Fleming Award 2023

Dr Andrew Ridley

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.

David Richards

David is professor in ground engineering and from August 2018 – August 2023, head of the School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Southampton.

Technical interests include the geotechnical aspects of ageing infrastructure, large-scale field monitoring, the engineering behaviour and characterisation (pre and post processed) of landfill wastes, and the mechanical characterisation of chalk using CT imaging techniques and cyclic simple shear tests.

He has undertaken detailed studies into the rate loading effects of electricity transmission tower (shallow) footing systems involving both scaled physical modelling techniques in a geotechnical centrifuge and through field monitoring.

He has more recently addressed Overhead Line Electrification foundation design issues that significantly contributed to the GWEP upgrade cost increases and eventual project scope reduction.

He was PI for the £26M BEIS/EPSRC funded UKCRIC National Infrastructure Laboratory on the UoS Boldrewood Campus and UKCRIC Coordination Node (CN) director working to support a networked suite of national research test facilities to undertake fundamental research related infrastructure performance, resilience and renewal.

Teaching covers all aspects of geotechnics and foundations with particular interests in the broad aspects of engineering design. Working with industrial collaborators and recent graduates, he leads the civil engineering Part 1 Constructionarium located at the National Construction College, Norfolk.

David was awarded a Gledden Senior Visiting Fellowship by the University of Western Australia, Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems in 2001.

He is a co-recipient of the IMechE Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal and the John F Alcock Memorial Prize, 2007, an ICE Telford Premium, 2009 and the ICE Curtin Medal, 2016 and Geotechnical Research Medal, 2003.