newsletter - geotechnical engineering, geotechnical … newsletter issue 10... · 2017-07-25 ·...

CONTENTS

New Projects

Temporary Works Design at Dublin Port

Cofferdam Design Project

Safe 10-T

Ongoing Projects

GDG Launches Novel Pile Design Software

GDG Provides Design Support to Tullabrack Windfarm

GDG Evaluates Negative Skin Friction

General News

Speaking Engagements, Conferences and Publications

New Appointments

Memberships

Awards and Events

It’s difficult to believe that Summer isso far advanced and already the comingAutumn beckons. How time flies!

Here at GDG development continuesapace with new colleagues joining ourinternational team and reallyinteresting, and challenging, newprojects in Ireland and the UK beingawarded to the company.

Several new people and new projectsare profiled in the pages of this editionof our newsletter which I sincerelyhope you will enjoy reading.

As ever if anything in particular attractsyour attention, and you would like todiscuss it in detail then please get intouch with Paul Doherty or GerryO’Sullivan whose email contact detailsare [email protected] [email protected] respectively.

Newsletter Issue 10 |Spring / Summer 2017

John R BowenChairman

Providing efficient and reliable geotechnical solutions for the most challenging projects

Welcome to the tenth edition of the GDG Newsletter, Spring / Summer 2017

GDG Newsletter Issue 10 Spring / Summer 2017

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

GDG Newsletter Issue 10 Spring / Summer 2017 Page 1

GDG Design Tidal Lag Reduction Measures for Efficient Sheet Piling as Part of a

Cofferdam Design Project

NEW PROJECTS

GDG undertook the Temporary Works PilingGate Design for the installation of 600mmdiameter, 25m long, vertical and raker steeltube piles that are currently underconstruction by Roadbridge L&MKeating joint venture (RBLMK) as part of theAlexandra Basin Redevelopment projectin Dublin Port at Cross Berth Quay.

The piles are driven in segments of 13m and12m to the proposed toe level of -26.5mODusing a hydraulic hammer. The attachedimage was undertaken during a GDG sitewalkover on Thursday February 16th towitness the installation of the first segmentof vertical piles by RBLMK. The dynamic pilemonitoring was conducted by Lloyd Acoustic.

GDG completed a transient seepage analysisusing Seep/W to assess the tidal lag whichwas found to be greater than 1m, Figure1. The transient model simulated the tidalvariation over a number of tide cyclesbetween the high and low water tidal rangei.e. 96.8m OD to 104.4m OD.

Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. (GDG) wasappointed by Beckett Rankine MarineConsulting Engineers to undertake anassessment into the tidal lag developingbehind a sheet piled wall to be installed aspart of a Cofferdam Design.

A tidal lag less than or equal to 1m wasdesired to achieve an efficient sheet piledwall design.

To achieve a reduction in the tidal lag,100mm weep holes at 5.6m centre-to-centrespacing was proposed. The weep holes wereto be placed 1m above the low tide waterlevel at 97.8m OD.

GDG calculated the predicted flow throughthe weep holes using orifice flow theory andremodelled the sheet pile walls with weepholes in a second transient model. Therevised model predicted that the tidal lagwould be less than 1m, Figure 2.

Temporary Works Design at Dublin Port

Pipe Installation at Dublin Port

Figure 1 – Tidal lag resulting from the initial transient model carried out in Seep/W

Figure 2 – Results from revised transient model with the permeability of the weep holes included

in the Seep/W analysis

GDG Leading EU-Funded Project to Protect Critical Transport Infrastructure

The SAFE-10-T (Safety of TransportInfrastructure on the TEN-T Network) Project,funded by the European Union, commencedwith the project kick-off meeting taking placein Delft, the Netherlands.

GDG is responsible for coordinating this threeyear project and will manage an internationalconsortium to develop a safety framework forcritical road, rail and inland waterwayinfrastructure along the European TEN-Tnetwork. The framework will use remotemonitoring data for tunnels, bridges andearthworks, in conjunction with machinelearning algorithms and traffic modellingtools, to evaluate network safetyperformance due to extreme events.

