Category Archives: Site investigation

COURSES IN OCTOBER 2017

With summer over, and new graduates starting maybe, now is a good time to look at your staff development needs.  We have numerous courses coming up in October, including: Geotechnical Design to Eurocode 7, 3 October 2017 (£295 + VAT)  This course looks at the practical application of EC7 in design using worked examples and discussion sessions.  It provides the equivalent of 1.5 days training in a ‘long day’ format. Essentials of Project Management, 12 October 2017 (£220 + VAT) Especially useful for those looking to sit their ICE review in 2018 and those new to project management, the course examines what constitutes good practice to deliver a successful project. Retaining Wall Design – Principles and Practice, 17 October 2017 (£220 + VAT) The analysis, design and performance of gravity and embedded retaining walls will be explored using worked examples and with reference to current design codes. ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise, 19 October 2017 (£220 + VAT) Lead by an experienced ICE reviewer, the course is aimed at those sitting their professional review in 2018. It will explore what makes a good Written Exercise before discussing typical questions. Each course is 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. Remember too that all courses can be run bespoke for your company if there are sufficient numbers – just call us to see what we could do for you.  

COURSES IN JULY & AUGUST 2017

The summer holiday season is almost us but there is still time to invest in yourself or your staff with some high quality training.  We have numerous courses coming up in July and August that may be of interest, many of which are designed to be especially useful for those preparing to sit their ICE Professional Review in the Autumn session.  The courses include:
  • Ground Investigation Design to EC7 – The Essentials, half day course on 4 July (£125/delegate)
  • Introduction to Health and Safety Law, day course on 11 July (£220/delegate)
  • Mentoring for Civil Engineers on Engineering Geology, ‘long day’ course (equivalent to 1.5 days training) on 13 July (£295/delegate)
  • The ICE Professional Review – Overview & Preparation, 25 July (£220/delegate)
  • The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Interview, 8 August (£295/delegate; strict maximum of 4 delegates)
  • Managing and Leading Teams, on 17 August (£220/delegate)
Each course is 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. Remember too that all courses can be run bespoke for your company if there are sufficient numbers – just call us to see what we could do for you.  

HOWARD MEDAL WINNER

We are very pleased and honoured to announce that a paper jointly published in 2016 by our Dr Andy Goodwin with Simon Ellis (Mott Macdonald), Liz Laycock (Sheffield Hallam University) and Chris Hurst (Mott MacDonald) has just been awarded the Howard Medal by ICE Publishing.  The paper, entitled “Use of crushed brick in reinforced earth railway structures”, was published in ICE’s Construction Materials Journal.  Targeted at improving the sustainability of the development, the work reported is based on a short practically-focused research project undertaken in association with Sheffield Hallam University with a clear focus on assessing the suitability of crushed bricks to be sourced from a viaduct for re-use as engineered fill.  It shows the benefits that can be gained from integrating focused research into a large project.   More details of the project can be seen in the paper, which can be downloaded for free from http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/10.1680/coma.15.00014.  All of the authors are looking forward to attending the Awards Ceremony in October 2017 and to receiving their medals! 

CPD IDEA – BRUNDTLAND REPORT

We thought it worthwhile re-posting  an update made to LinkedIn by our Andy Goodwin on 12 May 2017, as those not on LinkedIn may miss it: “At the risk of making this a regular Friday afternoon post, I have another idea for some CPD over the weekend that is aimed particularly at graduates.  As an ICE Reviewer I regularly hear graduates trot out the Brundtland definition of sustainable development when discussing Attribute 7, but few seem to have ever read the original report.  If you haven’t then you ought to at least look over its 300 pages to get a sense of what it is all about.  It is freely downloadable at http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf.  It is not an easy read but it is worthwhile and you should at least find out where the Brundtland definition of sustainable development is set out. ” Happy reading!

NEW LOGO UNITES TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY!

We have just developed a new logo which incorporates both our training and consultancy arms in a consolidated form.  We hope you like it!       Rest assured that the websites for each part of the business will continue as they are so you can still follow whichever part you are interested in, or both. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you want further information on either.  

LYME REGIS UPDATE

Following the publication of our joint paper on the stabilisation of a slope at Lyme Regis in 2015 (at the XVI European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering in Edinburgh), readers may be interested to know that a further paper has just been published in Volume 170 of the Proceedings of the ICE, Civil Engineering.  Entitled “Stabilising Lyme Regis – a strategic approach” and authored by Roger Moore et al, the paper presents a useful perspective on the range of design and management options available to address coastal instability.  It is well worth a read in our view, though we can’t reproduce it here due to copyright.  Check it out on pages 63 to 70 of Issue CE2, dated May 2017.  A copy can be viewed here if you are an ICE subscriber.

COURSES IN MAY 2017

We have numerous courses coming up in May that may be of interest.  They include:
  • Ground risk management for managers on 9 May
  • Essentials of Project Management on 16 May
  • Retaining Wall Design – Principles and Practice on 18 May
  • The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise on 25 May
Each course is 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.  

COURSES IN APRIL AND MAY 2017

We have numerous courses coming up in April and May that may be of interest.  They include:
  • CDM 2015 – Two Years On on 25 April
  • Slope Stability – Principles and Practice on 27 April
  • GI design to EC7 on 4 May
  • Ground risk management for managers on 9 May
  • Essentials of Project Management on 16 May
  • Retaining Wall Design – Principles and Practice on 18 May
  • The ICE Professional Review – Preparing for the Written Exercise on 25 May
Each course is 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.  

NHBC BFT 2017 COMPLETED!

A smiling Andy Goodwin and James Regan of GeoMatters (https://lnkd.in/gNS29hP) having finished their tour of the UK supporting the NHBC’s Building for Tomorrow 2017 events! It was a really well organised tour by the NHBC and their events team, so thanks to everyone there.  It was great to speak to everyone on our travels too of course.

GI DESIGN TO EC7

EC7 has been here for a decade now and its use in industry is becoming more widespread all the time.  The 2015 update of the Code of Practice for Ground Investigations, BS5930, says GI’s ‘should’ follow the guidance in EC7 on GI quantum.  This coupled with the adoption of EC7 in Building Regulations and NHBC standards means that GI design is potentially set for some significant changes. To help the industry prepare, we are running again our intensive half day course that aims to address the likely impact of EC7 on ground investigation design.  It will be taught against a background introduction to design practice to EC7, and the requirements for ground characterisation and parametric assessment in particular.  The majority of the course will focus on EC7 design requirements for GI’s, including a design exercise to examine the scale of changes that could be required. The course will introduce also changes to logging and reporting requirements to suit EC7. This course is running in Chesterfield on 4 May 2017.  Please call or email us to reserve your place on this course, or to discuss running it bespoke for your company or team.  Discounts are available for group bookings or delegates attending more than one course.