EFCA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR

Transcription

1 EFCA YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR 2017 Personal details Full name: Paul Doherty Nationality: Ireland Age as of 31/03/2017: 31 Company: Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd. Location: Dublin, Ireland Contact details address: Office phone number: Cell phone number: [Doherty, Paul] Page 1

2 Section A. EMPLOYER S RECOMMENDATION Paul Doherty (Geotechnical Engineer) BE, PhD, CEng, MIEI, FConsEI I have great pleasure in supporting Paul Doherty s application for the EFCA Young Professional of the year Award Paul is the Managing Director and one of the founding partners of specialist geotechnical engineering consultancy, Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions (GDG). Despite setting up the business in challenging economic circumstances, Paul has established a successful engineering business that provides leading geotechnical designs to the international market. Through the recession period from 2011 to today, Paul has managed the sustainable growth of GDG from an initial headcount comprising just the two founders to a team of over 30 highly skilled engineers. GDG is now one of the leading geotechnical consultants across Ireland and the UK, with the workload serviced from offices in Dublin, London, Belfast and Edinburgh. In addition to his role in managing the GDG business, Paul regularly takes the role of Project Lead on a diverse range of engineering jobs, where he applies his high level of knowledge and experience in foundation design and marine geotechnics. Having developed a keen interest in soil mechanics during his undergraduate civil engineering degree at University College Dublin, Paul subsequently specialised in geotechnics and completed a PhD on the topic of marine piling in His industry experience is also supplemented by a successful research career that resulted in over 50 publications and international presentations. Paul has delivered a wide range of consultancy projects where he offered specialist geotechnical analysis and engineering advice including: port/harbour developments, offshore foundation design, piled foundations, dredging analysis, quayside infrastructure, scoping and supervision of marine geotechnical investigations. Paul is also an active member of the Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) technical committees for "Marine Foundations" and "Driven Piling". He is also a reviewer for the ICE Ground Engineering and ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) Civil Engineering journals. In recent years, Paul has also acted as an expert geotechnical witness in marine forensic cases including arbitration for a complex marine project in Scotland that experienced unforeseen ground conditions. Name: Gerard O Sullivan Job title: UK Director Managerial relationship to candidate: Colleague and Board Member of GDG [Doherty, Paul] Page 2

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4 Section B. THE PROJECT B.1 Project description: The project that I have selected as an example of where I played a key consulting engineering role is the Irish Rail Cutting and Embankment Decision Support Tool, which was completed in December This project was the successful winner of the Geoscience Ireland category at the Engineering Ireland awards in November 2016 and is an excellent example of technical project delivery, innovation and sustainability. I was responsible for the project management and successful delivery of this complex project from conception through the scope definition and ultimately in the delivery of the final software product. Executive Summary: This project involved the design and development of The Irish Rail Cutting & Embankment Decision Support Tool (DST) which is a high-end risk model, decision support tool and costbenefit analysis programme. The Irish Rail network comprises over 4000 slope assets (cutting and embankments), which have vastly different geometric and material properties. The safe operation of the railway network relies on these slopes remaining stable in the longterm and therefore the condition of the asset at any moment of time is required. The risk of these assets failing is also needed to plan maintenance and prioritise capital expenditure. At the outset of this project, the Irish Rail (IR) asset management approach for slopes was based on visual inspections and was highly subjective. GDG was tasked with developing a scientific framework for quantifying the risk of slope asset failure across the entire country and providing a decision support tool to relatively rank the assets as a means of supporting decisions on the slopes maintenance and remediation strategy. This two-year long project included updating the nationwide asset database, devising novel hazard and vulnerability assessment procedures and producing high-end customised software. The risk model was based on scientifically sound geotechnical slope stability calculations, executed in a probabilistic fashion in order to capture the uncertainties connected with the size of the network and expected soil variability. It also takes the vast experience of Irish Rail slope inspectors and engineers into account, thus incorporating the historical engineering experiences and internal good practice. The results, when compared with past failure lists, exhibit high predictive accuracy and demonstrated the tool s robustness and usability. The project is a culmination of GDG s top-level R&D experience in landslide risk assessment. As a result, this tool is now one of the most sophisticated risk ranking systems in use by a transport network manager worldwide. Sound Engineering and Scientific Practice: This entire project is based around removing subjectivity from the decision making process to facilitate optimised slope asset maintenance. As a result, GDG and Irish Rail have worked closely together to develop a robust scientific framework to quantify the relative risk of [Doherty, Paul] Page 4

