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Expert in Geotechnical Engineering; Ground Investigation; Design & Supervision of Earthworks; Troubleshooting
Available for your Consulting and Expert Witness Needs
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Summary of Expertise:
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Listed with other top experts in: |
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Expert is a geotechnical engineer and engineering geologist with particular expertise in ground (site/subsurface) investigations, the design, construction and supervision of earthworks and other geotechnical engineering schemes, the use of earthworks materials in construction, the investigation of problems/failures in and after construction and the preparation and assessment of technical submissions in claims, arbitrations etc. Whilst most of Expert's work involved in specialised supervision of geotechnical engineering construction or ground investigations and in arbitration and litigation, he is still involved in earthworks design and troubleshooting. Ground investigations are carried out before and during construction to obtain information on the ground conditions such as the likely nature and distribution of soil and rock layers and to determine the properties of these materials in place and for reuse after excavation. Information on the groundwater is generally required. Various techniques can be used to obtain this information. Failure to obtain adequate information can lead to construction problems and failures and result in delays and additional costs. Expert has been involved in numerous ground investigations and with sites where inadequate investigations have been carried out. Expert has wide experience in the investigation, design, construction and supervision of earthworks and structures. This has involved work on numerous highway schemes. He has designed cuttings in both rock and soils and has developed expertise in assessing the suitability for using natural and man-made excavated materials as fill and aggregates. He has spent much of his time in recent years in supervising earthworks schemes, particularly in the early stages when quality control systems must be established. Expert has also designed and supervised other geotechnical engineering works, such as foundation and curtain grouting, ground anchoring. He has been involved in the investigation and remediation of post-construction failures, mainly of slopes (landslides) and foundations. Expert has acted as an expert witness in three public inquiries and as an expert advisor and expert witness in numerous contractual and insurance claims, some of which have resulted in arbitration or litigation or in dispute resolution hearings (boards and conciliation). This has involved discovery, the investigation of the issues and preparing reports for clients, lawyers or for tribunals. Expert has given live expert evidence public inquiries, arbitration, litigation and dispute resolution hearings but in the vast majority of cases, matters have been settled. Expert is also a qualified mediator and carried our mediations from four County Courts within the UK.
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Show Only Primary Areas of Expert Consulting
Secondary Expertise
aggregate material, civil engineering, construction claim, construction engineering, construction material deficiency, engineering, engineering specification, failure analysis, foundation engineering, geologic mapping, geology, physical property testing, quality assurance engineering, quality engineering, quarry, rock, rock mechanics, rock sampling, soil, soil compaction, soil mechanics, soil property, soil sampling, soil testing
Basic Expertise
environmental engineering, geosynthetic material, tunneling |
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Degree |
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Subject |
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Institution |
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Honors |
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1971
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MSc, DIC
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Engineering Geology
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Imperial College of Science and Technology, UK
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1970
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BSc (Hons)
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Earth Sciences
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University of Leeds, UK
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2.1
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Employer |
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Department |
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Title |
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Responsibilities |
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2005 to 2010
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Construction Geotechnics Ltd
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Director
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Expert is the sole director and owner of this Geotechnical Consultancy firm
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1983 to 2004
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Expert
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Principal
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Expert is owner of this Geotechnical Consultancy firm that preceeded Construction Geotechnics Ltd
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1978 to 1982
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John Laing Research and Development Ltd
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Soils Group
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Head of Soils Group
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Expert was responsible for running the Soils Group which provided geotechnical consultancy services to the John Laing Group and external clients
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1975 to 1978
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Bovis Civil Engineering Ltd
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Services Division
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Company Geologist/Geotechnical Engineer
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Expert managed a small group that provided geotechnical consultancy services and carried out drilling work for the Company and external clients
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1972 to 1994
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Frederick Sherrell
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Senior Engineering Geologist
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Responsible for carrying out geotechnical consultancy work mainly in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset (UK), much of which was based on highways or slope stabilisation.
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1971 to 1971
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Surveyer Nenniger and Chenevert
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Agios Georgious Damsite (Greece)
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Site Geologist
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Responsible for logging adits and boreholes and preparing records during the first ground investigation for a major rockfill dam
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1970 to 1970
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Institute of Geological Sciences
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Engineering Geology
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Administrative Assistant
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Temporary job responsible for metricating ground investigation data
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Associations/Societies
Expert is a member of the following body, plus those given in 'Licenses' below
British Geotechnical Association
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Licenses/Certifications
Expert has the following professional qualifications:
Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Chartered Geologist (CGeol)
Fellow, Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (FIMMM)
Fellow, Geological Society of London (FGS)
Member, Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (MCIHT)
Member, Academy of Experts (MAE)
Member, Association of Engineering Geologists (USA) (MAEG)
Qualified Mediator, Academy of Experts (QDR)
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Professional Appointments
Expert was formerly on
British Standards Institution, Committee RDB/21 - Earthmoving Plant, 1982-92.
Geological Society, Engineering Group, Working Party on the Use of Clay Minerals in Construction. 1999-2005.
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Publications and Patents Summary
Expert is the author of 3 technical papers and one book and was lead author for a chapter on earthworks in a book on construction materials
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Selected Publications and Publishers
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- Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology (QJEG)
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- Thomas Telford
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- The Eagle
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- Geological Society of London
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| Selected Consulting Examples: |
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Arbitration. St Petersburg. Expert was instructed to advise a Japanese client on construction issues arising from ground investigations and earthworks in an area underlain by peat and prepare an expert report for arbitration. He had particular experience in earthworks and working in thick peat deposits. The matter settled shortly after the exchange of expert's reports in his client's favour.
