About

The Golder Geomechanics Centre (GGC) is a partnership between Golder Associates Pty Ltd (www.golder.com) and The University of Queensland (UQ). The Centre specialises in a range of subjects in ground engineering and environmental science, including geo-materials modelling, computational geomechanics, field instrumentation and monitoring, laboratory modelling and characterisation, in addition to the application of geomechanics principles to mine waste management, mine closure, and mineral processing.

Teaching

The Golder Geomechanics Centre offers an extensive range of undergraduate courses in Geomechanics, including:

• CIVL2210 Fundamentals of Soil Mechanics
• CIVL3210 Geotechnical Engineering
• CIVL4230 Advanced Soil Mechanics
• CIVL4250 Numerical Methods in Geomechanics
• CIVL4260 Unsaturated Soil Mechanics
• MINE4000 Mine Waste Management & Landform Design

A national postgraduate coursework program in Geomechanics, centred on UQ, is proposed from 2010.

Research

The Centre comprises the expertise of a leading research team in experimental investigation and computational modelling. This expertise is made available both to the scientific community, through cutting edge research projects, and to industry through high level consulting and testing services. Some of current research projects include:

Geotechnical Applications

Mining Applications

Soil-structure interaction of buried concrete arches Dynamic behaviour of buried structures under road loading Performance of high road embankments Ground improvement by piling Performance of wick drains Performance of clay liners Risk assessment and cost-effectiveness analysis Optimization in engineering

Characterisation of lateritic nickel ore processing residues to effect sustainable storage Encapsulation of potentially contaminating waste rock with benign waste rock Field monitoring and computational modelling of waste rock dump rainfall infiltration and base seepage Leaching of highly saline water from evaporation ponds Mined landform design, in sympathy with the surrounding landform Mine waste covers mimicking natural analogues Operational and post-closure mine waste water balance and seepage Water and process chemical recovery, and the minimisation of seepage from tailings facilities

Consultancy

The Golder Centre for Geomechanics has recognised strengths in the application of geomechanics principles to mine waste management and mine closure, to mining and civil engineering infrastructure, and including the following:

• Development of innovative landform and closure designs for potentially contaminating surface mine waste storages
• Application of geomechanics principles to mining and construction assets
• Application of risk assessment and cost-effectiveness analysis to mining and construction assets, and the development of expert systems
• Application of numerical methods to soil-structure interaction in construction
• Behaviour of buried structures under traffic and other loading
• Advances in techniques of underground excavation
• Advanced mine planning and design
• Advanced mining and processing of coal and other ores
• Application of geophysics to geotechnical assets such as road pavements.

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