Geomechanics and Environmental Geotechnics Research | Engineering and the Environment

Overview

Our principal areas of research are

Environmental Geotechnics
Fundamental Geomechanics
Infrastructure

We currently hold over £5.5M in research funding, supporting over 30 researchers. We are one of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council's (EPSRC's) most highly funded groups in ground and environmental engineering, and draw in significant industry support from Network Rail, Veolia, the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), the Environment Agency, and National Grid. Research results are consistently disseminated to industry through authorship of guidance documents and reports, and articles in the professional and trade press.

We have contributed to fundamental knowledge in the areas of groundwater control, retaining wall performance, landfill engineering, soil behaviour, field and laboratory instrumentation, geotechnical numerical modelling, railway geotechnical engineering and the use of pile foundations as heat exchangers for ground source heat pump energy systems.

We have international research links with institutions in China, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, Kazakhstan, Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and Australia.

hydraulic and tracer tests in landfill waste — Pitsea compression cell

Other University of Southampton sites

Our principal areas of research are

Environmental Geotechnics
Fundamental Geomechanics
Infrastructure

We have international research links with institutions in China, Hong Kong, Italy, Germany, Kazakhstan, Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and Australia.

Other University of Southampton sites

Research Areas

Environmental Geotechnics

Fundamental Geomechanics

Infrastructure

Facilities

Infrastructure laboratory including Southampton Railway Testing Facility; Instron; Geomechanics laboratory including hollow cylinder apparatus, cyclic simple shear apparatus, low temperature/high pressure rig for triaxial testing of gas hydrate bearing sediments; resonant column apparatus; cyclic triaxials; advanced image analysis for strain measurement.

Postgraduate opportunities

If you are interested in joining us either to study or to become part of our research team please select the relevant link below for further information.

Funded PhD Opportunities

Postgraduate Taught Courses

Current job vacancies at the University of Southampton

Publications

Articles

Collins, A. L., Williams, L. J., Zhang, Y. S., Marius, M., Dungait, J. A. J., Smallman, D. J., ... Naden, P. S. (2013). Catchment source contributions to the sediment-bound organic matter degrading salmonid spawning gravels in a lowland river, southern England. Science of Total Environment, 456-457, 181-195. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.03.093

Beaven, R. P., Hudson, A. P., Knox, K., Powrie, W., & Robinson, J. P. (2013). Clogging of landfill tyre and aggregate drainage layers by methanogenic leachate and implications for practice. Waste Management, 33(2), 431-444. DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2012.10.021

White, J. K., & Beaven, R. P. (2013). Developments to a landfill processes model following its application to two landfill modelling challenges. Waste Management, 33(10), 1969-1981. DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2012.12.006

Loveridge, F. A., & Powrie, W. (2013). Pile heat exchangers: thermal behaviour and interactions. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering, 166(2), 178-196. DOI: 10.1680/geng.11.00042

Walker, J. C., Kamps, T. J., & Wood, R. J. K. (2013). The influence of start-stop velocity cycling on the friction and wear behaviour of a hyper-eutectic Al-Si automotive alloy. Wear, 306(1-2), 209-218. DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2012.11.007

Briggs, K. M., Smethurst, J. A., Powrie, W., & O'Brien, A. S. (2013). Wet winter pore pressures in railway embankments. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Geotechnical Engineering, 166(GE5), 451-465. DOI: 10.1680/geng.11.00106

Papanicolopulos, S-A., & Zervos, A. (2012). A method for creating a class of triangular C1 finite elements. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 89(11), 1437-1450. DOI: 10.1002/nme.3296

Rajahram, S. S., Harvey, T. J., Walker, J. C., Wang, S. C., & Wood, R. J. K. (2012). Investigation of erosion-corrosion mechanisms of UNS S31603 using FIB and TEM. Tribology International, 46(1), 161-173. DOI: 10.1016/j.triboint.2011.05.012

Priest, J. A., Powrie, W., Le Pen, L., Mac, P., & Burstow, M. (2012). The effect of enhanced curving forces on the behaviour of canted ballasted track. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 227(3), 229-244. DOI: 10.1177/0954409712458623

