December 2005 - Ottawa Geotechnical Group

The Canadian
Geotechnical Society
La Société canadienne de
géotechnique
The Ottawa
Geotechnical Group
Le Groupe géotechnique
d’Ottawa
Comité exécutif 2005-2006 Executive Committee
Chair / Président
Past Chair / Président sortant
Vice-Chair / Vice-président
CGS Regional Director / Directeur régional SCG
Treasurer / Trésorier
Secretary / Secrétaire
Michael Bleakney
Paul Carnaffan
Mark Priddle
Siva Sivathayalan
Michel Timmons
Nell van Walsum
Advisor / Conseiller
Executive Member / Membre exécutif
Executive Member / Membre exécutif
Executive Member / Membre exécutif
Executive Member / Membre exécutif
Student Member / Membre étudiant
Mike Bozozuk
Baolin Wang
Son Nguyen
ShiZhong Lei
Troy Skinner
Elizabeth Garven
Invitation
The Ottawa Geotechnical Group is pleased to announce the following luncheon presentation
Simple techniques for extending the principles of unsaturated soils
mechanics into engineering practice
by
Prof. Sai K. Vanapalli, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa
Date:
Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005
Time:
Registration: 11:45am; Lunch: 12:00pm; Presentation: 12:45pm
Location:
University of Ottawa, Colonel By Building, Room A707 (see map attached)
Admission:
$15 for OGG Members; $20 for non-members; $10 for students (pay at door)
Parking:
Available in parkades (not included in admission; see map attached)
RSVP:
Baolin Wang ([email protected]), by Noon, Friday, Dec. 9, 2005
Ottawa Geotechnical Group Sponsors
Accutest Laboratories Ltd.
Dywidag Systems International Canada
George Downing Estate Drilling
George W. Drummond Limited
Geosynthetic Systems
Marathon Drilling Co. Ltd.
OGS Inc.
Paracel Laboratories
PVC Plus Drilling Products Inc.
Quantum Environmental
Rideau Pipe and Drilling Supplies
USL-1 Inc.
Simple techniques for extending the principles of unsaturated soils
mechanics into engineering practice
by
Prof. Sai K. Vanapalli, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa
ABSTRACT: Unsaturated soil mechanics principles have recently been receiving attention in several practical
engineering applications. Some examples include the design of soil covers, soil liners and pavements. This
mechanics is also being used in the extraction of petroleum resources, improving the stability of slopes etc. In many
of these application studies, the soil-water retention curve (SWRC) has been found to be a useful tool to predict the
engineering behavior of unsaturated soils. The SWRC is the relationship between the water content (gravimetric or
volumetric) or degree of saturation and the soil suction.
The presentation focuses on the importance of the applications of unsaturated soil mechanics to conventional
engineering practice. Simple techniques that can be used in the determination of the SWRC for both coarse and
fine-grained soils will be highlighted. In addition, the simple techniques of estimating the shear strength and the
coefficient of permeability for unsaturated soils will be discussed. Other research studies in progress related to the
estimation of the bearing capacity of unsaturated soils will also be presented.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: – Dr. Vanapalli completed his PhD from the University of Saskatchewan in 1994. Prior to
joining as a faculty member in the Civil Engineering Department, University of Ottawa in 2003, Dr. Vanapalli worked
at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon; Royal Military College, Kingston; and Lakehead University in various
capacities including research engineer, post-doc fellow, research associate, sessional lecturer, assistant professor
and associate professor.
Dr. Vanapalli has authored or co-authored over 60 research publications including 1 book chapter, 2 state-of-the-art
review reports in international conferences on unsaturated soils, and 2 peer-reviewed projects. He has presented
his research work at several conferences and universities in twelve different countries and has been involved with
the organization of two workshops. He has been on advisory and technical committees of three international
conferences on unsaturated soils and several other international conferences. He is also a consultant/co-author of
the Soils Manual for Canadian Military Engineers. Dr. Vanapalli is currently co-chair of the Joint 60th Canadian
Geotechnical 8th /IAH Conference to be held in Ottawa in 2007 as well as the co-chair for the 12th International
Conference on Computational Methods and Applied Geomechanics to be held in Mumbai-Goa in India in 2008.
Presently, Dr. Vanapalli is one of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Geotechnical Society.
Dr. Vanapalli has peer-reviewed journal articles for twelve different national and international technical journals which
include Geotechnique, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering,
American Society of Testing Materials, Soil Science Society of America and Transportation Research Board. Dr.
Vanapalli was invited to act as a chairman, panel member, evaluation reporter, and as state-of-the-art report speaker
for several international conferences on unsaturated soils and geotechnical fields during the last six years. He has
acted as an evaluator for NSERC, NSF, Quebec Government Proposals and Australia Research Board grant
applications.
Dr. Vanapalli’s research interests primarily lie in the area of engineering behavior of unsaturated soils and the design
of soil liners. His research goals are directed towards developing simple experimental and prediction procedures for
the interpretation of the engineering behavior of unsaturated soils, limitations of SWCC.
Ottawa Geotechnical Group Sponsors
Accutest Laboratories Ltd.
Dywidag Systems International Canada
George Downing Estate Drilling
George W. Drummond Limited
Geosynthetic Systems
Marathon Drilling Co. Ltd.
OGS Inc.
Paracel Laboratories
PVC Plus Drilling Products Inc.
Quantum Environmental
Rideau Pipe and Drilling Supplies
USL-1 Inc.
Ottawa Geotechnical Group Sponsors
Accutest Laboratories Ltd.
Dywidag Systems International Canada
George Downing Estate Drilling
George W. Drummond Limited
Geosynthetic Systems
Marathon Drilling Co. Ltd.
OGS Inc.
Paracel Laboratories
PVC Plus Drilling Products Inc.
Quantum Environmental
Rideau Pipe and Drilling Supplies
USL-1 Inc.
THE OTTAWA GEOTECHNICAL GROUP
LE GROUPE GÉOTECHNIQUE D’OTTAWA
MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION FORM
FORMULAIRE D’INSCRIPTION DES MEMBRES
2005-2006
I wish to join the Ottawa Geotechnical Group for 2005-2006. I enclose a cheque in the amount
of $20.00 (this amount includes $1.31 GST), made payable to the “Ottawa Geotechnical
Group”.
Je désire devenir membre du Groupe Géotechnique d’Ottawa pour la période 2005-2006. Je
joins à la présente un chèque de $20.00 (ce montant comprend $1.31 pour la TPS) fait à l’ordre
du « Groupe Géotechnique d’Ottawa.»
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Return to/ renvoyez à :
Nell van Walsum
Secretary, Ottawa Geotechnical Group
WESA
3108 Carp Road, P.O. Box 430
Carp, ON K0A 1L0