5 different slope assets across the network. This framework and decision support tool utilises best engineering practice with respect to the slope stability calculations undertaken and supplements this by probabilistic calculations. To my knowledge this is the first time that such a robust theoretical slope stability study has been performed at a network wide scale. The lack of precedence for this work added additional complexity to the management of the project but also provides additional satisfaction now that the job is complete. B.2 Innovative characteristics of the project: Innovation: Earthwork asset management on large transport networks typically relies on visual inspections and subjective opinions about the condition of the slope. The basis of the DST is in the robust geotechnical calculations performed for each asset, updated with an array of observable features that are usually neglected in calculations (introduced here as degradation factors ). While the project s execution is original and cutting-edge on the macro scale, there are also a number of creative and innovative solutions on micro scale embedded in the software tool itself. For example, all the calculations (together with ensuing hazard and consequence analyses) use a bespoke Matlab code. This enables simultaneous calculation of all 3700 assets recorded in Irish Rail s asset database without the need for other commercial slope stability software, saving an enormous amount of time compared to common individual slope stability analyses. The risk assessment (RA) analysis based on geotechnical calculations is state-of-the-art itself even in scientific risk assessment metrics. Introduction of subjective data through Degradation Factor weights coupled with reliability outputs is a complete novelty, and this approach will be published in a scientific journal in near future. With this level of complexity in the background, it was paramount that the final product was intuitive and easy to use. For that purpose, a graphical user interface (GUI) was prepared, essentially giving the tool a simple easy to use platform. The software is designed to seamlessly interact with the Irish Rail s existing database. [Doherty, Paul] Page 5

6 A benchmark for Irish Geotechnical Endeavour: EU reports and various technical publications clearly show that landslide risk assessment tools are being increasingly developed and used by transport infrastructure managers. The benefit and importance of these tools are also recognised by the European Commission, which provides tens of millions of euros each year for improvement and development of such decision support tools through research calls in major funding schemes such as FP7 and H2020. GDG are partners and project leaders in several of these projects (INFRARISK, RAIN, SmartRAIL, DestinationRAIL, GOsafeRAIL) with a combined value in excess of 20 million. This engagement within international research streams provided GDG and IR with an insight into the most cutting edge European transport infrastructure research and allowed the Irish Rail Decision Support Tool to be an advancement beyond the current state of the art. However, no other major transport network in Ireland or Northern Ireland such as motorways, national or regional roads, or Northern Ireland Railways currently avail of a tool with the same capabilities. The ageing nature of wider transport infrastructure indicates that these tools will soon be required. This tool can thus serve as a benchmark for all future earthwork decision support tools on transport infrastructure networks in Ireland and further afield to other European rail and road networks. Dissemination of this newly developed approach is already being done through presentations at technical seminars throughout Europe. Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail Network 2,800Km Track 4,900 Earthworks 5,100 Bridges 900 Level Crossings GE Slope Engineering and Geotechnical Asset Management 2015 Contribution of the Work to the Economy: The primary aim of this project was to facilitate the optimisation of spending on earthwork assets, bringing direct economic benefits to Irish Rail (and the taxpayers). Rating the entirety of assets using a robust and objective procedure allows for identifying the most critical assets and helps in decision making on distribution of the available funds. Considering the wellestablished rule-of-the-thumb stating that slope maintenance is approximately ten times less expensive than remediation, the value of identifying possible hotspots before the failure takes [Doherty, Paul] Page 6

