From Piled Embankments to off Shore Anchoring Systems

From Piled Embankments to off Shore Anchoring Systems – Geotechnical Research
at the Institute of Technology Sligo
Presented by
Dr Pat Naughton & Dr Con O’Loughlin
School of Engineering
IT Sligo
Monday 24th November, 2008, 8pm (Room A0004 - IT Sligo)

The Institute of Technology sector has expanded rapidly in recent years. In IT Sligo educational programmes in Civil Engineering range from Ordinary and Honours Bachelors (accredited by Engineers Ireland) to Masters and PhD degrees. The Geotechnical Research Group, lead by Dr Pat Naughton & Dr Con O’Loughlin has being awarded over € 650,000 in competitive research funding in the last year. The group currently has five Masters and PhD students researching piled embankments, site investigation techniques, reuse of marginal poor quality fills and off shore anchoring systems. In addition, internal funding from the Institute has allowed the
group to develop a state of the art geotechnical laboratory and facilitated the purchase of the first geotechnical centrifuge in Ireland. The centrifuge will greatly enhance the groups testing and research capabilities.

This presentation focuses on two particular areas of research currently conducted by the group: piled embankments and off shore anchoring systems. Piled embankments are used around the world to control settlements of road and rail infrastructure constructed on soft compressible soils. Off shore anchoring systems are used extensively in the construction of off shore energy farms and in the oil industry. An overview of the research mythologies and current findings are presented, along with the implications for design and construction in these applications.

The IT Sligo geotechnical centrifuge will allow study of the behaviour of foundations, offshore anchorages, embankments or supports, using reduced-scale models. The scale-reduction factor of the model is equal to the centrifugal acceleration being applied, typically up to 100g. Load cells, displacement transducers and photographic techniques allow loads and deformations in the model to be quantified. Details on how this advanced testing technique will be integrated into the investigation of these two research areas are presented.

A recording of the two presentations is available here (there are some sound problems in the second presentation)