Half-Day Short Course on:

Introduction to Geotechnical Design using Geosynthetics

INTRODUCTION

Geosynthetics are planar products manufactured from polymeric material, which are used to enhance, augment and facilitate cost effective geotechnical, environmental and transportation engineering projects. This workshop will provide a comprehensive introduction to geosynthetic materials and their applications in geotechnical engineering. The workshop will be divided into four modules: (1) Description of geosynthetics and their basic functions, material properties and selection criteria; (2) Use of geosynthetics in construction of unpaved road; (3) Design of reinforced embankments on soft soils; (4) Design of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls.

Learning outcomes: At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Choose an appropriate type of geosynthetic material for a given geotechnical engineering application;
• Understand the load carrying mechanism for different geosynthetic materials as they interact with the surrounding ground;
• Carry out simple calculations to analyze the bearing capacity of reinforced soils under vertical loads;
• Calculate the collapse load of embankments over soft soils stabilized using geosynthetics;
• Determine lateral earth pressure on mechanically stabilized earth walls and design a suitable reinforcement system.

Short Bio

Dr. Mohamed A. Meguid, PEng, M.ASCE
Professor of Civil Engineering
Former Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
Leader of the Geo-Group at McGill University

Dr. Meguid received his Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario. He spent one year as a postdoctoral fellow at Queen’s University before joining McGill in 2004. He has more than 100 technical publications in the area of soil-structure interaction. He developed and taught several professional development courses and workshops in geotechnical engineering. His passion for teaching resulted in several teaching awards and in 2010 he received the Outstanding Teaching Award from the Faculty of Engineering at McGill University. Dr. Meguid served as Associate Chair of the Civil Engineering Department from 2010 to 2012 and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 2012 to 2017. He is an executive member of the board of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and a member of the Egyptian code committee for the design and construction of tunnels and subsurface structures.