Keynote Speech 4
Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice
Principal, National Geotechnical Consultants, Australia
Abstract
The gap between research in geotechnical safety and risk, and practice, is not just a gap, it is a yawning chasm. This keynote lecture will present a personal view, based on 50 years in the geotechnical industry, and call on first hand and second hand evidence gathered over those years, to show how wide and deep this chasm is, and will call for open discussion on what can and must be done to bridge the chasm, and make the practice of geostatistics available to all, so that proper assessments of uncertainty, risk, and reliability can become a normal part of everyday geotechnical practice. This is necessary for many reasons, but first and foremost is the misconception that deterministic analysis brings, that we are dealing with known quantities.
Biography
Stephen Buttling graduated from Imperial College in 1970, and immediately started research at the University of Bristol leading to the award of a PhD in January 1975. He worked in the UK for a major ground engineering contractor, and then for a small consultancy, before moving to Hong Kong to work on the Island Line of the MRTC in 1982. From there he moved to Singapore to continue work on underground railways and mass transit systems, before returning to Hong Kong in 1987. In 1990 he moved to Thailand where he worked for 16 years on major infrastructure projects, including elevated highways, bridges, hydroelectric power plants, port and harbours and the new International Airport. In 2006 he moved to Brisbane where he lived for 14 years, again working on major bridges and port works, as well as open pit mining from which he derived his initial interest in probabilistic methods, and tailings storage facilities. In late 2020 he moved back to Thailand where he still lives, but remains active in geotechnical engineering in Queensland., trying to implement probabilistic methods into the design of slopes and consolidation of soft ground in particular, and to spread the word amongst more junior geotechnical engineers.
Principal, National Geotechnical Consultants, Australia
Abstract
The gap between research in geotechnical safety and risk, and practice, is not just a gap, it is a yawning chasm. This keynote lecture will present a personal view, based on 50 years in the geotechnical industry, and call on first hand and second hand evidence gathered over those years, to show how wide and deep this chasm is, and will call for open discussion on what can and must be done to bridge the chasm, and make the practice of geostatistics available to all, so that proper assessments of uncertainty, risk, and reliability can become a normal part of everyday geotechnical practice. This is necessary for many reasons, but first and foremost is the misconception that deterministic analysis brings, that we are dealing with known quantities.
Biography
Stephen Buttling graduated from Imperial College in 1970, and immediately started research at the University of Bristol leading to the award of a PhD in January 1975. He worked in the UK for a major ground engineering contractor, and then for a small consultancy, before moving to Hong Kong to work on the Island Line of the MRTC in 1982. From there he moved to Singapore to continue work on underground railways and mass transit systems, before returning to Hong Kong in 1987. In 1990 he moved to Thailand where he worked for 16 years on major infrastructure projects, including elevated highways, bridges, hydroelectric power plants, port and harbours and the new International Airport. In 2006 he moved to Brisbane where he lived for 14 years, again working on major bridges and port works, as well as open pit mining from which he derived his initial interest in probabilistic methods, and tailings storage facilities. In late 2020 he moved back to Thailand where he still lives, but remains active in geotechnical engineering in Queensland., trying to implement probabilistic methods into the design of slopes and consolidation of soft ground in particular, and to spread the word amongst more junior geotechnical engineers.
