KEYNOTE LECTURE
The Road to Resilience: Advanced Soil-Geosynthetic Interface Characterization and Its Role in Reinforcing Soil Structures for Sustainability
ABSTRACT: Geotechnical Engineering, as a scientific discipline, plays a crucial role in advancing sustainable development and enhancing resilience to natural hazards. The concepts of resilience and sustainability are closely linked: resilience pertains to the ability of a system to withstand and recover from disturbances (such as seismic events, landslides, and floods), while sustainability focuses on the long-term well-being of society and the environment. The augmentation of resilience cannot be limited to a single action but instead demands an ongoing process of adaptation and enhancement as conditions change and new insights emerge. The design and implementation of geotechnical projects must address immediate societal needs and consider the long-term environmental impacts and potential for future disasters. For these reasons, assessing the resilience and sustainability of geotechnical systems requires considering both technical performances and environmental-social-economic factors.
Geosynthetics within civil and environmental engineering structures can enhance safety and serviceability, minimising ecological impact. Specifically, geosynthetics used as reinforcement have gained wide recognition as an efficient approach to enhance the resilience of earthworks. Their effectiveness is particularly notable in their ability to withstand deformation and failure under various loading scenarios. However, a comprehensive understanding of the mechanical behaviour of the geosynthetic-soil interface and the mechanisms of load transfer is crucial for designing and constructing geosynthetic-reinforced structures (GRS), as they govern their performance. In this paper, the author will conduct a comprehensive analysis of experimental data to delve into the intricacies of the geosynthetic-soil interface by examining the effects of different pullout-loading conditions on design parameters and highlighting recent advancements in the field.
BIO
DICEAM Department – Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria
Giuseppe Cardile, ph.D., is Professor in Geotechnical Engineering at the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria, Italy. He is an AGI (Italian Geotechnical Society) council member and secretary of the Italian chapter of IGS. He received IGS Student Award in 2008 and the Best Paper Award (Honourable Mention) of Geotextiles and Geomembranes Journal in 2017. He has served as an editorial board member of important international journals on geotechnical engineering and he is a member of different technical committees in IGS and ISSMGE. His research activity has developed along multiple themes including landslides and slope stability, landslide risk mitigation, soil reinforcement with geosynthetics, soil reinforcement by vegetation, innovative technologies and materials, sustainable geotechnical works, and mechanical behaviour of pre-treated municipal solid waste. He is the author of 70 scientific papers in International Journals and Conference Proceedings. During his research activity, prof. Giuseppe Cardile has designed several prototype test apparatuses. In addition, he has been also a member of several Organizing and Technical Committees of International and National Geotechnical conferences.
