
New! Abstract deadline VIETROCK 2015 12-13 March 2015:  Hanoi, Vietnam;  see http://www.vietrocknet.org/ for further information
ISRM 2016 Rocha Award See http://www.isrm.net for full details and submit nominations to secretariat.isrm@lnec.pt;

 

6       INTERNATIONAL MATTERS - 2015

ISRM - New! 12-13 March 2015 VIETROCK 2015 Hanoi, Vietnam;  see http://www.vietrocknet.org/ for further information
  1-2 May 2015 ISP7-PRESSIO 2015 The International Symposium for the 60th Anniversary of the pressuremeter “ISP7” organised by the Tunisian Association of Soil Mechanics (ATMS) as part of the 16th ARCSMGE from 27-30 April 2015 in Hammamet, Tunisia. full details at www.cramsg2015.org
ISRM 10-13 May 2015 ISRM Congress Montreal, Canada – full details at www.isrm2015.com
ISRM 12 May 2015 In conjunction with

ISRM Congress in Montreal

Shale and Rock Mechanics Workshop, as Applied to Slopes, Tunnels, Mines and Hydrocarbon Extraction. Details at www.isrm2015.com
  10 –12 June 2015 3rd Int’l Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics Oslo, Norway:  Symposium under auspices of TC209 - full details at www.isfog2015.no – will also host ISSMGE Third McLelland Honor Lecture to be given by Knut H. Andersen.
New! CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 15 June 2015 2nd Int’l Workshop on Geomechanics and Energy 3-5 November 2015 - Brussels:  under the auspices of EAGE.
New! 14-16 June 2015 3rd Int’l Conf on the Flat Dilatometer DMT Under the auspices of TC 102/ISSMGE – in Rome;  see BGA website or http://www.issmge.org/en/conferences-and-events/conferences-issmge/eventdetail/560/-/3rd-international-conference-on-the-flat-dilatometer-dmt15 ) for further information
New!  Rocks 28 June – 1 July 2015 49th US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium Westin St. Francis, Union Square, San Francisco, California, USA;  full information from Peter Smeallie at smeallie@verizon.net  or visit www.armasymposium.org
New! 13-15 October 2015 5th Int’l Symposium for Geotechnical Safety and Risk Rotterdam, Netherlands;  full details and preliminary programme at isgsr2015.org
  2– 4November 2015 Mini-Symposia:6ICEGE Christchurch, New Zealand;  full details at http://www.6icege.com/ and suggestions to brendon.bradley@canterbury.ac.nz
  2– 4November 2015 6ICEGE

 

6th International Conference on Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering - Christchurch, New Zealand.
New! 3-5 November 2015 2nd Int’l Workshop on Geomechanics and Energy Brussels:  under the auspices of EAGE.
  15 to 18 November 2015 6th IS-TC 101:  Deformation Characteristics of Soils Buenos Aires: Conference organized in parallel with Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering will bring together practitioners, researchers and educators engaged in understanding the deformation properties of geomaterials before failure, and the small strain parameters as fundamental characteristics of geomaterials. Visit http://conferencesba2015.com.ar/

7       PUBLICATIONS

 

Extended deadline – for abstracts FRIDAY 10TH OCTOBER! Geotechnical Engineering – ICE Proceedings Themed issue on Innovations in Deep Foundations design and construction in 2016 focussing on:

  • case histories of innovative use of ground assessment and foundation design
  • innovation in construction technique, construction materials, instrumentation and data assessment
  • the use of field data to improve the efficiency of design
  • appropriate use of scale or full-size site testing to reduce model factors
  • the specification of particular foundation techniques or materials to mitigate difficult ground conditions, including adverse chemical conditions.

