Geotechnical Engineering

Understanding the local geological conditions is key to developing appropriate designs and managing project risk during construction. We are skilled in developing, planning, and executing geotechnical investigations of all sizes and complexity. The information obtained from a geotechnical site investigation helps assess the stability, safety, and suitability of the site for its intended purpose. We provide geotechnical site investigations as a prime contractor or as a subconsultant.

Soils such as clay, silt, and peat undergo significant settlement and deformation when subjected to loads. Thurber’s engineers design mitigation measures to enhance the safe and reliable performance of human-made structures constructed over soft ground. These mitigation measures include ground improvement methods, specialized foundation systems, and applying geosynthetics to enhance the soil’s strength, stability, and load-bearing resistance.

We design retaining structures that prevent soil erosion, stabilize slopes and embankments, and protect roads and railways built on unstable slopes. Retaining structures also protect construction workers during excavations.

The design of a retaining structure takes into account many factors - the type of soil, the slope angle, water drainage condition, loads, and potential seismic activity.

Our experience includes site investigations, lateral earth pressures, design parameters for gravity, cantilever and modular block walls, MSE walls, geogrid reinforced slopes, anchored slope mesh, vegetated bag walls, tangent pile walls, sheet piles, shotcrete and anchor systems, and field inspection services.

Foundation engineering requires an assessment of the ground conditions and the selection of the most appropriate method, to transfer the loads into the ground while limiting the impacts on the local environment. We provide complete geotechnical services including site investigation, ground improvement, foundation design, shoring and underpinning, liquefaction assessment, seismic design, materials engineering and testing (soils, rock, concrete, asphalt), and construction inspection.

When a structure requires deep foundations due to poor soils, we provide deep foundation testing services including Pile Dynamic Testing, Pile Integrity Testing, and Thermal Integrity Profiling.

The completion of new underground infrastructure often requires the use of tunnels and trenchless techniques. Detailed investigation of soil, bedrock and groundwater conditions and assessment of relevant engineering properties (geotechnical baseline reports) are necessary to predict performance and assess the construction impact on adjacent structures.

Thurber supports tunnelling and trenchless projects through:

Earthworks projects typically involve the construction of roads, railways, dams, pipelines, dikes, mines, and landfills where geotechnical assessment is crucial to the success of the project. Thurber has extensive experience in terrain assessment, drilling investigations, laboratory testing, slope stability analysis, staged construction and wick drains, ground improvement techniques, field instrumentation and monitoring, erosion control, in-situ permeability testing, and materials and construction QA/QC.

Improperly designed landfills can leach contaminated liquids (leachate) into the surrounding environment, including groundwater. To prevent leachate from entering the environment, landfills use various liners to create barriers that minimize environmental contamination. Thurber’s environmental and geotechnical engineers help design appropriate liners, conduct geotechnical investigations to understand soil permeability, bearing capacity, settlement potential, and slope stability, as well as advise on compaction requirements and construction techniques.

Thurber also provides long-term groundwater monitoring as part of landfill closure planning.

Many infrastructure projects face seepage issues; dam stability can be undermined by seepage flow underneath and below the dam, retaining walls can be affected by water flowing through the surrounding soil, and landfills can seep leachate into the environment. By understanding seepage patterns and potential risks, Thurber’s engineers can design and implement appropriate measures to control seepage and prevent slope instability, erosion, and degradation of structures.

Thurber has extensive experience in incorporating remote sensing techniques into geohazard assessment and management programs. Remote sensing helps us understand the environment, monitor changes over time, and make informed decisions - from afar. Our technical expertise can help with selecting the right tool for the application as well as scoping the data collection and analysis methods.

Our remote sensing tools include:

Advanced numerical modelling uses sophisticated computer-based techniques to simulate and analyze the behaviour of soil and rock in complex situations. Thurber’s engineers use a combination of specialized geotechnical software and 2D/3D software suites to assess a variety of geotechnical applications including:

Our engineers work closely with our advanced geotechnical laboratory to collect the appropriate information to develop the numerical models. The program then creates a virtual representation of the system. This virtual model can simulate various scenarios and predict how the system will behave under different loading conditions. Numerical models allow for the exploration of scenarios that are difficult or expensive to replicate in real life.

These models help our engineers evaluate different design options, identify potential issues, optimize design, and develop solutions during design and construction.