The SAFE-10-T project brings together amulti-disciplinary consortium of civilengineers, computer scientists, big datamanagers and sociologists, who will workcollaboratively with infrastructuremanagers from Network Rail, the DutchMinistry of Infrastructure and theEnvironment, and Croatian Railways toaddress the challenges presented byEuropean infrastructure networks in anever-changing environment.

In addition to managing the overall project,GDG will provide their expertise in relation tothe safety analysis of earthworks, usingprobabilistic methods to evaluate the stabilityof cuttings, embankments and dykes, whilstconsidering environmental loading and theimpacts of climate change.

The main output of the SAFE-10-T project willbe an online Decision Support Tool that willenable infrastructure managers to make cost-effective and robust decisions that provideincreased safety levels for criticalinfrastructure networks and ensure reliablelevels of mobility for network passengers andfreight transport. Infrastructure managers andother stakeholders will be invited toworkshops and other dissemination eventsduring the course of the project to gainimportant end-user feedback and to ensurethat the objectives of the SAFE-10-T aresuccessfully met.

NEW PROJECTS

Rail Disruption


Landslide

Safe – 10 – T Logo

Kick-Off Meeting Group Photo

GDG Launches Novel Pile Design Software

The software develops the design accordingto relevant Eurocode standards (EC7, EC2and EC3) with options for both the UK andIrish National Annexes.

ALL_PILE includes the following capabilities:

Pile bearing capacity for different types ofstrata, including fine-grained soil, coarse-grained soil and rock;

Horizontal deformational properties of pilefoundations by simultaneously incorporatingp-y curves;

Structural analysis of bending and shearcapacity of reinforced concrete and steelsections for different pile cross-sections;

Assessment of negative skin frictioneffects;

Evaluation of static load test data to assessthe bearing capacity; and

Evaluation of CPT test data to assess thepile bearing capacity using the ground testmethod.

ALL_PILE provides a software platform forthe rapid analysis of different pile optionsand therefore allows us to continue providingoptimised foundation designs to contractors,consultants and end-clients.

As experts in the design of piles for onshore,marine and offshore applications, Gavin &Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. (GDG) understandthe complex interaction betweengeotechnical and structural failuremechanisms. Optimal engineering alsorequires a detailed understanding ofEurocodes and the various calculationmethodologies that underpin these designstandards.

To streamline the design process and tofacilitate value engineering under tightdelivery programmes, we have recentlydeveloped the first version of a multi-functional pile design software tool ALL_PILE(Axially and Laterally Loaded Pile Software).

The software has been developed by GDG’sDesign Engineer Juliana de OliveiraVasconcelos under the Fusion programmewhich is financially supported by InterTradeIreland. The project was also supported byDr. Shane Donohue of Queen’s UniversityBelfast and completed under the supervisionof Dr. John O’Donovan of GDG.

The software was built to support thedesign of multiple piles constructed inlayered soils and subjected to horizontal,vertical and moment loading conditions.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Novel Pile Design Software

ALL_PILE Logo


GDG Provides Design Support to TullabrackWindfarm

Works onsite at Tullabrack Windfarm in Co.Clare are progressing with 4 of the 6 turbinesnow erected.

GDG has provided design support to bothL&M Keating and Enercon throughout theprocess. Services provided include groundinvestigation interpretation, haul road design,drainage design, turbine foundation designchecks, temporary works design and qualityassurance during construction stage.

The sun shone brightly during GDG’s latestsite visit which allowed some greatphotographs of the works to be captured.Great to see this fantastic project takingshape.

It is proposed to underpin a flood wall on theRiver Thames and due to the placement of fill,the piles will experience negative skin friction.GDG used historical boreholes and relevantexperience in the London area to determineparameters for the underlying soil.

The analysis demonstrated that the soft clayunderlying the fill would be susceptible tonegative skin friction. GDG utilised anoptimised approach for calculating negativeskin friction that accounted for thedevelopment of a neutral point in the soft claybelow which the negative skin friction doesnot occur and the soft clay resists the loadacting on the pile.

In compliance with Eurocode 7 the negativeskin friction force was treated as a dead loadand does not act simultaneously in loadcombinations with live loads. As a geotechnicalaction, a partial action factor of 1.0 and 1.25shall be applied to the negative skin frictionforce in Design Approach 1 Combination 1 andCombination 2 respectively.

