Cementation Skanska
Skanska, one of the UK’s leading contractors, is an inclusive and responsible business that is helping to build a better society.
Event organised by The British Geotechnical Association
The Fleming Award event is held annually to recognise excellence in the practical application of geotechnics in a project. The competition prize is awarded by the British Geotechnical Association (BGA) to the project team who demonstrate quality in geotechnical design and construction.
Submitting teams typically include representatives from clients, main contractors, consulting engineers and specialist contractors. There is an emphasis on teamwork and innovation across the different disciplines involved in the project. The prize commemorates the life and work of Dr Ken Fleming who was chief engineer at Cementation Skanska Foundation.
This year's competition opened in September and three finalists will be selected to present their projects at The Fleming Award event on 03 December 2024. While the judges deliberate, guest speaker, the 2024 Cooling Prize winner, Thomas Riccio will present his award-winning presentation: Pile installation effects and plugging in soft rock - seeing through the rock – small-scale observations.
The Fleming Award winner is then announced and awarded the £1000 prize sponsored by Cementation Skanska.
This event has kindly been sponsored by Cementation Skanska:
Skanska, one of the UK’s leading contractors, is an inclusive and responsible business that is helping to build a better society.
The BGA is the UK's main association for geotechnical engineers, organising key events annually.
Registration and welcome refreshments
[Registrations start at 18:00 for those attending in person. For those joining online, we recommend logging into the platform at 18:15 to check connections.]
Welcome from chair
Finalists' presentations including Q&A sessions
Judges deliberation and guest speaker – Thomas Riccio (including Q&A session)
Award presentation
Networking and drinks reception
Event close
Geotechnical Observations Ltd
managing director & owner
Dr Andrew Ridley is Chair of the British Geotechnical Association and managing director of Geotechnical Observations Limited which he founded in 2000.
With over 40 years’ experience within the geotechnical sector of the civil engineering industry, he is known for his work on the measurement of soil suction (in situ and laboratory) for which he received a PhD from Imperial College London.
Andrew is currently the UK's representative on ISO TC182 WG2, which is writing international standards for geotechnical monitoring, a member of the British National Committee for standards in geotechnics B_526_3, Chair of ISSMGE TC220 Field Monitoring in Geomechanics and was Chair of the local organising committee for the 11th International Symposium on Field Monitoring in Geomechanics held at Imperial College London in September 2022.
In addition, Andrew was a member of the Steering Committee for CIRIA 550 Infrastructure Embankments – Condition Appraisal and Remedial Treatment, on the Editorial Panel of Geotechnical Engineering (Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers) from 1998 to 2001 and was a member of the sub-committee to the Advisory Panel of Géotechnique for the 2011 Symposium in Print on Partial Saturation in Compacted Soils.
University of Dundee
PhD student
Thomas is a PhD student at the University of Dundee, where his research aims to advance the understanding of installation and loading effects on pile foundations in soft rock.
Prior to commencing his PhD, Thomas worked in the offshore engineering sector, contributing to geotechnical design for various offshore wind farm projects by means of consultancy and offshore client representation work. His current work at Dundee has involved developing small-scale physical testing apparatus for integrate X-ray CT use, enabling new insights into soil-structure interaction problems.
Today, he will provide an overview of the new apparatus, followed by observations from its initial campaign, which paired X-ray radiography and CT with small-scale pile installation and load testing in soft rock. The focus will be on the modes of penetration that jacked or impact-driven open-ended pile foundations in soft rock may experience, and how the small-scale findings relate to full-scale pile foundations in the field.
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