2014 de Alba lecture in Geotechnical Engineering by Professor Kenneth Stokoe

The 2nd Annual de Alba Lecture in Geotechnical Engineering was delivered by Professor Kenneth H. Stokoe at the University of New Hamshire on April 9th 2014. Prof. Stokoe's lecture was on "The Increasing Role of Seismic Measurements in Geotechnical Engineering" and the lecture is now available online, courtesy of UNH's geotechnical engineering faculty!

Abstract: The geotechnical engineer has always been faced with the problem of characterizing near-surface materials. The near-surface region is often within 10 to 100 m of the ground surface. Traditionally, field exploration programs have involved boring, sampling, and penetration testing. In the 1960s, in situ geophysical measurements began to be employed in geotechnical engineering. This work primarily involved seismic (stress wave) measurements which were adapted from exploration geophysics. Seismic measurements were used to characterize geotechnical sites (e.g. layering, top of bedrock, depth to water table) and geotechnical materials (e.g. stiffnesses in shear and compression). The real demand for seismic measurements grew out of the need to evaluate the dynamic properties of near-surface soils, specifically the shear-wave velocity, Vs. Shear-wave velocity is a key parameter in soil dynamics and geotechnical earthquake engineering. Today, however, in situ seismic measurements are used in many more applications as discussed in this lecture.

To access the 2nd Annual de Alba Lecture, please click here!

For information and video of last year's lecture, delivered by Prof. James K. Mitchell, please click here!