7 place is clear. Simple and inexpensive management techniques such as increased inspection or drainage cleaning can be applied to high risk assets, saving a fortune in comparison with unexpected near-future collapse requiring extensive hard engineering solutions. B.3 The YP s role in, and specific contribution to, the project: My role on this project began pre-tender during which time I organised several scoping meeting with Irish Rail to arrange the optimum means of developing this project. Following these meetings, a competitive tender was issued, which I managed internally for GDG. The tender process involved developing a detailed project methodology, activity schedule, programme and budget. Ultimately this tender was found to be the most economically advantageous and the project was awarded to GDG. From the outset, I managed this project including external liaison with Irish Rail and internal project management with a technical design team of 6 engineers. I was responsible for adherence to budget, quality and programme. Adherence to budget, quality and programme: The project had a design budget of circa 300,000 which facilitated the design and development of the decision support tool. This project was divided into three discrete phases, with the first two phases completed over a two year period reflecting the complexity of the scientific work. The final phase involved testing the software and was completed in December The impact of the overall project is expected to contribute significantly to smarter budgeting and annual expenditure within IR. Every year IR spend millions of euro on earthwork maintenance and remedial works and to date most of this expenditure has been reactive as assets fail, however going forward IR can use this tool to target expenditure across the network to the areas where it offers the most benefit. For example, by identifying assets which have a high risk of failure will facilitate relatively low cost remedial solutions to be undertaken (such as installing drainage) before the slopes show visual signs of failure, at which point much more costly remedial solutions are often required. The relative cost of reactive measures could be a factor of 10 higher than pre-emptive maintenance works. Therefore, the C&E tool offers a platform to improve the safety and reliability of the rail network, within the set budget constraints set by public expenditure. Presentation of the Engineers Ireland Excellence Award in the GeoScience Category 2016 (Paul Doherty 4 th from right) [Doherty, Paul] Page 7

8 B.4 Communication with the client/end user: This project involved extensive communication with the client, Irish Rail, and the end users who comprise the regional engineers within the Irish Rail divisional offices. The format of this communication ranged from , phone calls, meetings, workshops and training seminars. At the outset of the project a communication was prepared to ensure the successful documentation and record keeping of all client interaction. All meetings were organised by GDG with the agenda circulated in advance and minutes circulated within 24 hours of meeting completion. This process ensured that communication was clear and well documented from the kick-off meeting onwards. Early communication was essential to capture all of the client objectives and to identify specific constraints to the delivery of the project. For example, it became clear that the analysis software being produced needed to tie-in with the existing Irish Rail software packages and database platforms. The software also needed to be user-friendly allowing a range of engineers to attain outputs that could be readily actioned. To ensure all of the existing knowledge within the Irish Rail community of engineers was captured within our model, a suite of workshops were also organised. These workshops allowed us to engage directly with earthworks inspectors from Irish Rail a suite of questionnaires were circulated during these workshops and the results compiled during the lunch break to allow a structured conversation to be completed in the afternoon based on the identification of common challenges across the network and observations from the inspectors. The results of these workshops were then submitted to Irish Rail senior management for sign off before being incorporated into the algorithms and the software being developed. The communication with the client also extended to dissemination of the project output internationally through a number of seminars and meetings. Furthermore, this work has been recognised internationally and in late 2015, Irish Rail and GDG were invited to deliver preliminary results at the Ground Engineering conference held in London. The presentation, which was co-delivered by Paul Doherty (GDG) and Sharon Callanan (IR), stimulated much discussion about the future of network wide risk analysis. [Doherty, Paul] Page 8

