Course Outline:
The principle objective of the course is to equip geotechnical engineers with the knowledge and understanding they ought to have in order to undertake projects in areas of residual soils. The course covers the basic properties of residual soils and the environment they are found in. Particular attention is given to the pore pressure and seepage state below and above the water table. A number of worked examples are covered during the course.  Participants to the course need to bring along their calculators to handle the worked examples.

Who Should Attend?:
This course is intended for those who are fully conversant with basic soil mechanics, at least as far as sedimentary soils are concerned. At the same time, the course is a useful review of several basic aspects of soil mechanics.


Biodata of Speaker:

LAURENCE DANIEL WESLEY

Professor Dr. Laurence Wesley has an M.E. from the Auckland University, and a PhD from Imperial College, obtained under the guidance of Professor A.W. Bishop.

His work experience as a geotechnical engineer covers eight years with the Indonesian Public Works Department, five years with the New Zealand Ministry of Works, and eleven years with the Auckland consulting company, Tonkin and Taylor. Following this he spent eighteen years as a senior lecturer at Auckland University. During his time with Tonkin and Taylor he was involved in a variety of projects in Indonesia and Malaysia. The latter included foundations of buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the Sungai Layang Dam in Johore Bahru, site development at Prai, (near Penang), and the highways from Kuala Lumpur to Karak and from Kuala Krai to Gua Musang.

His special research interest has been the properties of residual and volcanic soils. Other research interests include reinforced earth, landfills, groundwater and seepage. He has published many papers on residual soils, and his recent publications include the following two text books, both published by John Wiley and Sons, New York:

I.    Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics for Sedimentary and Residual Soils 2009,
II.    Geotechnical Engineering in Residual Soils, 2010.  

This course is an abbreviated version of the material covered in the second book.