NEWS 2006

Posted February 16, 2006

Event February 22, 2006

Automated Static Load Testing

Melvin England BSc (Physics) MSc PhD DIC, LOADTEST Ltd., Middlesex, UK

Dr. England's presentation will cover the subject of static load testing, from automation of top-down loading tests and the merits thereof to interpretation of results using methods such as Timeset/Cemset (displacement-time and load-settlement analyses).

About the speakers:

Dr. England joined Cementation in 1990 from the Defence industry where he was Project Manager of several new radar guidance systems for missiles and aircraft. At Cementation, one of the largest foundation contractors in the UK, he managed the Research and Innovation for the company and developed a department dedicated to foundation testing, geotechnical instrumentation and structural monitoring. Amongst the notable developments are Automation of load testing, automation of several aspects of CFA piling, driven instrumentation and several innovative pile installation methods and methods for capacity enhancement. He has numerous patents to his name. From the data retrieved from approximately 400 automatic pile load tests per year, a pile behaviour model was formulated which includes the Cemset® and Timeset® analysis methods to characterise pile behaviour in time and under load. These were the subjects of Melvin's Doctoral thesis at Imperial College, London. Melvin has been involved in the development of bi-directional testing since the late 90's. In 2003 Melvin left Cementation to join forces with Loadtest Inc. and concentrate his efforts on promoting the bi-directional form of testing as well as the completely automated top down load testing.

LOADTEST Inc. has generously offered to help defray the costs of this luncheon

Location: Royal Glenora Club (11160 River Valley Road)
Time: Registration 11:45 p.m., Lunch starts at 12:00 p.m.
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Cost: Students: $5, GSE Members: $5, Non-members: $10 Space limited. Please confirm attendance by noon, Tuesday February 21
by emailing rclementino@thurber.ca