Earth Retaining Structures and Shoring Design

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Carleton University is pleased to announce a Short Course on the Analysis and Design of Earth Retaining Structure and shoring systems, to be held virtually at Carleton University on May 16-17, 2022. The course will be offered in both in-person and online formats.

Course description

This short course provides practical training for the analysis and design of retaining walls and shoring systems to resist lateral earth pressure for slope stabilization and deep excavations. The course will review the related geotechnical knowledge and show you how to apply soil mechanics theory to retaining structures, trenching and shoring design. Design methods will be covered for different earth supporting systems including rigid retaining walls, geosynthetic walls, sheet piles, soldier piles, braced cuts, and tieback anchor. The design examples are illustrated and will show you how to apply the theory into practice.  All key concepts and guidelines will be explained and emphasis will be placed on the practical application of the information provided.

Who should attend?

This course would be beneficial to all civil engineering practitioners and especially to those involved in the design, approval and maintenance of slope stabilization and deep excavation projects and any other structural and construction systems, such as civil, municipal, environmental and construction engineers, consulting engineers, plans review personnel in municipalities, public works professionals, plant engineers, who are involved with building and construction works, technicians and specialists, geologists and earth scientists, civil engineers who want to understand foundations or any other load carrying soil-structure systems. The course will be of value both for those who are new to the field as well as for those who have experience with retaining and shoring systems.   

*If you would like to register with a cheque or bank draft, please complete this registration form.

After participating in this course you will be able to:

• Understand the principles of lateral earth pressure and retaining structures design, and identify issues and challenges associated with the design of deep excavations and shoring systems.
• Determine appropriate site exploration and laboratory characterization programs suitable for shoring projects.
• Apply your comprehensive understanding of many of the basic concepts of foundation design to increase your effectiveness on your projects, and demonstrate your newly acquired skills in geotehnical engineering practice.
• Implement requirements, procedures and techniques for safe, effective and efficient design of retaining and shoring systems.

Special Feature

You will receive a copy of the course notes that you will find very useful on your projects.

Course Instructor

Dr. Mohammad Rayhani is an Associate Professor of Geotechnical Engineering and the director of Geo-engineering Research Group in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Western Ontario and he is the author of over 50 publications in different areas of geo-engineering. Dr. Rayhani is a member of CGS, OGG, ASCE, ISMFE, and a Registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario. He has over 20 years industrial and research experience in the field of geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering, and has been involved in many engineering projects around the world in foundation design, landfill barrier systems, geotechnical earthquake engineering, embankment dams and slope stability. His research mainly focuses on advanced foundation systems, soil and foundation improvement solutions for seismic resistant design, foundation design in permafrost, and geotechnical aspects of landfill design.