• Title of Presentation

    Is unsaturated soil mechanics responsible for the failure of unsupported slopes in South Australia?

  • Abstract

    Unsaturated soil mechanics was used in the design of revetment walls as part of a lowered non-stop motorway in South Australia. A revetment wall is defined as a cut slope only protected from the weather by a non-structural facing, for example, shotcreting. These walls subsequently experienced either failure (collapse) or excessive displacements, raising questions about the cause of the failure and the appropriateness of applying unsaturated soil mechanics principles in the design. This lecture will present the speaker’s opinion about the real cause of the failure, summarise key lessons learnt from the case study and make general recommendations about engineering practice in arid and semi-arid regions.

  • Biography

    Professor Daichao Sheng is a Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and the Head of School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) since 2019. Before his current role, he was a Professor of Geomechanics at the University of Newcastle during 1997-2019. He also holds a conjoint position at Central South University in China since 2013. His research interest spans computational geomechanics, unsaturated soils, transport geotechnics and environmental geotechnics. Prof Sheng is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (FTSE), and a Fellow of Institute of Engineers in Australia (FIEAust).

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