ONGOING PROJECTS

Excavation for Turbine 2 foundation

Overview of Turbine 3 and Turbine 4

Turbine elements ready to be assembled at Turbine 5

GDG Evaluates Negative Skin Friction Acting on Piled Walls along the Thames

Negative Skin Friction Force Illustration



GDG at the ICE Presidential Visit to Dublin

A host of companies and organisations were inattendance including the Irish BusinessNetwork Scotland, of which Gerry O’Sullivan(Director, GDG) is treasurer, and industrypartners such as McLaughlin and Harvey,Farrans, Arch Henderson, Griffiths and Armour,SSE, Sweco, Jacobs, EnviroCentre, and Brodiesolicitors.

Other speakers included:

Dr Paul Doherty (Managing Director, GDG)who delivered a presentation on ‘GeotechnicalEngineering in the Marine Environment – Riskversus Reward’. Paul discussed the differencesbetween perceived and real risk in offshoremarine works as it relates to works design.

John O’Sullivan (SSE) presented ‘ExtremeEngineering in an Offshore World - Beatriceproject' which described the projectmanagement and logistics considerations of theimpressive Beatrice offshore wind project.

Ryan Dillon (Farrans) presented the ‘TheSeaforth Passage Widening Scheme’ whichdiscussed the technical challenges andconstruction sequence of The Seaforth PassageWidening Scheme in Liverpool.

Damien Callan (McLaughlin & Harvey)presented ‘Foundation Challenges in MarineRenewable Projects’. Damian spoke about hisexperience in the provision of foundations fornovel tidal energy harvesting devices, and histime in the Orkney Islands.

The President of the Institution of CivilEngineers (ICE), Professor Tim Broyd, visitedDublin on the 16th and 17th February. Gavin& Doherty Geosolutions were delighted tobe represented at the event by our SeniorEngineers Paddy Curran and John O’Donovanwho are also members of the ICE’s Republicof Ireland Committee.

Professor Broyd attended a workshop at theNational Transport Authority on Thursdayand later, a dinner followed by a committeemeeting with ICE members at theSandymount Hotel. At the meeting therewas a lively debate on a number of topicsincluding the influence of Brexit on the ICE,the President’s plans for increasing our BIMcapabilities and how to attract newmembers to the profession. On Fridaymorning Professor Broyd delivered hiskeynote address at Engineers Ireland titled“Engineering a Digital Future”.

Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions celebratedtheir first anniversary since the opening of itsEdinburgh office by organising the ‘Ports,Harbours & Marine Engineering Seminar’ atthe Royal Society of Edinburgh on GeorgeStreet, followed by an evening of networkingand socialising at The Refinery Bar on St.Andrew Square.

GENERAL NEWS

ICE Republic of Ireland Committee members, including GDG’s Paddy Curran and John O’Donovan, with the ICE

President Professor Tim Broyd

Ports, Harbours & Marine Engineering Seminar in Edinburgh

Gerry O’Sullivan


Paul Quigley, Principal Engineer, presented atalk on some recent trends from geotechnicalprojects in Ireland to a packed audience atEngineers Ireland during the GeotechnicalSociety of Ireland seminar, ‘Managing groundrisks’ on the 26th of April.

The talk reviewed trends and opportunities tobetter manage ground investigations and thedesign process. The dataset showed how somedesigners specify very little laboratory testing,making verification of drillers’ descriptions ofsoils difficult to verify. A review of GroundInvestigation costs suggest that investment in GIis quite low for many projects.

Tom Young (Arch Henderson) presented‘Aberdeen Harbour Expansion Project – TheStory So Far’. This told the story of theAberdeen Harbour Expansion Project to datecomplete with scale modelling of wave effectson the proposed harbour.

Manus Quigg, (Partner with BrodiesSolicitors) alerted the audience to topicalcontractual issues associated with D&B marineprojects in his presentation, ‘Contractual Issueson D&B Marine Projects’.

The event was a resounding success anddemonstrated the importance of the closeworking relationships GDG has developed withindustry partners and the role of the IrishBusiness Network Scotland in promoting thebusiness interests of Irish and Scottishcompanies.

