On June 17-21, 2024, representatives of the Polish Geological Institute-NRI participated in the 7th International Conference on Geotechnical and Geophysical Site Characterization in Barcelona.

The event is cyclical and aims to share knowledge and experience between experts and practitioners in the field of geotechnics, with a particular focus on in situ soil testing.

PGI-NRI representatives actively participated in sessions, workshops and training sessions. One of PGI-NRI's representatives attended a course on in-situ testing using a planar dilatometer (DMT) and s-wave measurements using a seismic probe (SDMT), led by Diego Marchetti, designer and production coordinator of the research and measurement equipment. The training addressed issues related to the construction of the equipment and the proper preparation of the dilatometer for testing. There was also information on practical solutions to individual problems arising in the field during the research.

Training conducted by Diego Marchetti

The lecture sessions were divided into: plenary papers and parallel sessions. Among the PGI-NRI representatives attending the conference, the blocks on in situ surveys (in particular CPTU and DMT), offshore surveys, geophysical surveys and the use of machine learning in geotechnical modelling attracted the most interest.

Lecture sessions at the ISC'7 conference

The lecture series on dynamic probing with the possibility of recording impact force was interesting. Particularly noteworthy were the experiences presented by researchers from Asia and research centres from France.

In view of the dynamic development of the wind energy sector, presentations on the identification of the seabed substrate for the foundation of offshore wind farms attracted great interest. Geotechnicians and geologists from Fugro presented their experience.

The conference also featured thematic panels touching on the problems of geophysics in engineering geology and geotechnics. Advanced seismic, electromagnetic and resistivity testing methods for the ground medium were discussed. A number of in-situ geophysical surveys are presented to quickly and accurately determine the geotechnical properties of the soil.

Speakers also presented their findings from the scope of muon tomography, a relatively new geophysical method. It is an imaging technique that uses muons, naturally occurring particles of cosmic radiation, to create three-dimensional images of the interior of objects such as mountains, volcanoes or buildings. This method allows the detection of dense structures and voids within the objects under investigation, offering unique opprtunities in geology.

Representatives of the Department of Engineering Geology in front of the building of the Technological University of Catalonia

The conference presented, among others, issues related to shallow geothermal energy. They focused mainly on the problem of determining the thermal conductivity of the soil where power cables are laid in the ground or on the seabed. The operation of a device that calculates thermal conductivity based on correlation with other physical soil parameters was also demonstrated.

The issues discussed in the session directly relate to the construction processes of wind turbines and photovoltaic farms. The solutions presented could prove very useful in the future when developing infrastructure for RES investments.

A relatively new trend that is increasingly applicable to geotechnics is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Algorithms used in machine learning were presented at the conference. Using the example of borehole data and CPTU surveys, it was shown how to work on large data sets, combining them with each other to eventually create geotechnical models using artificial intelligence.

Text: Aneta Horbowicz, Adam Roguski, Przemysław Sobótka, Kajetan Wczelik