Use the button below to register for Geo Saskatoon 2023!
You may register for only hte short course, only the single day or the full conference.
GeoSaskatoon 2023 is pleased to offer the following short courses on Sunday, October 1st, in addition to the official conference program:
Geosynthetic & Other Solutions for Weak Subgrades
Jorge Zornberg (U. of Texas) & Ian Fleming (U. of Saskatchewan) with Andrew Lees (Tensar), Oliver Detert (Huesker), Brock Nesbit (Solmax) & Jörg Klompmaker (Naue)
8 AM – 5 PM
The course is designed to provide practicing engineers with the tools for rational design of temporary and permanent facilities constructed over weak clay subgrades. Approaches for unpaved roads will be initially presented, along with approaches to determine the key properties and interaction of the various components (clayey subgrade, road base, and geosynthetic materials). Relevant approaches will subsequently be provided for heavy haul roads and working platforms, including the limitations of current methods as well as recent and upcoming trends towards the continued development of design methods. The load-bearing behaviour and design approach for geotextile encased granular columns (GEC’s) will be presented, along with typical installation methods, results from recent research and some cases studies. Important aspects to be highlighted during the short course are the mechanisms leading to improvement of soft subgrades as well as the relevant properties of the geosynthetics used. Case histories will be presented to complement the design concepts.
Engineers interested in state-of-the-practice solutions for unsurfaced rods, working platforms, heavy-haul roads and other infrastructure over weak subgrades.
Course presentation slides and references/resources will be provided.
Jorge Zornberg Jorge Zornberg is the Brunswick-Abernathy Regents Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He has over 35 years’ experience in research and practice in geotechnical and geosynthetics engineering. He holds a B.S. from the National U. of Cordoba (Argentina), M.S. from PUC-Rio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), and Ph.D. from the U. of California at Berkeley. Prof. Zornberg’s research in the area of soil reinforcement and transportation geotechnics includes the study of geosynthetic stabilization of roadways, failure mechanisms in earth retaining walls, soil-geosynthetic interaction, geosynthetic-reinforced bridge abutments, creep of geosynthetic reinforcements, and the use of geosynthetics in asphaltic layers. Prof. Zornberg has been involved in the analysis, design, and forensic evaluation of retaining walls, reinforced soil structures, roadway systems, mining facilities and impoundment lining systems and has served as expert witness in cases involving collapse of earth retaining structures, damaged geosynthetic barrier systems and failure of roadways founded on expansive clays. His consulting activities have involved deformability and stability analyses of earth retaining structures, geosynthetic-reinforced covers and drainage layers. He participated in the design of the first load-carrying geosynthetic-reinforced bridge abutment in a US highway.
Ian Fleming is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. He holds a Ph.D. from UWO and joined the UofS in 2000, after 16 years in consulting engineering, working on geotechnical and geoenvironmental problems relating to mining, dams, and infrastructure, including geosynthetic stabilisation for construction over muskeg and weak clayey soils for access roads and working platforms. His research and practice has focused on geotechnical characterisation of non-standard geotechnical materials such as waste fill and tire-derived aggregates as well as large-scale physical modelling of soil-geosynthetic systems.
Andrew Lees, Ph.D. is the Global Manager of Applications Technology at Tensar. Over the past 20+ years, he has developed constitutive models and design methods for soil-geosynthetic systems and has published widely.
Oliver Detert, Ph.D. became the Chief Engineer for HUESKER in 2014, he has been based at the headquarters, HUESKER Synthetic GmbH in Gescher, Germany since 2005 when he first joined the company. Dr. Detert has been engaged in the geosynthetic sector for most of his career. He has a doctoral degree from Ruhr-University, his research work was on the analysis of a self-regulating interactive membrane foundation system for embankments on very soft soils. Since 2020, he has been a part-time lecturer at the Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Jorg Klompaker is a German qualified civil engineer with 27 years experience specializing in geosynthetic reinforced soil structures, pavement engineering and waste management design issues. Since 2005 Jörg has been responsible for NAUE’s Stabilisation and Reinforcement product range
Brock Nesbit is a BCIT graduate and Engineering Business Manager for Solmax-TenCate Geosynthetics in Canada. He has 26 years of experience in heavy industrial, resource extraction, and transportation infrastructure markets.
Terrain Analysis
JD Mollard and Assoc.
