Annual General Meeting & Annual Dinner

Chris Boyd & Lt Col Dechlan Ellis (ret.)

Geotechnical Challenges on Western Highway Anthony’s Cutting Realignment

Chris Boyd

Chris will discuss the geotechnical challenges and issues faced for the design and construction of a new highway between Melton and Bacchus Marsh. The new highway is about 5km long and the topography varies by more than 40m along the alignment. The regional geology is complex with incised valleys penetrating through the Newer Volcanics to expose underlying Tertiary sediments and Ordovician Bedrock. The Bacchus Marsh area is a low lying alluvium region historically covered in marsh and soft alluviums and peat. The project included a number of major bridges, significant soil rock cuttings and embankments up to 20m high on alluvium material.

Military Engineering Contributions to the Afghanistan Conflict

Lt Col Dechlan Ellis (ret.)

Lieutenant Colonel Dechlan Ellis has recently returned to Australia after completing a six month tour of duty on operations in Afghanistan and the Gulf States. He was the inaugural Chief Engineer responsible for engineering support to all Australian forces in the Middle East and has held a wide range of appointments in Army, performed overseas service with the UN in Lebanon, served in PNG and on representational duty as Aide de Camp to the Chief of Army. He joined SKM in 2005 and is the manager for the Buildings and Infrastructure group across South-East Australia.

His presentation will focus on the contribution of military engineering in war zones and specifically the provision of infrastructure support and combat engineering services to deployed troops and development activities in the local community. The latter will include the provision of educational, medical and transport facilities and the training and skills development of the Afghan national army and local civilian population.

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.