Geotechnical Engineering
program overview
The recent concerns for energy and the environment have led to increased
activity in the field of Geotechnical Engineering and Environmental Geotechnics.
The practice of Geotechnical Engineering requires a knowledge of geology,
soil and rock mechanics, and experience. Geotechnical Engineering at the
University of British Columbia focuses on soil mechanics, which concerns
the engineering behavior of soil and its application to the design and
performance of earth and earth-supported structures. These studies involve
the measurement of stress-strain, strength and permeability properties
of soil and the development of theories based on these measured properties
to predict the response of structures to static and dynamic loading. Environmental
Geotechnics emphasizes the geotechnical and environmental aspects of contaminant
management, by considering the characteristics of contaminants and the
problems encountered in designing and constructing facilities to manage
or contain them. Although geotechnical engineers involved in waste management
issues must be increasingly aware of the inter-disciplinary nature of their
undertakings, an understanding of soil behaviour, waste characteristics
and contaminant-soil interaction is a basic building block for more specialized
studies.
Geotechnical courses in Civil Engineering at the graduate level are
largely in soil mechanics, though students are encouraged to take courses
in engineering geology and rock mechanics from other departments.
Research
Geotechnical Engineering
Research activities include laboratory and field testing for characterizing
soil behaviour, and numerical modelling. These activities are conducted
within a broader geotechnical community: the Vancouver Geotechnical Society
is one of the most active in Canada. Much of the research is undertaken
in collaboration with government and in university-industry partnerships.
Research is currently being conducted in the following areas:
- soil property characterization in the state of the art soil mechanics
research laboratory;
- laboratory testing of the interaction between soils and geosynthetics;
- in-situ testing for geotechnical and geo-environmental site characterization;
- field investigations of shallow landslides;
- numerical analysis of earth structures; and,
- soil dynamics and earthquake engineering.
For more information, please visit the Geotechnical
Group website.
Environmental Geotechnics
Research activities include contaminant migration in soil, the migration
mechanism of pollutants through clayey soil and into groundwater, and site
characterization for detection and remediation in geo-environmental practice,
including resistivity seismic cone penetration testing and other geophysical
techniques. Please also see the site for Environmental
Engineering,
which elaborates on the discipline of Geo-environmental Engineering.
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Facilities
Excellent research facilities exist for both laboratory and field testing
and for theoretical and analytical work. The department has its own precision
machine shop and electronics support facilities for experimental laboratory
and field research in soil mechanics and geosynthetics, and for the design
and fabrication of advanced testing equipment.
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Geotechnical Engineering Faculty
| R. Jonathan
Fannin |
Geosynthetics, reinforced soil, soil filtration and internal erosion,
laboratory testing, field monitoring, landslides and terrain stability
assessment. |
| John A. Howie |
In-situ testing, ground improvement, foundation engineering,
geo-environmental engineering. |
| Mahdi Taiebat |
Constitutive and numerical modeling in geomechanics, wave propagation through saturated media, seismic response and liquefaction, static and dynamic soil-structure interaction. |
| D. Wijewickreme |
Fundamental property characterization and advanced laboratory testing
of soils, static and dynamic (seismic) stress-strain response of fine
and coarse-grained soils, physical modelling, pipe-soil and soil-structure
interaction, liquefaction and constitutive relations. |
Faculty in Related Areas
| Loretta
Y. Li |
Soil-contaminant interaction, contaminant migration, site remediation,
clay liners and clay materials study in geo-environmental practice
and mine tailings waste. |
Active Emeritus Faculty
| Peter M.
Byrne |
Numerical methods, computer applications, static and dynamic soil-structure
interaction, constitutive relations, centrifuge modelling and case
histories. |
| Richard Campanella |
In-situ testing, onshore and offshore applications, soil properties,
soil stabilization and ground water contamination monitoring |
| W. D. Liam Finn |
Soil dynamics, seismic response and liquefaction, analytical and
computer methods, offshore structures and centrifuge modelling. |
| Yoginder P. Vaid |
Laboratory testing, static and cyclic behaviour of clay and sand,
liquefaction, constitutive relations and theoretical soil mechanics. |
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