Ports, Harbours & Marine Engineering Seminar in Edinburgh contd...

Paul Quigley Presented at Engineers Ireland

Paul Quigley

Paul Doherty and John O’Donovan feature in Deep Foundations Magazine

GDG’s Managing Director Paul Doherty andSenior Engineer John O’Donovan have hadtheir article titled ‘Numerical Modelling inGeotechnical Engineering’ published as afeature article in Deep FoundationsMagazine. This magazine is published by theDeep Foundations Institute.

The article discusses advances in finiteelement modelling of geotechnical materialsand the proliferation in the use of numericalmodels to analyse engineering problems.Although this is generally to be welcomed,the article outlines some potential pitfallsthat are common in numerical analysis. Anumber of case studies are also discussedthat illustrate how the combined use ofengineering judgement with computermodels leads to robust and efficient designsolutions.

Seepage analysis of the proposed flood defence system

GDG’s Senior Engineer, William Brown, has Collaborative Research Paper Published in

Ocean Engineering

Senior Engineer William Brown together withstaff from both McLaughlin & Harvey’s MarineRenewables Team and QUB’s School of Naturaland Built Environment have had theircollaborative paper, ‘Evaluation of full scaleshear performance of tension anchorfoundations: Load displacement curves andfailure criteria’ recently published inthe Ocean Engineering journal, Volume 131(2017).

This work was funded by the Centre forAdvanced Sustainable Energy.


Abstract:

One of the biggest challenges faced by theoffshore wave and tidal energy industry isthe high cost of constructing and installingoffshore foundations. Foundations based onpost tensioned pile anchors can be effectivelyproposed to tackle this issue. A series of full-scale direct shear tests were performed on-shore to evaluate the shear resistance ofpost-tensioned pile anchor foundationsdesigned for securing tidal turbine devices toa rock seabed. We focused, in particular, onthe primary shear resistance mechanism ofposttensioned anchors, by applying a verticalforce which mobilizes, a frictional force ableto resist horizontal thrusts. Different loadpaths, involving monotonic or cyclic loading,were applied; several configurations for thefooting of the foundation were tested. Thefooting stress-displacement behaviour andthe stress conditions at sliding failure from anumber of different testing configurationswere compared and analysed. A markedconsistency with the shear performance ofnatural rock joints was identified. This allowsthe behaviour of tension pile foundationssubjected to substantial horizontal loads tobe modelled using relationships developedfor rock joints, widely available in theliterature. Additionally, the results obtainedfrom different tests were also collatedconsidering the various configurationsadopted for the foundation-rock system andthe applied load paths, to identify the factorsthat affect the shear resistance of thefoundation.

GDG’s Senior Engineer, William Brown, has Collaborative Research Paper Published in

Ocean Engineering contd...

James O’Brien Senior Geotechnical Engineer

NEW APPOINTMENTS

GDG is delighted to welcome on board nine newmembers who bring a diverse range ofgeotechnical experience to the Dublin officeproviding timely support to help deliver anincreased workload across Ireland, the UK andcentral Europe.

James is a Chartered Professional Civil Engineerwith nine years’ experience in a wide variety ofprojects in UK, Ireland, Australia and NewZealand.

James graduated from Trinity College Dublin,Ireland in 2007 with a BAI (Hons) in CivilEngineering and a BA in Mathematics andcompleted a Master’s of Science in SoilMechanics (MSc DIC) at Imperial CollegeLondon, United Kingdom.

His project experience includes projectappraisal, feasibility studies, planningapplications, detailed design and constructionsupervision. James has worked in a number ofsectors including transportation, energy, flooddefence, residential and commercialdevelopments.

Letícia Teixeira Palla BragaGeologist

Letícia is a trilingual geographer and specialistin environmental engineering andhydrogeology.She has obtained three degrees from theFederal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG),


Julie ClarkeHead of Research, Development & Innovation

Brazil, including a Master’s degree inHydrogeology.

She has amassed ten years of professionalexperience in the environmental arena workingfor Brazilian government agencies and in theprivate sector. She has worked as anenvironmental specialist, geographer,hydrogeologist and cartographer.

