Through a valued collaboration with the USA division of the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), DFI India has organised a series of webinars developed for students in civil engineering with particular interests in geotechnical engineering; the initiative is DFI India Student Outreach Program ‘Groundwork’.
Following an invitation by DFI (USA), on 16th March 2021 Dr Mothersille delivered a 40-minute lecture on ground anchors followed by a 10 minute Q & A session. The talk covered definitions/terminology, exploring the concept, worldwide applications, design, corrosion & corrosion protection, construction and testing (including the innovative AnchorTestTM technology for data processing and analysis). Finally, Dr Mothersille presented a case history detailing the raising of Hazelmere dam in South Africa. This example usefully demonstrated many of the aspects covered in the webinar on a unique project.
The session included an excellent 20-minute presentation from Ms Jewels Stover (Nicholson Construction) entitled ‘The Art of Negotiation’. The attendees included students, academics and practising engineers from all over India who would have certainly derived considerable benefits from these two subject areas.
Special thanks are due to Ms Mary Ellen Large ( Director of Technical Activities, DFI, USA) for recommending Dr Mothersille to be a speaker at the event, Mr T Rambabu (UR Ground Engineering Pvt Ltd) for acting as session moderator, and Mr Pranav Jha (Assistant Manager, Operations, DFI India) for coordinating the IT aspects on the day.