8 AM – 5 PM
Effective terrain analysis for geotechnical investigations is built on landform recognition and an understanding of the physical properties and geotechnical characteristics of earth materials within those landforms. Knowledge of physical processes that created the landforms and ongoing processes that modify the landscape, coupled with knowledge of the underlying geological and hydrogeological conditions, allows the terrain analyst to infer the sediment composition within the landforms and their physical properties, geotechnical characteristics and condition.
Interpretation of 3-D aerial and satellite images is an essential skill for terrain analysts to describe and characterize the terrain for a wide range of geotechnical applications. This hands-on, interactive one-day course focuses on the use of air photos and satellite images, high resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) and other remote sensing tools for 3-D terrain analysis, including data integration and analysis using geographic information systems (GIS). Emphasis is given to identification and interpretation of Canada’s landforms, landscapes, surface and subsurface materials along with their characteristics, properties, suitability and behaviour for specific uses and applications. Participants will interpret a selection of 2-D and 3-D air photos appearing in an introductory DOWN TO EARTH textbook, a stereoscopic air photo manual containing 680 images of diverse terrains from across Canada, and high-resolution 3-D DEM imagery. A main course objective will be to describe identifying characteristics of a wide variety of Canadian landscapes, their recognition features and associated geoscience, engineering and environmental significance/behaviour/applications. Instructors will make extensive use of practical case history examples to illustrate remote sensing techniques and objectives along with multidisciplinary data integration, including the use of GIS technology.
A hands-on, interactive course tailored to the interests of the participants.
Identification and interpretation of Canada’s landforms, landscapes, surface and subsurface materials from air photos, satellite images, DEMs and multidisciplinary maps. We will select and analyze, along with course attendees, an appropriate number of 3-D air photo stereograms appearing in the 680-stereogram course manual, which will include: bedrock, glacial (includes glaciofluvial and glaciolacustrine), fluvial (running water), eolian (wind), shorezone, groundwater, peatland (wetland), permafrost and colluvial (e.g., ravine slope and ground movements) landforms.
Case history examples include a wide range of subdisciplines selected from over 5,000 remote sensing consulting assignments:
• Geological (mineral and petroleum exploration)
• Geohazards (e.g., unstable ground, shore erosion, others)
• Hydrological (groundwater and surface water)
• Cryological (ice and permafrost)
• Geotechnical / geological engineering (site and route characterization and evaluation)
• Environmental (terrain sensitivity, shore erosion and environmental assessment)
• Tectonics (geologic structures / tectonic inheritance/ lineament mapping/ subsurface data integration)
The course will be particularly useful to geotechnical engineers, geoenvironmental scientists and technologists, terrain scientists, geologists and hydrogeologists, municipal and regional planners, GIS specialists and others dealing with terrain analysis for engineering, environmental and resource development applications.
The ability to view stereoscopic air photos in 3-D is an asset but not essential to benefit from the course.
Lynden Penner, M.Sc., P.Eng., P.Geo., president of J.D. Mollard and Associates (2010) Limited, has specialized in air photo and satellite remote sensing since 1986, and is a sessional lecturer in terrain analysis for the Faculty of Environmental Engineering, University of Regina. Lynden has carried out a wide range of consulting projects for engineering, environmental, geological, and resource exploration and development applications. These study projects include applied terrain mapping and evaluation, linear route location and evaluation, construction material mapping and field testing, electrical conductivity surveys, soil gas geochemical sampling and interpretation, mining and petroleum exploration and development studies, evaluation of terrain sensitivity and shore erosion modelling. His published works appear in technical and scientific papers and journals.
Jason Cosford, Ph.D., P.Geo., has worked at J.D. Mollard and Associates (2010) Limited as a geoscientist since 2001, specializing in the application of terrain analysis to the study of geomorphology, hydrogeology, geohazards, and the effects of climate change. Jason also specializes in isotope geochemistry with particular emphasis on paleoclimatology and geochronology. He is an experienced interpreter of air photos and satellite imagery and a proficient user of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). An experienced field researcher, Jason has conducted field mapping in diverse terrains, ranging from recent glacial landforms and sediments in southern Patagonia to Proterozoic rocks of the Trans-Hudson Orogen in northern Saskatchewan, and has collected field data using variety of techniques including ground conductivity surveys, ground penetrating radar, bore holes, piezometers, and lacustrine coring. Recent projects include hydrogeological mapping for the IEA Weyburn CO2 sequestration project, extracting and interpreting sediment cores from hydro reservoirs in northern Manitoba, mapping and modeling erosion of the banks of the Peace River in British Columbia from digital orthoimagery and LiDAR data, and interpreting stable isotopic records of speleothem as a proxy for paleoclimatic conditions associated with fluctuations in the intensity and character of the East Asian monsoon.