Letícia is proficient in ground water issues,hydrogeological consulting and mapping ofhydrogeology features. She is also experiencedin environmental legislation, environmentallicensing, environmental impact assessments,use of ArcGIS tools and environmentalmodelling.

Letícia Teixeira Palla BragaGeologist contd...

Prior to joining GDG, Julie was involved in anumber of European-funded research projectsgaining valuable experience of projectmanagement and grant proposal writing forR&D projects.

In addition, Julie has a broad range ofexperience in the development andapplication of risk assessment methodologiesfor civil engineering structures due to naturaland manmade hazards.

Julie previously worked for Roughan &O’Donovan Innovative Solutions, where sheworked on the EU FP7 Framework INFRARISKand RAIN projects, which developed novel riskassessment methodologies for infrastructurenetworks due to natural hazards and extremeweather events.

Julie completed a PhD at University CollegeDublin that developed novel risk assessmentmethodologies for existing buildings toevaluate the settlement-induced damageeffects associated with tunnel excavation. Herresearch employed Finite Element modelling inconjunction with probabilistic methodologies.As part of this research, Julie was involved inthe Crossrail Project in London.

Michelle ColemanAdministrative Assistant

Michelle Coleman joins the GDG team asAdministrative Assistant in our Dublin Officebringing with her over twenty years experiencein Administration.

Michelle has gained a lot of varied experience inthe Construction Industry having previouslyworked for Kerrigan Sheanon Newman QuantitySurveyors, Nicholas O’Dwyer ConsultingEngineers.

Kenneth RussellDesign Engineer

Ken is a qualified Civil Engineer having attainedtwo post graduate diplomas (level 9) fromTrinity College Dublin, the first in Highways &Geotechnical Engineering (2011) and thesecond in Sustainable Energy (2015).

He has twelve years of experience inconstruction, infrastructural, marine and off-shore projects in Ireland, across Europe, TheMiddle East and Africa. Ken is currentlyworking on a research masters in OceanEnergy in TCD, he is developing the use oftensile material in Wave Energy Convertor(WEC) design.


James is an experienced geologist with a BScin Geology and Archaeology from UniversityCollege Dublin.

James’ work as a geologist has, to date,focused on GIS development, hydrogeologicalmapping and geothermal energy. James hasused his GIS experience to develop databasesand report maps for several projectsincluding; shallow aquifer delineations acrossIreland, seismic survey route analysis forStoke City and variations of Irish soil thermalconductivities. James’ experience inhydrogeological mapping includes conductingfield work mapping of shallow sand andgravel aquifers across Ireland as well aspreforming dye tracing tests in Irish karsticlandscapes.

James McAteerGeoscientist

His geothermal energy work includes indepth research into ground source heatingtechnologies as well as temperaturemeasurement and data acquisitiontechniques.

James has extensive experience working onprojects conducting field and laboratorythermal properties tests on Irish rock typesand soils.

Eric is currently finalising a BEng in Energy &Environmental Engineering at IT Tallaght andalso holds qualifications in Computer AidedDesign & BIM Lvl 2.

Eric has been gaining experience since 2005specialising in Civil & Structural works and hasdelivered technical expertise throughoutProject lifecycles covering Residential,Industrial & Commercial projects.

Donal O’DriscollSenior Engineer

Donal is a chartered engineer with over tenyears’ of experience in geotechnical design andproject management for a broad range ofoffshore and onshore projects.

Donal developed an interest in seismic designduring his MSc in Imperial College London andhe has since carried out numerous seismicassessments for offshore structures, includingregions with tricky offshore ground conditionssuch as carbonate sediments.

Eric BrennanCAD Technician

Eric Brennan has previously worked for Hayes Higgins Partnership and DBFL Consulting Engineers.

His recent experience includes completion ofall design phases for offshore structures withshallow and deep foundation solutions.

Ali MomeniDesign Engineer

Ali Momeni completed his PhD in particulate soil mechanics at Leeds University to research the fundamental

GDG is a Certified Member of GeoscienceIreland


understanding of static and seismic behaviourof soil and soil-pile interaction using DiscreteElement Method, and has produced a Mastersproject on static behaviour of pile socketed inrock. Following his masters degree he spentover three years working in civil engineeringconsulting and construction companies inIran.

