GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network

Transcription

1 HYWEL R. THOMAS AND GEOFFREY M.L. BAXTER Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff, UK GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network Introduction The development of sustainable industrial/commercial/social activity, the goal of modern government, leads naturally towards current and future requirements for a sustainable Geoenvironment. Geoenvironmental Engineering however, is a relatively new discipline, based on traditional subjects such as Soil Mechanics, Geotechnical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Earth Science and Soil Chemistry. It is not simply a combination of parts of these existing areas but it is emerging as a new discipline in its own right. It is an academic subject in its infancy, capable of sustaining considerable growth, and the importance of future research and in particular field based research is paramount if a proper understanding of the subject is to be achieved. In recognition of the need for multi disciplinary infrastructure facilities to tackle these issues the Geoenvironmental Engineering Infrastructure Cooperation Network, GeoEnvNet, was established at the beginning of 2001, under the European Commission s Fifth Fra- Framework Programme of Research. The network is funded under the Commission s Access to Research Infrastructures programme which is a socalled Horizontal programme of research, directed towards providers of research infrastructures in general, in Europe. Thomas (2003) notes that the major objective of the network is the linkage of various European infrastructures, in the area of Geoenvironmental Engineering, with the overriding ambition being the establishment of European Excellence in this area. The network members have set themselves the objectives of working towards: The spread and development of good practice within the research community. The co-ordination and development of existing research infrastructures. Expansion of the existing limited pool of trained professionals. This paper details the progress to date that the partners have made towards achieving these objectives. GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network 7

2 The Network Members Collectively the GeoEnvNet partners address a broad range of the topics within the discipline of Geoenvironmental Engineering. The list below presents a summary of the areas of academic expertise within the network. Ground water transport and chemistry, particularly in crystalline rock. Coupled Thermo-Hydro-Chemical- Mechanical (THCM) Finite Element modelling. Performance and use of engineered barriers in waste disposal. Monitoring of contaminated sites, settlement and biochemical processes within landfills. Decontamination of polluted soils and the development of ecotoxicological evaluation strategies for contaminated soil. Underwater geoenvironmental engineering. Risk Analysis. Environmental Geotechnics. Brown field site rehabilitation. The original submission team consisted of the eight organisations listed in Table 1. The readers attention is drawn to the fact that the group of network members is interdisciplinary, with partners 3, 4 and 5 representing biological/ agricultural disciplines. Membership of the network expanded virtually immediately to include a ninth member, in this case from the Czech Republic. The organisation is a Research, Education and Training Centre, based in Prague, known as REAT. Subsequent additions have expanded the membership to 12, with the addition of the 3 organisations listed in Table 2. Figure 1 shows the geographic coverage of eleven European countries that has been achieved, 9 from the European Union and two from the Newly Associated States. Infrastructure facilities One of the strengths of GeoEnvNet is its multi disciplinary nature and this is particularly highlighted by consideration of the infrastructure facilities, listed below, that are available within the network. Large scale field research facilities - including the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory, Sweden. 100G large scale geotechnical centrifuge. Fully instrumented and monitored landfills. Microbiological laboratories. Geoenvironmental laboratories. Geotechnical laboratories. State of the art Risk Analysis software. High performance computing facilities. Risk management and decision making tools. Advanced experimental facilities for evaluation of contaminant flow through soil. An essential requirement for the advancement of knowledge in the areas addressed by Geoenvironmental Engineering is large scale field research facilities. These provide invaluable opportunities to observe complex phe- 8 Hywel R. Thomas and Geoffrey M.L.Baxter

3 nomena at field scale and also provide data for use in the development and validation of numerical models. GeoEnvNet has allowed the partners, who are all research infrastructure users and providers, to work towards closer integration of European research infrastructures and hence their aim of European added value. The following sections outlines the research facilities offered to the network at Äspö Underground Research Laboratory. and education. The Äspö (URL) is a full-scale underground laboratory excavated 500 meter down into the Swedish crystalline rock. It is located very close to the Baltic shoreline on the Swedish East Coast, 20 kilometres north of Oskarshamn. The facilities, which consist of a 3.6 km long access tunnel and laboratory, were constructed to create an URL where the Swedish nuclear power industry is be able to study radioactive waste disposal issues. This facility is unique in the world for the purpose of geoenvironmental research. Other Underground Research Laboratories are retained for nuclear waste disposal research only. One of the major opportunities created by the establishment of the network is that the facilities offered by the Äspö Underground Research Laboratory have been made available to the GeoEnvNet partners. A diagrammatic picture of the URL is shown as Figure 2. FIGURE 1. Geographical coverage of GeoEnvNet. Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory The Äspö Underground Research Laboratory in Sweden is a very large facility available to the network for international environmental research FIGURE 2. The Äspö Underground Research Laboratory. GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network 9

