What is geo-environmental engineering?
At its core, geo-environmental engineering is about looking after the well-being of the environment and the people who live within it, making sure that the two can safely co-exist without endangering one another’s health. This means investigating and minimising the risk of environmental issues as well as containing and removing pre-existing ones, all while assessing the materials and processes we use to ensure they remain sustainable and cost-effective.
Geo-environmental engineering applications
Geo-environmental engineering is a complex and wide-ranging branch of engineering – pollution control, transportation and disposal of hazardous waste, water treatment, renewable energy infrastructure and flood prevention are just a few of the vitally important applications of geo-environmental engineering.
Many of the structures and processes upon which our health and hygiene are reliant are products of geo-environmental engineering. Therefore, whether you have realised it or not, geo-environmental engineering will undoubtedly have played a big part in your life. Its significance will only continue to grow as we look to manage and minimise our environmental impact.
Every site is different
One of the most important elements to note with regard to geo-environmental engineering is that every site is different and will have different requirements.
At PWA, We are passionate about getting out on a site to collect the right data to ensure a thorough understanding of the ground conditions.
It’s a hands-on job that can only be done by an expert
Geo-environmental engineering can take our experts from the cleanest of green fields to the dirtiest of brownfield sites, meaning we need to be prepared for every eventuality.
Structural engineering is the science and art of designing, analysing and constructing structures. Traditional civil engineering structures include buildings, bridges, towers, and dams designed to resist seismic, wind, and gravity forces. The analytical tools developed by structural engineers, e.g., numerical analysis methods, non-linear material models, reliability theory, can be applied to a much wider range of “structure” types.
Current structural research at UBC includes analytical and experimental work in seismic engineering; mechanical properties and reliability of concrete, timber, and fiber-reinforced concrete structures; laboratory investigations of structural steel and structural concrete behaviour; numerical analysis of continua, expert systems and computer graphics.
Graduate courses are available in static and dynamic analysis, structural design, and reliability theory. The former include matrix structural analysis, advanced topics in nonlinear finite element methods, mechanics of continua, dynamics of structures, plates and shells. The latter include applications to prestressed and reinforced concretes, steel, timber, seismic design, and composite structures.
Key Areas
Shake table studies of building models and components;
Field vibration measurements of existing bridges and buildings;
Seismic control by passive and semi-active dampers, and base isolation of structures;
Pseudo-dynamic testing of large-scale concrete bridge bents;
Retrofit of concrete beam-column joints;
Seismic response of structures with steel plate or timber shear walls and timber frames;
Decision analysis for seismic retrofit strategies;
Regional damage estimation due to earthquakes;
Development of software for seismic risk, structural stability, and non-linear seismic response;
Reliability of structures with non-rigid connections;
Soil-pile and soil-structure interaction under seismic loading;
Seismic soil amplification and liquefaction effects;
Seismic analysis and retrofit of water and mine waste dams;
Seismic response analysis of soil structures, and characterization of ground improvements; and,
Site characterization for liquefaction and residual strength.