Pipeline Geotechnique
Doug Dewar
8 AM – 5 PM
The course is designed to educate engineers and geoscientists conducting site-specific landslide, extreme weather event or settlement subsidence assessments for pipelines. Advice on the best use of traditional ground monitoring techniques such as slope inclinometers, surface survey and LiDAR will also be presented. The focus of the course will be to introduce pipeline monitoring techniques that provide direct evidence of soil to pipe interactions. Pipeline monitoring techniques discussed include pipeline locates, pipe wall assessments (aka. electromagnetic tomography) and in-line inspections. The focus will be the integration of traditional ground/pipeline monitoring techniques with other sources of information including operator records and potential interacting pipeline anomalies. Additional topics covered include pipeline materials/construction, pipeline emergencies, pipeline rules of thumb and strain relief.
Engineers/geoscientists working within the pipeline industry conducting geohazard assessments and/or any student/engineer/geoscientist interested in working in/for the pipeline industry. Even experienced practitioners will find the course useful. If anything, the presenter is entertaining.
Course presentation and references/resources including the instructor’s rules of thumb. The presenter will provide an open “magic” excel spreadsheet to attendees to do simple pipeline related calculations.
Doug Dewar graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a Bachelor’s of Science in Geological engineering and the University of Alberta with a Master’s of Science in Geotechnical Engineering. Doug initially worked in consulting for 7 years focusing on landslides and terrain stability for the forest, mining, and pipeline industries before transitioning to working for pipeline operators for the last 20 years. He is currently a geotechnical supervisor at Pembina Pipelines working with a team of internal professionals and consultants to implement a geohazard management program for approximately 19,000 km of pipelines in Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the plains of the U.S.A
Doug has published numerous papers and been involved in several industry groups focusing on the incorporation of ground and pipeline monitoring techniques into geohazard management programs. Specific interests include the use of axial strain and geometry in-line inspection methods to detect, assess and manage interacting landslides.
How Far Will it Go? A Short Course on Stability and Deformation Analysis Methods
Vicki Nguyen and Joe Quinn (KCB)
8 AM – 3 PM
Limit equilibrium analyses are a useful tool in geotechnical engineering to determine the potential slope stability factor of safety. However, they are unable to provide insight into the amount of deformation associated with a given factor of safety – even if an earth structure does not “fail” the associated displacements may not be acceptable. Conversely, despite low factors of safety, if the resulting displacements are within tolerable limits, a design could be deemed acceptable. In this short course, we will discuss different methods to assess the stability and performance of earth structures through slope stability and deformation analyses and discuss in which situations they could be applicable based on case histories. Topics covered will include:
The selection of material parameters through model calibration and data review, 2D versus 3D LEM and deformation analyses,
Evaluating static liquefaction potential, and Estimating seismic deformations and post-seismic factors of safety.
Joe Quinn is the vice president of Klohn Crippen Berger’s Alberta business unit and a geotechnical engineer with experience working on mining projects in Europe, Africa, South America, Canada, Australasia, and Asia. He has wide-ranging experience of applying advanced numerical modelling to the design and assessment of tailings dams in oilsands and hard rock mines. Joe also assisted the post-failure investigation panels with geotechnical and numerical modelling support in their assessments at the Fundão tailings dam in Brazil in 2015, the Cadia North Tailings Storage Facility (NTSF) in Australia in 2018, and the Feijão Mine Dam I in Brumadinho, Brazil in 2019.
Vicki Nguyen has twelve years of experience working as a geotechnical engineer (P.Eng.) in Alberta and British Columbia, after graduating from the University of Waterloo with a BASc in Civil Engineering. Over the last eight years, she has developed numerical models in FLAC 2D and 3D to assess and design slope stabilization measures, perform seismic deformation models, and calibrate model parameters based on field and instrumentation data for tailings facilities, dam structures, and slope stabilization projects.