4 Links with ISSMGE TC5 GeoEnvNet has developed links with International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) Technical Committee 5 (TC5), Environmental Geotechnics which is co chaired by Professors Katzenbach and Manaserro. The development of links between TC5 and the GeoEnvNet has resulted in the exchange of information, in the form of study panel reports. This continuing exchange of information benefits both GeoEnvNet and TC5. Furthermore the links with TC5 bring an international perspective to the issues addressed by the network. Network Activities Network meetings and Conferences. Seven GeoEnvNet meetings, listed in Table 3, have now taken place. The meetings were planned to coincide with conferences at which the work of the network was disseminated to the wider research community. The network meetings have provided an invaluable opportunity for the partners to learn more about each others research areas, visit the infrastructure facilities available at each partners institute and observe the experimental work being undertaken. However, more importantly GeoEnvNet has enabled the members of a multi disciplinary network to meet and discuss topics for collaborative research. This has resulted in the development of future research plans that would lead to increased co-ordination of European research in the field of Geoenvironmental Engineering. The network meetings have also served to highlight complementarities existing between the partner s research topics. This has resulted in exchanges of research staff and PhD students which furthers the partners aim of increasing the pool of trained researchers in the area of Geoenvironmental Engineering. Study Panels. Five study panels have been formed which will address the following topics: Landfills, Underground waste disposal, Contaminated land, Future research needs and Training requirements for European research and industry. The overall objective of each study panel is to produce a report which includes i) an overview of the current state of the art in the topics listed above, ii) detailed technical reports on specific research areas that the panel have focussed on in detail and iii) recommendations for future research in these areas in terms of both research required to improve understanding of the basic science and research that would result in improved infrastructure facilities for European researchers. The following sections provide a brief overview of the work being undertaken by each study panel. Study Panel 1 Landfills. This study panel is focussing i) on the mechanical stability of landfills and ii) a case study. The detailed case study, which is in Poland, includes i) Extensive investigation of the materials present, ii) Extensive monitoring of the landfill, iii) Detailed assessment of the landfill. The work of this study panel is being led by SGGW, UNIAN and UNICANT. 10 Hywel R. Thomas and Geoffrey M.L.Baxter

5 Study Panel 2 Underground waste disposal. The work carried out to date includes a review of the state of the art relating to the topic of underground waste disposal. Several available disposal methods have been considered including underground injection wells, abandoned mines, rock caverns, salt caverns, and deep ground repositories. These methods of disposal have been discussed together with relevant issues and problems associated with their use. The work of this study panel is being led by the GRC and AEMFS. Study Panel 3 Contaminated Land. This study panel is focussing on bioremediation technologies. Bioremediation is understood to be the breakdown of organic pollutants by microorganisms or plants to compounds that do not harm either humans or the environment. However, some contaminants show intermediates in the course of the biodegradation process that are even more toxic than the parent compounds. However, this problem can be controlled with a combination of microbial and engineering knowledge. The work of this study panel is being led by TUD and IFA-Tulln. Study Panel 4 Future Research Needs. Future research needs in the area of Geoenvironmental Engineering are being investigating by Study panel 4. As an emerging discipline there is clearly a need for existing research facilities to be expanded and co-ordinated so that effective research programmes can be developed. The work of this study panel is being carried out by the all partners. Study Panel 5 Training requirements for European research and industry. This study panel is investigating the training needs and, subsequently, the training programmes required in the area of Geoenvironmental Engineering. The study panel s conclusions to date show that the training should i) Nurture the multidisciplinary skills required to work in the area of geoenvironmental engineering. ii) Offer a trans-european perspective of Geoenvironmental Engineering to scientists. iii) Develop the scientists ability to carry out international quality research. The work of this study panel is being carried out by all the partners. Virtual Network As part of the overall network a virtual network, based around an internet website, has been developed. The website allows the network to be accessible to the wider geoenvironmental community and provides information about the work being undertaken by the network. The virtual network has also proved to be invaluable to the partners as a resource for the e-working that is essential in a network as geographically distributed as GeoEnvNet. The GeoEnvNet Website can be viewed at Conclusions Details have been presented which provide an overview of the work being undertaken by GeoEnvNet. The key aspects highlighted are those of i) Infrastructure provision in the field of Geo- GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network 11

