18.01
Roberval Prize
11.04
ERC Grant
24.05
BCV Foundation
28.05
Energy Geotechnics
25-28.09
SEG Conference
15.10
Ground Biostabilization
The Roberval Prize is an international competition for the promotion and distribution of science and technology in the French language.
The prize was given by the president of the French Academy of Sciences in the prestigious
setting of the National Institute of France in Paris, in the presence of 150 guests.
This year the work entitled “Mecanique des sols et des roches” was awarded.
The book
is a result of work of three professors of the EPFL: Laurent Vulliet, Lyesse Laloui and Jian
Zhao (now at the University Monash in Australia), published by “ Presses polytechniques et universitaires romandes “
Soil mechanics and rock mechanics are disciplines generally treated separately in the literature. For the first time, a book combines these two specialties, integrating also the knowledge of subsurface flows and thermal transfers. Specifically designed in a spirit of engineering, this unprecedented publication refers in an international perspective to the most recent standards. The book addresses to professionals of the construction, geotechnical engineers, geologists, persons in charge of test laboratories and to the students in civil engineering, geology, mechanics, Earth sciences, mine engineering, environment and pedology.
The ERC Advanced Grants are awarded to established, leading principal investigators who have a track-record of significant research achievements in the last 10 years The research work of Professor Lyesse Laloui focuses on the mechanics and advanced microstructural inspection of porous geo-materials in interaction with hydraulic, bio-chemical and thermal phenomena. In his new ERC project entitled BIOGEOS “BIO-mediated GEO-material Strengthening for engineering applications”, Lyesse Laloui foresees to push the boundaries of understanding around nature-based and bio-inspired, sustainable solutions for consolidating and strengthening Earth materials for construction and subterranean applications.The area of impact of BIOGEOS extends from foundation stabilization in urban zones, earthquake and liquefaction protection in seismic zones, to slope stabilization and soil erosion risk mitigation. The EPFL professor aims to crystallize the new knowledge produced during the project into constant and applicable innovation in the broader area of environmental geotechnics.
BCV Foundation annually awards 3 or 4 major personalities in the scientific, social, cultural or charitable fields. The prize granted to Prof. Laloui will benefit the promotion of energy geostructure technology.
Professor Lyesse Laloui was a pioneer 20 years ago and today is the world leader in the research and development of energy geostructure technology. This technological revolution consists of taking advantage of the foundations of the buildings and the energy released by the subsurface to heat and cool infrastructures and buildings.
Tests carried out in 1999 on the EPFL campus were the world’s first and now this technology meets 70% of needs of the buildings.
This book collects selected full papers presented at the International Symposium on Energy Geotechnics 2018 (SEG-2018), held on 25th – 28th September 2018, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). It covers a wide range of topics in energy geotechnics, including energy geostructures, energy geostorage, thermo-hydro-chemo-mechanical behaviour of geomaterials, unconventional resources, hydraulic stimulation, induced seismicity, CO2 geological storage, and nuclear waste disposal as well as topics such as tower and offshore foundations. The book is intended for postgraduate students, researchers and practitioners working on geomechanics and geotechnical engineering for energy-related applications.
Energy Geotechnics book is available on Springer.com,
Series Print ISSN1866-8755,
Series Online ISSN1866-8763
The International Symposium on Energy Geotechnics (SEG) 2018 was organized recognizing the strong need for shared knowledge in innovative and challenging applications on energy geotechnics. SEG-2018 aimed to serve as a forum for promoting the exchange of ideas, practices and state-of the- art on a broad range of topics in the area. SEG was organized under the auspices of Technical Committee TC-308 of ISSMGE. Keynote lectures from the most prominent researchers and practitioners in the field, state-of-the-art lectures and technical sessions focusing on the task forces of TC-308 and discussion sessions for compiling the contributions of the day were a part of SEG-2018.
The participants of SEG 2018 had the chance to take part in many lectures, symposiums and technical sessions but also they were able to visit the laboratory at of the LMSand Mont Terri , located in the canton of Jura, 300 m underground. Numerous experiments are carried out here on the Opalinus Clay, which is, among other things, a potential host rock for future nuclear waste storage activities in Switzerland.
During SEG-2018 an “Innovation Hub” was launched featuring an exposition area and a special interactive session dedicated to supporting and promoting the community of inventors and entrepreneurs, active in the greater field of energy geotechnics.
Bio-mediated calcite precipitation in soils has occurred in natural environments for millions of years and its core elements have been known to scientists for decades. However, little is done towards mastering this core technology at real-world scale and even less towards building mainstream engineering solutions out of it. To this purpose, BIOGEOS mobilizes multidisciplinary and applicable research and a global vision of how geo-engineering practice can evolve towards a sustainable future.
BIOGEOS aims to explore new concepts in ground reinforcement by meticulously designing the transition from ideation phase to validation and feasibility demonstrations at many scales, typically confronted in geotechnical applications and construction problems.
From meticulously investigating theoretical and conceptual frameworks to extensively designing and delivering experimental campaigns, our group has contributed significantly to improving the understanding around bio-inspired design for geo-technical applications. At the crossroad of environmental geo-technics, bio-chemistry and material sciences, BIOGEOS consolidates the path towards the conception of innovative applications, which are expected to significantly impact the way we perceive and design efficient and sustainable construction applications.
FIELD TEST, OCTOBER 2018
Largest experimental campaign yet, with rich data series at multiple scales.
In October, we delivered 300 m³ of bio-stabilized ground in a unique public - private partnership: Soil erosion barriers, landslide and liquefaction risk mitigation, increased bearing capacity.
7 industrial partners
7 days
6 team members of our lab
300m3 targeted ground
volume for biostabilization