2017 Sydney Symposium: Geotechnical innovations and challenges for transport infrastructure

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The Sydney Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is holding its 21st annual symposium on Friday 10th November 2017 with the theme ‘Geotechnical innovations and challenges for transport infrastructure’.

The symposium forms part of the continuing program of events organised by the Sydney Chapter of the AGS and is designed to keep the engineering profession aware of recent developments in aspects of geotechnical engineering practice related to transport infrastructure and the challenges and opportunities involved.

Overview of the 2017 symposium

The 2017 AGS Sydney Symposium will present overviews of current transport infrastructure challenges, state-of-the-art practices, innovative technologies, new research results and case histories demonstrating applications of advanced techniques and cost effective approaches in the construction and design of transport infrastructure. The goal of this symposium is to provide professional engineers, researchers, specialist contractors, regulators, educators and students the opportunity to meet and share their knowledge and experiences in this area.

Keynote speakers

Scott Anderson

BGC Engineering, formerly US Federal Highway Administration

Scott A. Anderson was named the Richard H. Jahns Distinguished Lecturer for 2016–2017. This lectureship was jointly established in 1988 by the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists (AEG) and the Environmental and Engineering Division of the Geological Society of America (GSA) to increase student awareness about applied geology.

Until recently, Dr. Anderson was the Geotechnical Engineering Technical Services Team Manager for the U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). He led a national team of geotechnical engineers that assist state and local transportation agencies through technical assistance, training and deployment of new technologies. Prior to joining FHWA fifteen years ago, he was a Senior Consulting Engineer and the Landslide Technology Leader for a major A/E design firm, and he was previously an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hawaii. Now he is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer for BGC Engineering Inc. Dr. Anderson earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in engineering geology from the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University, and Master’s and Doctorate degrees in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

Richard Herraman

Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure of South Australia

Richard Herraman, BSc (Hons), BEng Civil (Hons) was Principal Geotechnical Engineer of the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure of South Australia and led their Geotechnical Engineering Group for over 20 years. One of the main achievements of Richard, his group, and private sector geotechnical engineers in South Australia, has been to use recent developments in unsaturated soil mechanics to design more cost-effective revetments and retaining structures for stiff unsaturated clays. Richard has served on the committee of the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) for 20 years. He believes that the AGS plays an important role in the professional development of engineers and in fostering collegiality among engineers.

AGS Symposium Organising Committee

For further information, please contact any of the following 2017 AGS Sydney Symposium organising committee members:

David Airey
The University of Sydney
(AGS-Sydney Chapter Chair)
Phone: 02 9351 3342
Email: [email protected]

Cholachat Rujikiat-kamjorn
Centre for Geomechanics and Railway Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
University of Wollongong NSW 2522
Phone: 02 4221 5852
Email: [email protected]

Sam Mirlatifi
AECOM
Level 21, 420 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 8934 0567
Email: [email protected]

Ali Parsa
AECOM
Level 21, 420 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: 02 8934 0000

Adrian Hulskamp
JK Geotechnics
115 Wicks Road
Macquarie Park NSW 2113
Phone: 02 9888 5000
Email: [email protected]

Hadi Khabbaz
University of Technology Sydney
15 Broadway
Ultimo NSW 2007
Phone: 02 9514 9942
Email: [email protected]

Event Sponsors

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.