Part 1 of Eurocode 7: Geotechnical Design was published in 2004, and Part 2 was published in 2007. Conflicting British Standards were withdrawn in 2010, and the Eurocodes as a whole are called up by current Building Regulations. Despite this, implementation of EC7 is still patchy in the geotechnical community, and anecdotally even more so in structural engineering. This evening talk is aimed at de-mystifying EC7 to help structural engineers recognise its implications for them and aid its wider adoption going forward. The focus of the meeting will not be on the fine details of the code, rather the major philosophical changes to design embodied in the code will be explained and some of the implications for structural engineering practice will be explored. For example, how will the demise of the traditional ‘allowable bearing capacity’ recommendation in a geotechnical report affect you? And are you going to write the Geotechnical Design Report? EC7 presents challenges for everyone, not just geotechnical engineers.

Andy Goodwin is a Chartered Engineer and Geotechnical Specialist with over 30 years of design, construction, research and lecturing experience. He has broad experience of numerous sectors such as transport infrastructure, buildings, and urban developments. He is the Managing Director of Surepath Training Limited, including Surepath Consulting, where he pursues his twin passions for people development and geotechnical design. He is extensively experienced as an SCE, is an ICE approved mentor, and is also an ICE Reviewer. Andy was previously employed by Mott MacDonald Ltd for 10 years, latterly as a Divisional Director in Sheffield with responsibility for their regional Civils Sector. Prior to that he was Programme Leader for Civil Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University, a Principal Engineer at Joynes Pike, and a graduate / chartered engineer at Scott Wilson (now AECOM). In addition to his work, Andy has successfully lead research projects and authored numerous technical papers. His research interests include the behaviour of opencast backfills and recycled aggregates, and the effects of vegetation on slope stability.

Free refreshments will be served from 6pm, whilst the talk itself will start at aparoximately 6:30pm.