Category Archives: Geotechnics

FIRST GEOTECHNICAL COURSES IN 2016

We are pleased to announce our first three geotechnical courses in 2016 are as follows:
  • Ground Investigation Design to EC7 – The essentials, a half day course on 18 January 2016; this course costs only £125 + VAT per delegate
  • Retaining Walls – Principles and Practice on 25 January 2016, at £220 + VAT per delegate
  • Geotechnical Design to Eurocode 7, a 2 day course on 22 and 23 February 2016 costing £395 + VAT per delegate
All courses are running in Chesterfield. Discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course. Please call or email us to reserve your place on a course. More geotechnical courses are available – see here for our 2016 calendar of public courses or here for our full list of courses including those available on a bespoke basis too.

PRICES HELD FOR 2016

We are pleased to announce that our Course Calendar for 2016 is now available for download from here or from the bottom left of our web site pages. You will be pleased to know that:
  • prices have been held at 2015 levels;
  • discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course;
  • more open courses are being offered; and
  • a wider geographic spread of course venues is to be used.
We are still offering bespoke courses to suit your needs too, so if you wish to run a course just for your team then feel free to call us to discuss your needs. See our full list of courses for ideas. We look forward to seeing you in 2016.

LAST GEOTECHNICAL COURSES IN 2015

We have just two more geotechnical courses coming up in 2015, as follows:
  • NEW DATE… Slope Stability Design to EC7 on 26 November 2015
  • Foundations and Building Settlement – Principles and Practice on 7 December 2015
Each course is running in Chesterfield and costs just £220 + VAT per delegate for full day courses. Discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course. Please call us to reserve your place on a course.

MORE NEW GEOTECHNICAL STANDARDS

The BSI have announced changes to a number of geotechnical engineering related standards in recent months. Though by no means exhaustive the list of changes affecting this sector includes:
  • BS 8002:2015 Code of practice for earth retaining structures.
  • BS 8004:2015 Code of practice for foundations.
  • BS 5930:2015 Code of practice for ground investigations.
  • BS 8081:2015 Code of practice for grouted anchors.
  • BS EN 1536:2010 Amendment 1, Execution of special geotechnical work. Bored piles.
  • BS EN 1538:2010 Amendment 1, Execution of special geotechnical work. Diaphragm walls.
  • BS EN 1992-1-1:2004 Amendment 1, Eurocode 2. Design of concrete structures.
  • BS EN 1993-1-1:2005 Amendment 1, Eurocode 3. Design of steel structures.
  • BS EN ISO 17628:2015 Geotechnical investigation and testing. Geothermal testing.
  • BS EN ISO 25619-2:2015 Geosynthetics. Determination of compression behaviour.

ENGINEERING GEOLOGY LECTURING SUPPORT TO SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY CONTINUES

Our Dr Andy Goodwin was invited back for the third year running to deliver a short course on engineering geology to third year students in Civil Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Over three weeks he helped the students understand the relevance of engineering geology to civil engineering through the use of case studies and anecdotes from his thirty years of experience. On the way he taught them too core aspects of geology including  rock types and their characterisation, geological structures, and geological mapping and sectioning. The students all seemed to enjoy the course even though they had to do an on-line test afterwards to summatively assess their learning!  

GEOTECHNICAL TRAINING FOR SITE INVESTIGATION COMPANY

We are running a bespoke course on geotechnics for a site investigation company in the UK. The aim was to broaden the existing skills profile of  their staff in the design of shallow foundations, piled foundations, retaining walls, and slope stability. We worked with them to design a course that met their specific needs and could be delivered in half day sessions over several months to allow the skills to be developed progressively. We would be delighted to work with you or your company to deliver a similar course or any other bespoke training you need to address your business needs. We are skilled at helping you identify the core areas to be developed, and at designing a course that addresses those areas through a combination of taught material and worked exercises. If interested please contact our Andy Goodwin to discuss how we may be able to bespoke a cost-effective course to meet your needs.

BESPOKE FOUNDATION ENGINEERING COURSE FOR THE COAL AUTHORITY

We are currently running a bespoke course on foundation engineering for The Coal Authority over two days. We worked with them to design a course that met their specific needs, was tailored for a small group, and which provided excellent value. It includes too information on the new British Standards for retaining walls and foundations. The course has received excellent feedback and it is now being developed further into a new course to be delivered from 2016 onwards. If you have even a small group of people needing training then contact us to discuss how we may be able to bespoke a course to suit your needs whilst making it cost-effective too.

NEWS ON NEW STANDARDS

Important updates to British Standards commonly used by geotechnical and structural engineers have been published:
  • BS 8002: 2015 Code of practice for earth retaining structures. This revised and updated standard conforms to the latest EN and EN ISO standards and provides recommendations for the design, construction, monitoring, and maintenance of earth retaining structures. It provides additional information to the recommendations in EC7 for surcharges, unplanned excavations and prop loads, and provides detailed recommendations for the content of Geotechnical Feedback Reports in accordance with EC7.
  • BS 8004: Code of practice for foundations. Providing recommendations for the design of both shallow and deep foundations to meet the latest EN and EN ISO standards, the new standard provides additional information to EC7 recommendations for spread foundations, provides recommendations for the design of piles that reflect modern practice, and and provides detailed recommendations for the content of Geotechnical Feedback Reports.
All related courses offered in 2016 will make reference to the new standards and provide guidance on their use in practice. Please contact us for the details of the revised course details.

NEWS ON NEW STANDARDS

For those interested in geotechnics we thought you may wish to know (if you weren’t aware already) that a suite of updates to the current British Standards have been published:
  • BS EN ISO 10319: 2015 Geosynthetics. Wide-width tensile test.
  • BS EN 14199: 2015 Execution of special geotechnical works. Micropiles.
  • BS EN ISO 18674-1:2015 Geotechnical investigation and testing. Geotechnical monitoring by field instrumentation. General rules.
  • PD CEN/TS 16660:2015 Characterisation of waste. Leaching behaviour test. Determination of the reducing character and the reducing capacity.
Readers are referred to the BSI for further details about the standards.

BESPOKE COURSE SUCCESS

We recently ran a bespoke version of our ever-popular ‘Mentoring on Geotechnics for Engineering Geologists’ course for a major consultancy in one of their regional offices. What was different about that course? By working with them we found a way to deliver it cost-effectively for us both even though they only had two staff needing training. Quality was not compromised, and as ever feedback from the course was excellent. If you have just two or three people needing training then contact us to discuss how we may be able to bespoke a course to suit your needs whilst making it cost-effective too.