6 Geoenvironmental Engineering and ii) European Added Value namely, the of the establishment and development of a European Network of users and providers of Geoenvironmental Engineering infrastructure facilities. The major progress that the partners have made towards achieving their aim of European Excellence in the area of Geoenvironmental Engineering has been demonstrated by the partners collaborative work on the spread and development of good practice within the research community, the co-ordination and development of existing research infrastructures and the expansion of the existing limited pool of trained professionals. The exchanges of researchers between the network members further highlights the potential that the network offers to train professionals with a broad understanding of this multidisciplinary topic. During the lifetime of the network the GeoEnvNet partners have worked closely together on a wide range of projects and achieved genuine synergy. This has been made possible by the commitment, enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved in the project. As a direct result of their commitment to long term integration the partners have signed a consortium agreement which will allow them to continue their collaborative work on the the research topics they have identified as requiring further research to improve understanding of the basic science within Geoenvironmental Engineering. Acknowledgements The authors wish to acknowledge the European Commission for providing the funding for GeoEnvNet under contract HPRI-CT The work reported in this paper has been performed not only by the GRC, but by all of the network members. Their contributions towards the establishment and continued success of the network are gratefully acknowledged. References THOMAS H.R., 2003: Geoenvironmnetal Engineering Networks. Proceedings of the XIII th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ed Vanicek I et al, CKIAT, Volume 3, pp Summary This paper describes the establishment and development of a European Geoenvironmental Engineering Infrastructure Cooperation Network (GeoEnvNet). The infrastructure facilities available within the multi disciplinary 12 partner network are presented with particular focus upon the Äspö Underground Research Laboratory, Sweden. The scientific work that the GeoEnvNet partners are collaboratively undertaking in five study panels which address the areas of landfills, underground waste disposal, contaminated land, future research needs and future training needs is discussed. The major progress that the partners have made towards achieving their aim of the spread and development of good practice within the research community, the co-ordination and development of existing research infrastructures and the expansion 12 Hywel R. Thomas and Geoffrey M.L.Baxter

7 Table 1. GeoEnvNet founding partners Organisation Country Member Geoenvironmental Research Centre (GRC) UK Prof H R Thomas and Prof R N Yong Darmstadt University of Technology (TUD) Germany Prof R Katzenbach Aespoe Miljoeforskningsstiftelse (AEMFS) Sweden Dr T Claesson Interuniversitaeres Forschungsinstitut fuer Agrarbiotechnologie (IFA) Austria Prof A P Loibner Warsaw Agricultural University (SGGW) Poland Prof Z Lechowicz Universidad De Cantabria (UNI- CANT) Spain Prof C Sagaseta Universita Degli Studi Di Ancona (UNIAN) Italy Prof E Pasqualini Ghent University (RUG) Belgium Prof W Van Impe Table 2. GeoEnvNet new partners Organisation Country Member 10 Politecnico di Torino Italy Prof M Manassero 11 GeoDelft 12 Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussess The Netherlands France Prof M Loxham Prof P Delage Table 3. Network meetings and conferences Location Date Conference Title 1 Cardiff, UK Spring 01 Risk Perception as a driver for Land Regeneration. 2 Kalmar, Sweden Autumn 01 Waste disposal. 3 Darmstadt, Germany Spring 02 9 th Darmstadt Geotechnical Kolloquium. 4 Vienna, Austria Autumn 02 INTERLAND. 5 Delft, Netherlands Spring 03 GeoEnvNet seminar. 6 Prague, Czech Rep. Summer th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. 7 Warsaw Poland Spring 04 Technology Transfer to Newly Associated States. GeoEnvNet A European Geoenvironmental Engineering Network 13

8 of the existing limited pool of trained professionals is reported. The added value gained by the establishment of the network and the adoption of a multi disciplinary approach to the solution of geoenvironmental problems is highlighted. Author s address: Hywel R Thomas Geoenvironmental Research Centre, Cardiff School of Engineering (ENGIN1), Cardiff University, PO Box 925, Cardiff, UK, CF24 0YF 14 Hywel R. Thomas and Geoffrey M.L.Baxter