4x Local Geotech, Pavement & Rail Related Symposiums You Maybe Interested In

We wanted to alert you to four events that you or your colleagues maybe interested in attending:

SPARC International Symposium on Unbound Flexible Pavements 2022 – 29-30 Sept 2022

SPARC Hub, centred at Monash University, is leading the research effort to address the current key issues in unbound granular material testing, design and construction processes.

The Hub is organising a two-day online symposium on unbound flexible pavements in September 2022 targeting primarily the Australian road industry. The symposium comprises a range of keynote speeches from world-renowned experts in various countries and panel discussions with industry experts and leaders with a view to advancing the current approach for testing, design and construction of unbound flexible pavements.

Day 1 (29 September 2022, AEST): The state of practice and advancements – materials, testing and design

Day 2 (30 September 2022, AEST): Construction, operation and condition assessment of unbound flexible pavements

https://www.sparchub-unbound-pavements-symposium-2022.org.au

Insitutek are proud of the behind the scenes support role we have played in making the SPARC Hub the success it is.

National Workshop on Transportation Geomechanics and Ground Improvement – 24 Nov 2022

The workshop is hosted by the Transport Research Centre (TRC), University of Technology Sydney and co-hosted by the Australian Geomechanics Society, and the technical committees TC202: Transportation Geotechnics and TC211: Ground Improvement of ISSMGE.

The presentations will focus on innovative R&D outcomes, practices, technological applications and case studies to allow the audience to learn about new tools and techniques relevant to their work.

A broad range of topics will be presented covering emerging themes and advances in the areas of Transport Geotechnics and Ground Improvement, including:

• Challenges and Innovations in Earthworks Controls for Transport Infrastructure
• Soft Ground Improvement
• Tunnelling in Soft Ground
• Waste Materials in Road and Rail Substructure
• Port Reclamation
• AI and Machine Learning Applications
• Use of Geosynthetics
• Soft Soil Instability and Mud Pumping under Cyclic Loads
• Environmental Impact Assessment, among others

Find the program here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lBVnAblDC7EbbIcGV2WcseuYYcck1Fs/view

To register, follow:
https://events.humanitix.com/trc22workshop

Insitutek will be exhibiting so we look forward to seeing you there.

14th Australia and New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics 2023 – 2 – 5 July 2023, Cairns

The abstract submission deadline has been extended – Now closing 30 September 2022 at Midnight AEST.

Our profession will play a key role helping society achieve a safe, prosperous and sustainable future.

Recent droughts have driven a boom in dam design and construction aimed at ensuring communities have drinking water.  Recent rainfall has triggered extensive slope failures which has impacted roads, rail and urban infrastructure.

The energy transformation from fossil fuels to something different is driving large scale solar, wind and pumped hydro construction all of which have substantial geotechnical components.  Other technologies such as hydrogen, waste to energy, geothermal etc all will require geotechnical input.

The digital age is well and truly upon us and the possibilities of using technology are almost endless.  AI has been used to predict future rail maintenance and landslide susceptibility.  Various automations are being developed by everyone to make their work more efficient.  Structural health monitoring, instrumentation, autonomous vehicles will all require digital input along with construction monitoring, intelligent compaction and so on.

Biogeo-technologies are being researched and may become practical into the future.

Unsaturated soil mechanics has been adopted in some places to reduce construction costs but comes with risks that need to be understood.  Stochastic methods more generally are becoming increasingly common as we grapple with the age old problem of making decisions in the face of uncertainty.

Teaching our people new skills will be key which begs the question to what extent should it be done through universities or businesses? Teaching old skills such as engineering geology, groundwater, geophysics and laboratory testing has disappeared from universities to a large extent.  For example, this has become acutely apparent now we are building dams again and our profession lacks skilled people having not built any dams for 30 years.  How do we regain these skills quickly?

Insitutek will be exhibiting so we look forward to seeing you there.

SubmissionsClose – Mon 14 November 2022

In 2023, the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA) will be hosting its biennial Conference on Railway Excellence (CORE), the premier technical conference in Australasia’s rail industry calendar.

Streams include:

Bridges & Structures

• Innovative designs
• Refurbishment and life extension
• Capacity upgrade
• New and innovative maintenance techniques
• Advanced monitoring and inspection

Inspection & Condition Monitoring

• New and innovative systems and techniques
• Improvements in the use of measured data
• Automation
• Digital twins

Track Maintenance

• Improved track maintenance practices
• Track maintenance management
• Mechanisation of track maintenance
• Long-term planning for track component replacement
• Optimisation of track renewals to reduce operational impact
• Improving rail and weld integrity and performance

Track Design & Construction

• Track design and/or construction challenges in recent projects
• New design or analysis techniques
• Innovative construction techniques
• Track upgrading processes
• Noise and vibration considerations and technologies
• Evolution of the track structure over 25 years