AGS QLD 2016 AGM & Annual Dinner

Pawan Sethi, Coffey Senior Principal

Come and join us at the AGS annual dinner to celebrate the success of Australian Geomechanics Society Queensland Chapter in 2016. It is the perfect time to reflect on how we have performed in the past year. The call is out for active committee members 2017 with open nominations for next year. Consider getting involved and helping make AGS QLD a greater success.

Presentation

Geotechnical Design Challenges and Solutions
(Barangaroo South Stage 1A)

Presented by Pawan Sethi, Coffey Senior Principal

About the talk

Barangaroo South is a $6 Billion (AUD) transformation of a former container port in Sydney into a business, residential and leisure precinct. The key features of the stage 1A development included three commercial towers up to 49 storeys and an eight metre deep basement next to Darling Harbour.

Foundation and diaphragm design challenges included significant variation in rock levels, potential for buried rock cliffs, piling close to future rail tunnels, high water table, adjacent basement structures, high foundation loads and stringent performance criteria for the deep foundations.

The presentation will discuss the challenges and design process developed to tackle those challenges, including design approach and analyses, load testing and optimisation of socket lengths. Additionally, it will also cover some construction aspects relating to temporary works, pile construction and design verification processes that were developed and implemented.

About Pawan Sethi

Pawan has more than 18 years of international (UK, Australia, Middle and Far East) geotechnical design and construction experience gained through delivering geotechnical services on large as well as specialist projects both as a consultant and contractor. He is a senior principal at Coffey (a Tetra Tech company) and is based at Chatswood in Sydney.
Pawan has a proven track record in delivering safe, cost effective and buildable deep foundation, retention system and temporary works designs for large and complex infrastructure projects. He also has extensive experience in resolving construction related issues in challenging environments. One of his recent projects includes Barangaroo South Stage 1A, where he was the project manager and led the construction verification team for the diaphragm wall as well as leading the design and construction teams for large diameter deep foundations, temporary works and construction verification. Some of his most recent / current projects include with projects include ICD Brookfield Place – Dubai, KL118 Tower in Kuala Lumpur and a tall Tower in San Francisco.

Pawan is a registered professional engineer both in the UK and Australia as well as a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers UK. He was elected as a fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia in 2015. He is also one of the members of the technical committee for the forthcoming Piling and Foundation Specialist Federation of Australia and Deep Foundations Institute of the USA Joint Conference (2017 PFSF-DFI Piling & Ground Improvement Conference).

Venue location

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.