Maurice, L., Barker, J. A., Atkinson, T. C., Williams, A. T., & Smart, P. L. (2011). A tracer methodology for identifying ambient flows in boreholes. Ground Water, 49(2), 227-238. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6584.2010.00708.x

Coelho, B., Holscher, P., Priest, J., Powrie, W., & Barends, F. (2011). An assessment of transition zone performance. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 225(2), 129-139. DOI: 10.1177/09544097JRRT389

Yunus, A., Smallman, D. J., Stringfellow, A., Beaven, R., & Powrie, W. (2011). Characterisation of the recalcitrant organic compounds in leachates formed during the anaerobic biodegradation of waste. Water Science & Technology, 64(2), 311-319. DOI: 10.2166/wst.2011.636

Le Pen, L. M., & Powrie, W. (2011). Contribution of base, crib and shoulder ballast to the lateral sliding resistance of railway track: a geotechnical perspective. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part F: Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 225(2), 113-128. DOI: 10.1177/0954409710397094

Nixon, C., Sanderson, D. J., & Bull, J. (2011). Deformation within a strike-slip fault network at Westward Ho!, Devon U.K.: Domino vs conjugate faulting. Journal of Structural Geology, 33, 833-843. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsg.2011.03.009

White, J. K., Beaven, R. P., Powrie, W., & Knox, K. (2011). Leachate recirculation in a landfill: some insights obtained from the development of a simple 1-D model. Waste Management, 31(6), 1210-1221. DOI: 10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.022

Stringfellow, A., Powrie, W., Castano-Tejada, W., Whatmore, S., Gilbert, A., Manser, R., & Maslen, R. (2011). Mechanical heat treatment of municipal solid waste. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management, 164(3), 179-190. DOI: 10.1680/warm.2011.164.3.179

Jolly, J. M., Beaven, R. P., & Barker, R. D. (2011). Resolution of electrical imaging of fluid movement in landfills. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management, 164(2), 79-96. DOI: 10.1680/warm.2011.164.2.79

Stringfellow, A., Simoes, A., Smallman, D. J., Beaven, R. P., Powrie, W., & Potter, H. A. B. (2011). Sorption of Mecoprop by two clay landfill liner materials: Oxford clay and Mercia mudstone. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 44(3), 321-329. DOI: 10.1144/1470-9236/08-099

Simoes, A., Stringfellow, A., Smallman, D. J., Beaven, R. P., Powrie, W., & Potter, H. (2011). Sorption of organic contaminants by Oxford Clay and Mercia Mudstone landfill liners. Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, 44(3), 345 -360. DOI: 10.1144/1470-9236/09-003

Chang, N., Heymann, G., & Clayton, C. (2011). The effect of fabric on the behaviour of gold tailings. Géotechnique, 61(3), 187-197. DOI: 10.1680/geot.9.P.066

Staff

Staff Member	Primary Position
Richard Beaven	Principal Research Fellow
Chris Clayton	Professor of Infrastructure Engineering
Margarida Fernandes de Pinho Lopes	Lecturer in Geomechanics
Susan Gourvenec	Professor of Offshore Geotechnical Engineering
Louis Le Pen	Senior Research Fellow
Fleur Loveridge	Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow
William Powrie	Professor of Geotechnical Engineering
Tristan Rees-White	Research Fellow
David Richards	Professor
Joel Smethurst	Lecturer
Anne Stringfellow	Senior Research Fellow
Geoff Watson	Research Fellow
David White	Professor of Infrastructure Geotechnics
Nick Woodman	Senior Research Fellow
Antonis Zervos	Associate Professor in Geomechanics

Related Projects

Related Projects	Status	Type
Validation of a spatial-temporal soil water movement and plant water uptake model	Active	Other
Modelling the effects of material microstructure	Active	Other
Mechanics of landslides	Active	Other
Leachate recirculation and collection systems	Active	Other
How do we reduce the length of landfill aftercare?	Active	Other
Landfill hydraulics	Active	Other
Understanding landfill processes	Active	Other
Modelling Of Train Induced Vibration (MOTIV)	Active	Other