Mercer Lecture SeriesThe International Geosynthetics Society (IGS), International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), and Tensar International have sponsored the publication of all of the previous Mercer Lecture Series papers online for free. The Mercer Lecture Series honors Dr. Brian Mercer, the inventor of the modern reinforcement geogrid.

The prestigious Mercer Lecture is selected by a panel comprising of one representative from Tensar, ISSMGE, IGS and previous Mercer Lecture Award Winners.

The launch of the website coincides with the recent announcement that Dr.- Ing Michael Heibaum (of Germany’s Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute) has been selected to deliver the 2012-2013 Mercer Lecture. His topic has been announced as “Geosynthetics for Waterways and Flood Protection Structures — Controlling the Interaction of Water and Soil.”

Read the abstracts for this and all other Mercer Lectures at the website. PDF versions of the previous lectures are available for free download at:

http://www.tensar.co.uk/mercer/Default.aspx

The papers available include:

  • “Use of Geosynthetics to Improve Seismic Performance of Earth Structures,” J. Koseki, 2009 – 2011
  • “Soil-geosynthetic interaction: Modelling and Analysis,” Ennio M. Palmeira, 2007 – 2008
  • “Contribution of Geosynthetics to the Geotechnical Aspects of Waste Containment,” J.P.Giroud, 2005 – 2006
  • “Reinforcement Loads in Geosynthetic walls and the case for a new working stress design method,” Richard J. Bathurst, Tony Allen, and Dave Walters, 2003
  • “The Behaviour of Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil Systems in Various Geotechnical Applications,” A, McGown, 2000
  • “Geosynthetic-Reinforced Soil Retaining Walls as Important Permanent Structures,” F.Tatsuoka, M, T. Uchimura and J. Koseki, 1996 – 1997
  • “Geosynthetics and Environmental Engineering,” Prof. Jean-Pierre Gourc, 1994
  • “Remaining Technical Barriers to Obtaining General Acceptance to Geosynthetics,” Robert M. Koerner, Y. Hsuan and Arthur E. Lord, Jr, 1992

Dr. Michael Heibaum is currently scheduled to deliver his Mercer Lecture at the 12th Baltic Sea Geotechnical Conference, Rostock, Germany (31 May – 2 June 2012) and ANZ 2012: Ground Engineering in a Changing World, Melbourne, Australia (15 – 18 July 2012).