He also gained experience in the UnitedKingdom working for GCA (UK) Ltd.,Consulting Civil, Structural, Highway andTransportation Engineers, (Leicester) in 2016.He worked on analysing the long-term andshort-term behaviour of geotechnicalproblems such as soil-structure interaction,retaining walls, deep excavation, soil nailing,slope stability, shallow and pile foundationsand tunnelling in soil mass using Plaxis 2D. Healso worked on designing multi-story steeland concrete structures.

Ali MomeniSenior Engineer contd...

Geoscience Ireland (GI) is a network of thirtyone companies, delivering integratedexpertise in water, minerals, environmentaland infrastructure development to clients inover fifty countries.

It is supported by the Geological Survey ofIreland and Enterprise Ireland.

The GI network provides design, consultancyand contracting services to multilateralagencies, governments and the private sector.

GDG has been a member for several years andwas delighted to renew its role in GI for 2017.GDG has been accredited by Engineers

Ireland in recognition of the quality of, andcommitment to, its Continuing ProfessionalDevelopment (CPD) systems and practices forengineering staff.

CPD has been at the core of business as wedevelop our expertise and innovate to designand de-risk geotechnical solutions.

Engineers Ireland’s CPD Accredited Employerstandard is the national benchmark fororganisations across all sectors of engineeringand provides a framework for employers tomake better choices regarding learning anddevelopment initiatives in their organisations.

CPD Accredited Employer Status - A Milestone for GDG

Paul Doherty accepts the award from Engineers Ireland


GDG is delighted to be nominated for twoawards for the Ground Engineering Awards2017.

Our work on the Irish rail cuttings andembankment asset management tool hasbeen nominated for the Award for TechnicalExcellence. GDG has been working closelywith Irish Rail over the past two years toenhance the slope risk modelling proceduresfor cuttings and embankments. The newsoftware tool is a significant step forward forthe management of geotechnical assets onlinear infrastructure networks.

Senior Engineer Dr. John O’Donovan has alsobeen nominated for the Rising Star Award.John holds a PhD from Imperial College (UK),and leads our basement design team, solvinga wide variety of foundation problems fordesigners and contractors.

The awards ceremony will be held on 5 July atthe Hilton Park Lane in London.Congratulations to all involved!

The annual dinner and award ceremony for theAssociation of Consulting Engineers (ACEI) washeld on the 24th of March in the ShelbourneHotel.

GDG were delighted to support the event bytaking a couple of tables for what proved to bean entertaining evening for staff and clientsalike.

We were also delighted with the news thatManaging Director, Paul Doherty, was awardwinner in the Emerging Professional Engineerof the Year category.

AWARDS AND EVENTS

GDG is Shortlisted for the Ground Engineering Awards 2017

GDG Celebrate at ACEI Awards Dinner

Marine Award Success

The Marine Industry Awards were held inGalway and GDG were delighted to attendthis exciting event for the first time.

The winners were revealed at the galaawards ceremony which took place as partof SeaFest on Thursday, June 29th and theGDG marine team were delighted to beawarded both the overall MarineExcellence Award and the Excellence in theProvision of Professional Services to theMarine Industry.

As the offshore and marine sectorcontinues to grow in Ireland, GDG lookforward to continuing to deliver high-endengineering services to ports, harbours andthe marine renewable companies.

Marine Awards Winners 2017

Minister Michael Creed and Peter Heffernan,CEO, Marine Institute presents the OverallMarine Excellence award to David Igoe andDonal O’ Driscoll

GDG’s spring teambuilding event took place on the 24th March.

The event started with a much anticipated treasure hunt around Dublin’s city centre. Teams werechallenged to discover, and take photos of their team and mascot, at various locations around thecity centre. Points were scored, not just according to the number of locations discovered, but alsoaccording to the extent to which the judges were kept amused by the team’s photos.

The treasure hunt culminated with dinner and drinks at Acapulco restaurant! Luckily the weatherstayed on our side. A fun afternoon and evening was enjoyed by all.

We look forward to our next event, the GDG summer BBQ!

GDG’s Teambuilding Event


newsletter - geotechnical engineering, geotechnical … newsletter issue 10... · 2017-07-25 ·...

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