Geotechnical Engineering for a Sustainable Society

The 62nd Rankine Lecture

Prof. Lidija Zdravković

It is very evident today that geotechnical engineering is faced with a range of challenges of increasing complexity and scope. Efforts have been made in industry and in academia to address some of these challenges, contributing to the development of a current and future safe, sustainable and resilient society. This Rankine Lecture focusses on the development of robust predictive tools to underpin the geotechnical design concerned with the lifecycle assessment of a range of infrastructure, illustrated by specific examples from the Speaker’s research. The key for these developments is in integrating, in a consistent manner, ground characterisation with rigorous computational analysis and validation through field monitoring. The lecture has several parts, focusing on research that supports sustainable life extension of aging infrastructure, under the conditions of climate change-induced weather patterns; research that is impacting offshore wind turbine foundation design in the development of renewable energy sources; and environmental impacts of thermal and chemical perturbations in the ground on geotechnical infrastructure.

To facilitate access to the Rankine Lecture to all our members statewide, we have organised for two Hubs to host broadcasts of the Lecture.

One will be in the pitt&sherry office in Launceston at 113 Cimitiere Street. The host for this Hub will be Sven Rand (0419 447 509).

One will be in the pitt&sherry office in Devonport at 98 Best Street. The host for this Hub has not yet been finalised. In the interim, if you have any questions please call Andrew Tyson on 0417 090 285.

Both hubs will open from 5.30pm to 8pm, with light refreshments available before the Lecture starts at 6pm. Please contact the host for the Hub if you cannot get into the building.

If you are planning to attend one of the Hubs, please RSVP to Andrew Tyson at [email protected] so that we have an idea of likely numbers.

About the speaker

Prof. Lidija Zdravković Professor of Computational Geomechanics, Imperial College London

Lidija Zdravković is Professor of Computational Geomechanics at Imperial College London, where she has been an academic staff member since 1996, becoming full professor in 2013. She has been Head of the Geotechnics division in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department since 2014. Her research integrates soil characterisation and numerical modelling to assess geotechnical infrastructure, climate change impact, offshore foundations, energy geostructures and nuclear waste disposal, recently expanding her interests to data science and machine learning. She has consulted on a number of major infrastructure projects and is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. She has published over 250 technical papers and has been awarded prizes from BGA and ICE and the 2019 Imperial College President’s Medal for Excellence in Education. She takes on the role of Géotechnique Editor-in-Chief from January 2024.

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.