SYNOPSIS

Over the past 15 years, considerable insights have been gained into aspects of the design and performance of embedded retaining walls through field monitoring supported by numerical and other analysis. The talk will present and discuss three of these:
• The prediction of temporary prop loads in large braced excavations, with respect to measurements and analysis carried out in relation to the London Underground Jubilee Line Extension stations at Canary Wharf and Canada Water
• Installation effects and post-construction behaviour of embedded bored pile retaining walls in an overconsolidated deposit, with reference to a case study on the UK high speed rail line HS1 at Ashford, Kent
• The effect of wall stiffness in reducing bending moments below those calculated using a modern factored limit equilibrium type calculation, by means of a “Mobilizable Strength Design” method for flexible embedded walls.


PROFILE OF SPEAKER

Professor William Powrie is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. His main technical areas of expertise are in geotechnical aspects of transport infrastructure and sustainable waste and resource management. He was selected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in recognition of his work in these areas in 2009.
His work in waste and resource management focuses on landfill engineering, and on the development of a sound scientific basis for policy and practice. He led a major EPSRC-funded programme of fundamental research, Science and Strategies for the Management of Residual Wastes, with the aim of enabling and encouraging landfill operation so as to accelerate biodegradation and stabilization of the waste.
He has been Geotechnical Consultant to WJ Groundwater Ltd since 1987. He is the author of the widely respected and best selling textbook, Soil Mechanics – Concepts and Applications.