Research interests
Transport infrastructure
Major projects on which he has worked include the A55 Conwy Crossing, the Jubilee Line extension stations at Canary Wharf and Canada Water, and HS1. He is currently working with HS2 on geotechnical and earthworks aspects. He is co-author of Construction Industry Research and Information (CIRIA) reports C750 Groundwater control – design and practice, 2nd edition (2016) and C760 Guidance on embedded retaining wall design (2017). Both of these incorporate results of his research in these areas.
He was Principal Investigator for Rail Research UK (2003-2010), a Universities-based centre for Rail Systems Research, and now leads an EPSRC Programme Grant, Track to the Future, aiming to provide the science needed to underpin a radical overhaul in techniques for railway track design, construction and maintenance. He is Convenor of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC), and leads the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network Centre of Excellence in Infrastructure.
He is a former Associate Editor of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, a former Honorary Editor of the Institution of Civil Engineers journal Geotechnical Engineering, and has been Geotechnical Consultant to groundwater specialists WJ Group since 1987.
Waste and resource management
William's work in waste and resource management focuses on landfill engineering, and on the development of a sound scientific basis for policy and practice. He led a major EPSRC-funded programme of fundamental research, Science and Strategies for the Management of Residual Wastes, with the aim of enabling and encouraging landfill operation so as to accelerate biodegradation and stabilization of the waste. He was a co-author of the Institute of Wastes Management report on the Role and operation of the flushing bioreactor.
He worked on the design and engineering risk assessment of the low level radioactive waste repositories at Drigg; and was founding Honorary Editor of the ICE journal Waste and Resource Management; a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Waste Working Group; and chair of the Technologies Advisory Committee for Defra's £30M programme of research and demonstrator projects for new technologies for the treatment of biodegradable waste. He is the author of the widely respected textbook, Soil mechanics: concepts and applications.
Research group
Infrastructure Group
Affiliate research group
Waste Management
Research project(s)
How to access the heat beneath our feet by using building foundations to harvest thermal energy.
The disposal of Cement Kiln Dust (CKD) to landfill produces leachates with extreme properties of high pH and ionic species concentrations. The research has investigated a number of issues including: the properties of CKD, methods for the extraction of CKD rich leachate from landfills, the interaction of CKD with municipal solid waste and the anaerobic treatment of leachates with a high sulphate concentration.
This Knowledge Transfer (KT) project focused on the following key areas:
Bioenergy (especially methane production through anaerobic digestion, but also with potential for involvement in other areas e.g. other biofuels, production of pellets for local heat and co-firing in power stations, and pyrolysis of residual municipal wastes for syngas production)
Energy footprinting for process optimisation, both in industry and in the waste management sector
Energy efficiency studies within companies
Urban Sustainability studies (including participation in the Thameside Gateway Institute for Sustainability)
Professor William PowrieEngineering, University of Southampton, Southampton Boldrewood Innovation Campus, Burgess Road, Southampton, SO16 7QF
Room Number NNN: 178/3009
