Stephen West, Leader of the AGS Geotechnical Working Group, has provided an update on the top issues the Geotechnical Working Group discussed at their last meeting which took place virtually in February 2021.

Underpinning Ground Movements

An article on the topic of underpinning ground movement is featured in the April/May 2021 issue of the AGS Magazine. The article looks at how members should approach the assessment of ground risk associated with the underpinning ground movements and the requirements for local authority and third party permissions for developing small-scale basements for residential properties in different parts of the country.

Net Zero Carbon Webinar 2021

The Geotechnical Working Group are currently in the process of organising a webinar on Net Zero Carbon. The webinar is scheduled to take place in October 2021 and further details will be announced in due course.  Potential topics include the management of embedded Carbon in investigation processes, design lower carbon whole life solutions for infrastructure and buildings, measuring our success in managing carbon as part of overall schemes, and considering the resilience of schemes in the face of Climate Change.

Soakaway Testing

Members of the Geotechnical Working Group are currently looking at preparing a statement on the use of trial pit infiltration testing considering issues of cost, programme, and health and safety risks. The GWG are also looking at alternative methods to trial pit infiltration tests for the design of soakaways which may require modification of existing design guidance.

Digitisation

The Geotechnical WG have been discussing the topic of digitisation of geotechnical interpretation and design process with a focus on analysis automatisation and machine learning when carrying out geotechnical interpretation and analysis. The GWG are aiming to proceed by producing an article on this topic which looks at industry developments without removing the importance of the human element in the development of good value solutions.

If you would like to join the AGS Geotechnical Working Group, please contact the AGS Secretariat at ags@ags.org.uk.