9 B.5 Describe the project end results and the benefits to the client/end user: Case Studies-Recent Failures Waterford Rockfall Dec 2013 Kilkenny Waterford Line Landslip Dec 2013 Tullamore Soil Slips and Rock Falls 2011/2012 Cabra Slope Failures 2012 GE Slope Engineering and Geotechnical Asset Management 2015 Irish Rail required a means of managing the maintenance of the network to ensure safe and reliable operations of the railway. This process is complicated by (a) the increasing environmental loading that the networks is being subjected to through harsher weather conditions induced by climate change effects and (b) the constrained nature of infrastructure budgets for managing transport networks. To effectively manage the railway, there needs to be a scientific means of allocating resources to specific assets through remediation and/.or maintenance planning. This project provided Irish Rail with a tool to undertake this task. The end result of this project was a software platform that relatively ranks the risk of slope failure across the entire Irish Rail network. This removes the need for subjective interpretation of the risk based on isolated visual inspections and provides a scientific platform for making key operational decisions in relation to which maintenance strategies should be considered. [Doherty, Paul] Page 9

10 Section C. CLIENT S APPRECIATION OF THE CANDIDATE received on 10 th March 2017 from Cathal Mangan at Irish Rail: As today marks the formal commencement of the maintenance contract, and thus the completion of the live project, I'd like to thank all concerned for the development of what I know is going to be a key component for Irish Rail in the safe and optimised management of our cuttings and embankments. The successful completion is undoubtedly as a result of the collaborative and open approach from both sides but also simply down to the hard work, dedication and expertise provided by the key people from both GDG and Irish Rail. Well done to all concerned, we look forward to integrating this into our asset management systems over the coming weeks and on-going. Cathal I am delighted to endorse Paul Doherty s application for the EFCA YP Award Paul s expert consulting engineering ability ensured that the Rail Cutting and Embankment Decision Support Tool project was completed seamlessly and on time with an extremely proficient team involved. In relation to project management, Paul s collaborative approach was very welcome and much appreciated by the staff in Irish Rail. His personal engagement in the project was very high and there was excellent communication at all times. Paul has a wide range of technical expertise, including information technology, which was used extensively to bring the project to a very successful completion. Irish Rail is completely satisfied with the project outcomes, and subsequently has appointed Paul with Gavin & Doherty Geosolutions to manage and maintain the asset management software for the next three years. Name and signature: Cathal Mangan Job title: Technical Manager Company: Irish Rail [Doherty, Paul] Page 10

11 Section D. CV OF THE CANDIDATE Curriculum Vitae Personal information First name(s) / Family name(s) Business Address Paul Doherty A2 Nutgrove Office Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin Phone number(s) Office: Cell: address pdoherty@gdgeo.com Nationality Irish Date of birth 26 th June 1985 Work experience Dates Occupation or position held Full-time Managing Director. Main activities and responsibilities Name and address of employer Type of business or sector Occupation or position held Main activities and responsibilities Name and address of employer Type of business or sector Occupation or position held Main activities and responsibilities Name and address of employer Type of business or sector Dates 2011 Managing the day to day operations of the business and the long term business strategy. Currently managing a team of 35 engineers Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd., Geotechnical Engineering Consultancy Part time Managing Director Established the Company Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions Ltd., Geotechnical Engineering Consultancy Dates Post Doctoral Researcher and Foundation Designer Design and Analysis of Offshore Substructures Mainstream Renewable Power funded project with University College Dublin Renewable Energy [Doherty, Paul] Page 11

12 Dates Occupation or position held Main activities and responsibilities Name and address of employer Type of business or sector (6 months) Geotechnical Designer Design of earthworks for road schemes RPS Consulting Engineers Infrastructure Education and training Title of qualification awarded Principal subjects/occupational skills covered Name and type of organisation providing education and training Level in national or international classification Title of qualification awarded Principal subjects/occupational skills covered Name and type of organisation providing education and training Level in national or international classification Dates PhD (Geotechnical Engineering) Soil Mechanics, Geotechnics and Offshore Design University College Dublin Level 10 Dates Bachelors of Engineering (Civil) Engineering Design, Scheme Design, Structures, Infrastructure, Hydraulics, Geotechnics, Etc. University College Dublin Level 8 Personal skills and competences Mother tongue(s) English Other language(s) None Self-assessment Understanding Speaking Writing European level (*) Listening Reading Spoken interaction Language Language Spoken production Social skills and competences I am responsible for business development for our company GDG which requires close interaction with our clients and forging new relationships with potential clients. The successful growth of our company from 2 to over 30 people in the past 3 years demonstrates the establishment of many new relationships and is evidence of the social skills that I possess. [Doherty, Paul] Page 12

