Dr Joel Smethurst

Research groups

Research interests

• The effects of vegetation and climate on the performance of earthworks (cuttings and embankments)
• The stabilisation of both infrastructure slopes and large landslides using discretely spaced piles
• The mechanical stabilisation of soil by plants roots
• The use of terrestrial laser scanning in geotechnical engineering, and development of novel slope instrumentation approaches
• Short and long-term heave of clay beneath deep basement structures

Current research

Much of my research is based on field measurement of the performance of real structures, often over long periods of time, with one instrumented slope site having been monitored continuously for nearly 20 years. In many cases, field data have been used to calibrate numerical models which are used to further investigate behaviour and/or performance.

My research has been funded by EPSRC and a number of industrial partners including Cementation Skanska, Environment Agency, Highways England, London Underground, Mouchel, Mott MacDonald, Network Rail, and Rail Safety and Standards Board.

Current reaserch projects include the major EPSRC Programme Grant ACHILLES (www.achilles-grant.org.uk) which is investigating weather driven deterioration of clay earthworks, and a Network Rail project analysing transitions between clay embankments and underbridges.

Research projects