submit online at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17BG1xv-hIfZb9A6uPhoCaLGjkJs2u9HQZyivF lm4Lak/viewform

submit a brief (<200 words) summary of your proposed paper

New – now available ICE Register – NEC3 project managers   ICE Register for Accredited NEC3 Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) Project Managers listing all NEC Project Managers who have successfully completed the NEC3: ECC Project Manager Accreditation programme.
New NEC website   New and improved website:  Visitwww.neccontract.com today
  Latest bulletin ISSMGE http://www.issmge.org/en/resources/issmge-bulletin/668-vol-8-issue-4-august-2014.
New! 1 October 2014 ISSMGE Webinar series launched – appx every 2 months . watch recording of Prof Fernando Schnaid spkg on “In situ testing in geomechanics: Questioning current engineering practice” at http://www.issmge.org/en/resources/recorded-webinars/672-in-situ-testing-in-geomechanics-questioning-current-engineering-practice
New and free!   Environmental Geotechnics Please click the following link to access  http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/serial/envgeo
    ICE Virtual Library Newsletter Exclusive savings every month - ICE Virtual Library newsletter
  Now in ISI’s WEB OF SCIENCE Géotechnique Letters  Read in full at Geotechnique Letters Web of Science announcement with details of Themed Issue: Experimental micro-mechanics for geomaterials
Issue 3 of Volume 1 just published Geotechnical Research July 2014 (vol 1, issue 3) Geotechnical Research ICE Publishing’s first Gold Open Access journals

  • Quarterly online-only publication
  • Launched March 2014
  • Robust blind peer review process
  • £1000 Article Publication Charges (APC)
  • Discounts/waivers for INASP countries

Contact a.mcanena@icepublishing.com for further details.

Recently  launched journal Manuscripts invited on a range of disciplines Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment (GETE) More information is available on the following link:

http://www.journals.elsevier.com/geomechanics-for-energy-and-the-environment/

September issue now available CIC Newsletter Now published twice a month Much of the information will be available on the website at www.cic.org.uk but let me know if you would like me to forward the newsletter to you.
New ICE journal launched   Bio- and Chemo- Mechanical Processes in Geotechnical Engineering Edited by Lyesse Laloui –contains the papers selected for the seventeenth Géotechnique Symposium in Print and covers a wide range of geotechnical processes;see http://www.elabs10.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=3379618&mlid=47022&siteid=2010001480&uid=20f73537ea for further details.
New – Launch of Journal Manuscripts invited on a range of disciplines

 

Editors in Chief: Tomasz Hueckel and Lyesse Laloui

Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment Publishing high quality research results of lasting importance on geomechanics, focussing on applications to geological energy production and storage, and the interaction of soils and rocks with the natural and engineered environment. Review process starts on 1 October 2014, with first papers published in January 2015. Detailed instructions of how to prepare manuscripts at http://www.elsevier.com/journals/geomechanics-for-energy-and-the-environment/2352-3808/guide-for-authors

 

 

8       ECSMGE XVI – EDINBURGH:  13 – 15September 2015: 

FINAL DEADLINE 16th European Conf on Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Engineering Papers must be submitted by 17th October 2014 – no further extensions!
Good news for authors Proceedings Will be included/indexed in Scopus, Google Scholar and to be sent for inclusion in the ISI Conference Proceedings Citation Index
Keynote Lectures announced Titles are provisional and subject to change.)
  • The Contribution of Monitoring to Resilient Infrastructure and Development: Professor Kenichi Soga (University of Cambridge, UK).
  • Geotechnical Engineering for Sustainable Transportation Infrastructure: Professor António Gomes Correia (Universidade do Minho, Portugal).
  • Recent Developments in Soil Mechanics with Applications and Case Studies: Professor Giulia Viggiani (Università di Roma Tor Vergata, Italy).
11 months to go! 16th European Conf on Soil Mechanics & Geotechnical Engineering The BGA is pleased to be hosting this prestigious event in Edinburgh in just under a year’s time.  Please promote to as wide an audience as possible – contact me if you need a further copy of the promotional slide
Keep up to date with developments! LinkedIn Group set-up Receive all the latest news on this important event (all are welcome):

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5021708&trk=group-name

opportunities still available Exhibition & Sponsorship Brochure at http://xvi-ecsmge-2015.org.uk/?page_id=434

Bookings at http://xvi-ecsmge-2015.org.uk/?page_id=52

9       linked-in

Have you joined yet? BGA LinkedIn Group All BGA members pre-approved for membership of the Group To preserve the group as a useful forum to discuss geotechnical matters and BGA business, please respect the rules:  nothing political, nothing offensive, no job vacancies, no overt promotions – thank you! http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=5061912
Have a look! Associated Societies LinkedIn Account Keep up to date with all the Associated Societies’ activities at Associated Societies of the Institution of Civil Engineers

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