Research interests
Geomechanics, Geotechnical engineering, Waste management, Ballast, Geotechnical engineering, Infrastructure, Railway infrastructure, Retaining Structures, Slopes, Soil mechanics, DIC, waste mechanics, climate change risk assessment, national infrastructure, solid waste.
Principal activities
Design, implementation and analysis of results from bespoke field monitoring systems for the evaluation of track performance, e.g. using pressure cells, geophones, high speed filming with digital image correlation (DIC), extensometers, accelerometers (MEMs) and total station surveying.
Named Researcher, researcher or project manager for:
EPSRC funded:
- Track to the Future
- Track 21
- Track 400
- ITRC
- MISTRAL
Other rail projects have been funded directly by Network Rail, RSSB, the EU (Shift2Rail, In2Rail, In2Track, In2Track2) include:
- performance of under sleeper pads at switches and crossings
- behaviour of under track crossings
- monitoring of integral bridges
- pre- & post-renewal behaviour of a flat crossing
- efficacy of mud pumping remediation
- developing strategies for targeted maintenance
- lateral earth pressures generated during high-output train ballast excavation and renewal
- ballast contact testing
- cyclic triaxial testing of Victorian clay embankment fill
Research group
Infrastructure Group
Affiliate research group
Waste Management
Research project(s)
Several aspects of railway geotechnical engineering are being investigated at the University of Southampton, with the financial support of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Network Rail through a Strategic Research Partnership on Future Infrastructure Systems, and HS2 Ltd. Some examples are described on this page. In addition to those three, funders and collaborators include Arup, GeoObservations, London Underground Limited, Mott MacDonald and RSSB.
Waste mechanics and causes of landfill settlement, degradation and gas generation
Mr Geoff WatsonEngineering, University of Southampton, Southampton Boldrewood Innovation Campus, Burgess Road, Southampton, SO16 7QF
Room Number : 178/3021/B1