13 Organisational skills and competences I manage a team of over 30 engineers which requires extensive organisational skills. In 2011, myself and a colleague established the specialist geotechnical engineering consultancy Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions (GDG). Despite the challenging economic circumstances at the time, I was committed to developing a business where I could apply my technical knowledge in soil-structure interaction to industry in order to de - risk projects with difficult ground conditions and simultaneously offer value engineering designs. Through high quality project delivery we have developed a reputation for cutting edge design solutions and have established a loyal client base. The sustainable growth of the company from 2 to 30 people in a period of five years through the recession, demonstrates the successful management of the business. My role as Managing Director now includes managing the company resources, staff resources, project timelines and the associated administrative responsibilities. A critical aspect of my role also involves ensuring an ethical business ethos permeates all aspects of the company. Technical skills and competences Skilled in the areas of conceptual design, detailed design, and in-situ monitoring. Adding value from project inception through to on-site validation of the design performance. Computer skills and competences Highly computer literate, with expertise in matlab programming and software development, in addition to general capability in document/spreadsheet/presentation preparation. Furthermore, I am also an expert Plaxis user able to simulate a range of complex soil-structure interaction systems. Other skills and competences Hobbies and activities Papers published I am a reviewer for several ICE technical journals. Hobbies include rugby, martial arts, and sea fishing Published more than 50 peer reviewed journal papers, conference papers and technical reports on a diverse range of geotechnical problems. The theme of these publications includes optimising site investigations, offshore piling, marine geotechnics, deep foundations, reliability based design, geotechnical instrumentation and offshore challenges. Provided presentations and lectures at national and international conferences and seminars. The following list briefly outlines some of my recent contributions to the field of geotechnical engineering: Doherty P. and Gavin K.; (2012) 'The Shaft Capacity of Open-Ended Piles in Clay'. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Doherty P. and Gavin K.; (2012) 'Cyclic and rapid axial load tests on displacement piles in soft clay'. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Doherty P. and Gavin K. (2010) Statistical review of CPT data and implications for pile design. In: Paul Mayne eds. In Proc. of the 2nd International Symposium on Cone Penetration Testing (CPT10) Doherty P., Casey B. and Gavin K. (2010) 'Laying foundations for sustainable energy Geotech challenges facing the offshore wind sector' The Engineers Journal 64 (6): Doherty P., Gavin K. and Gallagher D. (2010) 'Field investigation of the base resistance of pipe piles in clay'. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers- Geotechnical Engineering, 163 (1):13-22 Doherty P. and Gavin K.; (2011) 'The Shaft capacity of displacement piles in clay - A state of the art review'. International Journal of Geotechnical and Geological Engineering. [Doherty, Paul] Page 13

14 Public speaking experience I have delivered technical and keynote presentations at over 25 national and international events ranging from infrastructure conferences to dedicated geotechnical events. I have presented at conferences in Ireland, the UK, the USA, Sweden, Denmark, and the Czech Republic. Technical talks I have prepared included topics such as ground risk and marine foundations. Trainer for a company offering technical CPD events, delivering a course on marine foundations to groups of industrial participants from engineering backgrounds. Prepare and present design lectures at University College Dublin to the undergraduate civil engineering class. Membership of professional organisations Chartered member of Engineers Ireland (CEng), a Fellow of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Ireland (FConsEI) and a dedicated committee member of the Geotechnical Society of Ireland (GSI). I am also an active member of the Deep Foundation Institute (DFI) technical committees for "Marine Foundations" and "Driven Piling". [Doherty, Paul] Page 14