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Supervision. N7 Ireland. Expert acted as the designer's senior geotechnical representative in the initial 6 months of the construction for a long stretch of design and construct highway scheme. This involved supervising the contractors' work to ensure compliance with the design, identifying necessary modifications to the design and specification, advising on the suitablity of construction techniques and materials and ensuring that the quality control and recording was adequate. Expert had to develop a team of engineers and inspectors to provide the level of supervision required and liaison between contractor, owner and designers. Expert was able to use his experience and knowledge of design and construction to ensure that the sufficient supervision and advice was provided.
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Supervision. Major Ground Investigation. Expert supervised a large ground investigation for redevelopment of a brownfield (contaminated) site in southern England, and in particular the site roads. This involved supervising different types of investigations, reviewing the work, instructing testing and monitoring costs and performance. Expert was able to utilise his experience in the planning, design and supervision of ground investigations.
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Troubleshooting. Jamaica. Expert visited the site to review a contractor's quality control procedures and records for a major earthworks contract to evaluate the extent to these were adequate. He found that procedures and record were generally inadequate and anticipated problems with the client if his proposed measure were not implemented. In addition, he identified and proposed measures that were put in place to overcome difficulties that were being met in placing and compacting particular fill materials.Expert used his experience and knowledge to identify the shortcomings in the quality control systems and recommend measures that were urgently required. Similarly he identified potential amendments to the specification and working practices that enabled the filling problems to be overcome.
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Supervision. Russia. Expert supervised the geotechnical aspects of the construction of a major oil terminal and gas terminal in Sakhalin Island at a key stage in the construction of foundations, earthworks and drainage. This involved developing a team of Russian inspectors and inspection regimes, and ensuring that non-compliances were identified and remediated. Major parts of the work involved monitoring the safety of deep excavations and identifying possible risks and overcoming particular construction problems. In addition the compliance testing regimes were vetted and monitored. Expert was able to use his knowledge and experience to develop the supervision team and work with different local and international contractors. They were able to contribute to the increase in the standard of workmanship,Following this, Expert was asked to vet and monitor the site works and laboratory testing being carried out for a ground investigation being carried out for a remote site on the oil/gas pipelines. Similarly, Expert was able to successfully liaise with the Russian ground investigation contractor.
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Recent Client Requests:
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Expert in clay stabilizers in oil drilling and shale fracturing.
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Click the green button above to contact
Expert for a free initial screening call regarding your expert consulting needs.
Expert is available for consulting to corporate, legal and government clients.
Remember, your initial screening call to speak with
Expert is free.
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Expert Witness Experience Summary:
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From 1975, Expert acted as a non-independent expert advisor on the technical basis for contractual claims for Bovis and John Laing.
From 1979, Expert has acted as an independent expert advisor in contractual and insurance claims and expert witness in public inquiries, arbitrations and litigation within the UK and internationally as an expert advisor in contractual claims and as an expert witness in arbitrations, a conciliation and a dispute resolution board.
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Click the green button above to contact
Expert for a free initial screening call regarding expert testimony,
litigation consulting and support, forensic services, or any related expert witness services.
A few litigation needs include product liability, personal injury, economic loss, intellectual property
(patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright), and insurance matters. Remember, your initial screening
call to speak with
Expert is free.
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| International Experience: |
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Summary |
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1971 to 1971
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Greece
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Agios Georgious Damsite
Expert was responsible for logging adits and boreholes and preparing records during the first ground investigation for a major rockfill dam
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1989 to 1989
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Papua New Guines
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Expert carried out an urgent short visit to road construction site for a French Contractor to investigate the lack of construction materials and construction difficulties. He later prepared a report for arbitration involving a number of meetings in France and subsequently attended a conciliation meeting in Singapore
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1995 to 1996
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Indonesia
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Expert undertook 3 visits of 5-6 weeks each to a French-Italian joint venture hydroelectric scheme to investigate and prepare major contractual claims for 5 areas of the site, to locate and evaluate additional sources of sand and to attend financial negotiations with the Project Director
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1998 to 1999
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China
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Expert carried out 2 visits of 2-3 weeks each at short notice to the site of an hydroelectric power station for a french-chinese joint venture to prepare for and attend a dispute resolution panel meeting and follow up meetings.
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2005 to 2006
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Russia (Sakhalin Island)
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Expert undertook three visits of 5-9 weeks, alternating with a colleague, to supervise the construction of foundations and earthworks for a major oil and gas terminal site for a japanese joint venture.
He carried out a further visit for the multinational client to monitor the Russian contractor carrying out a ground investigation in the middle of the island.
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| Language Skills: |
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| Foreign Language |
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Description |
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French
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Has a basic understanding of the language, but would not consider himself proficient nor fluent.
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| Additional Skills and Services: |
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Training/Seminars
From 1975-1978, Expert trained materials engineers in Bovis in earthworks quality control procedures.
From 1978-1982, Expert was responsible for training overseas engineers on a year long British Council-funded course in geotechnical laboratory techniques and the application of soil mechanics.
From 1978, Expert has given occasional courses in rotary percussion drilling and earthworks.
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Supplier and Vendor Location and Selection Expert has selected contractors for tendering for ground investigation contracts. He has also investigated suppliers of geotechnical services and geotechnical products for use in construction schemes.
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Other Skills and Services
During the past few years, Expert has been appointed to lead the supervision of geotechnical construction projects for owners, designers and contractors. This has generally involved ensuring that the designs are being constructed properly, any modifications to the design are carried out, an adequate quality control system has been set up and that its protocols are being followed and that laboratory testing is being carried out properly and on time.
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Education
