Professor Mair’s lecture, titled Creating underground infrastructure – the role of geotechnical engineering, will address the challenges of creating urban underground infrastructure – in particular the development of underground transport which is environmentally essential for many of our cities.

He will explore what can go wrong with such developments and raise important questions such as whether buildings above new underground construction will be damaged by subsidence, how they can be protected and how underground infrastructure may be affected by new construction.

The lecture will highlight the key role of geotechnical engineering in addressing these questions. Examples of projects from around the world, including the Crossrail project in London, will demonstrate the size, technical challenges and complexity of modern underground construction.

Professor Mair will describe recent research advances and innovations, and will present some of CSIC’s novel techniques for monitoring construction and whole-life performance using fibre optic technology and wireless sensor networks.

The Hinton Lecture will be held at Prince Philip House, Carlton Terrace, London, on 24 November from 6pm to 10pm. For full details, tickets and to view the lecture after the event, click here.