ICE Geotechnical Lecture 2024: monitoring the construction of a large-diameter caisson in sand

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.

Dr Ronan Royston

Dr. Ronan Royston oversees the design and delivery of major infrastructure projects for Ward and Burke Construction across the UK and Ireland, with particular focus in the water industry. He employs an interdisciplinary approach encompassing geotechnical, structural, electrical, and mechanical design, through the procurement, construction, commissioning, and operational stages.

Ronan completed his DPhil at the University of Oxford, focusing on soil-structure interaction for large diameter caissons. His research concentrated on the design and construction of underground pumping stations and tunnels.

In recognition of his contributions to engineering, Ronan was awarded the James Rennie Medal for best Chartered Engineer by the ICE in 2022.

He also serves as an adjunct associate professor in civil engineering at the University of Limerick.

Dr Brian Sheil

Prof Brian Sheil is the director of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) and the Laing O’Rourke associate professor in construction engineering at University of Cambridge (UoC). Previously, he was a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at University of Oxford.

Brian has significant expertise in smart infrastructure and construction. His research focuses on the integration of sensor technologies, advanced computational modelling, data analytics, and machine learning to improve infrastructure resilience and performance.

Brian has led interdisciplinary projects that apply digital technologies to enhance the design, monitoring, and management of civil infrastructure. Importantly, he has a strong track record of successfully collaborating with industry partners to deploy his research. 

Professor Byron Byrne

Professor Byron Byrne holds the Ørsted / Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Geotechnical Design at the University of Oxford, where he pursues a wide-ranging research program in geotechnical engineering.

He works collaboratively with industry to solve practical problems applying experimental work, at both laboratory scale and larger scale in the field, theoretical analysis and computational techniques, to develop simplified design methods for the engineer. He has a specific interest in offshore geotechnics, principally the design of foundations for offshore wind turbines, but also offshore pipeline design, as well as for onshore infrastructure activities, including pipelines, caissons, and other related soil-structure interaction problems. 

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Institution of Civil Engineers.