Events & Courses

Course overview

Carbonate Hazard: Mining and Dissolution

Carbonate rocks like limestone and chalk present a particular set of engineering geological challenges both to existing development and whenever new development is planned. The advent of national cavity databases assists with the preliminary checks of whether natural or mining cavities are recorded on site or in its vicinity, but it is usually essential to further understand ,in more detail, the site location in its wider geomorphological and historical context to truly assess the engineering risks. Many professional indemnity claims are frequently associated with a lack of due diligence of third party data, leading to incorrect assumptions and advice about sites and, in turn, risking unsafe development.

For natural cavities it is important to appreciate the range of types, depths and scales at which they can occur. The nature of the carbonate terrain and its geological and geomorphological development is important when creating a ground model for the site and using this to design and execute the ground investigation. The investigation needs to characterise the site sufficiently to provide safe engineering solutions. Similarly, knowledge of past regional factors (industries, styles, scales) that have led to the need for underground mining (often poorly or unrecorded and pre-dating published maps) requires appreciation in order to evaluate the potential for past mining at sites and how to develop safe site development strategies. 

The training session will concentrate upon (1) guidance for improved methodology for the assessment of sites underlain by carbonate terrains to check their geohazard potential, given that this appears to be a weakness for many geotechnical investigations, (2) consideration for investigation strategies and (3) review.

Programme

This course will be taking place on 17 June 2025 at 16:00 BST, and will last for approximately 1.5 hours, depending on audience participation.

Speaker

Dr David Giles, CGeol

Dr David Giles is Technical Director & Digital Imagery Consultant at CGL (Card Geotechnics Limited) with over 35 years’ experience in academia and the Engineering Geology and Geotechnics industry. His experience includes 28 years lecturing and researching in Engineering Geology in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Portsmouth. Dr Giles is an active member of the Engineering Group of the Geological Society of London, a past Chair and an active member of Geological Society Working Parties including UK Geological Hazards, which he chairs and the Engineering Geology and Geomorphology of Glaciated and Periglaciated Terrains.

Location

This course will be delivered virtually via Zoom. Joining details will be sent out the day prior, alongside any course materials that may be needed.

Fees (including early-bird rate)

* Early-bird discount applicable for all registrations until 17 April 2025. Simply select your delegate type on the registration form and the discount will be applied and reflected in the payment section at the bottom of the registration form.*

Group Discounts

We offer competitive group discounts on all Training Courses:
5 – 9 delegates: 20% off
10 – 14 delegates: 25% off
15 delegates or more: 30% off

For more information on how to access the Group Discount, please email [email protected]

Concessions

We offer students a generous discount. Please verify your student status by either registering with your student email address, or uploading a photograph of your student identification/acceptance letter.

The Society offers a limited number of concessionary rates for those in financial hardship. Contact [email protected] (Please note you may be required to provide details/evidence to support your application for this.)

If you require an invoice to register for this course, please email [email protected]

Registration will close 24 hours before the event takes place.

GSL reserves the right to postpone or cancel a Training Course in the event of low interest. In this instance, a full refund will be offered for registration fees.