Dr. Paul W. Mayne’s 14th Athenian Lecture on Geotechnical Engineering now available on YouTube

Dr. Paul W. Mayne recently gave the 14^th Athenian Lecture on Geotechnical Engineering on October 4, which took place in Athens, Greece, and was titled "Geotechnical Site Characterization Using Shear Wave Velocity”.

The lecturer, Dr. Mayne, is professor Emeritus in Georgia Tech’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and his lecture focused on shear wave site characterization techniques, including apparatuses, test methods, and data interpretation.

More specifically, the first method explained was the crosshole test, followed by the downhole one, and finally surface wave testing techniques, emphasizing that “good” soil is characterized by shear wave velocity values (Vs) of more than 180 m/s.

Case studies of invasive and non-invasive geophysics were compared, and the lecture continued with more types of tests, such as PMT, CPT, DMT, and SCPT.

Evaluation of liquefaction potential was also considered in the lecture, and useful software for its derivation was recommended.

Finally, correlations between shear wave velocity and various soil properties were also given and explained at the end.

Overall, it is a very informative lecture on shear wave velocity testing and data processing, which is freely available on YouTube.