Behzad Fatahi Wins Geotechnical Award

November 20, 2006

Dr Kurt Douglas, University of NSW and Geomechanics Society Committee member, congratulates RAil CRC PhD candidate Behzad Fatahi, University of Wollongong, on his win.

RAIL CRC PhD Candidate Behzad Fatahi studying at the University of Wollongong, won first prize for Geotechnical Research Contributions at the Young Geotechnical Professional’s night held at the Institution of Engineers in Sydney recently.

The competition was held in two stages, where initially four entries were selected out of all applicants from Universities and engineering companies. In the second stage, the selected participants were judged on their oral presentations. As first prize winner, Mr Fatahi won $500, free membership of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) and a sandstone trophy.

Mr Fatahi is working on Rail CRC’s Project 86 – The feasibility of improving rail infrastructure by introducing native vegetation on clay soil sites. His supervisors at UoW are Professor Buddhima Indraratna and Dr Hadi Khabbaz.

Mr Fatahi said his research topic “Modelling of the Influence of Native Tree Roots in Stabilising Rail Tracks on Weak Soils” found that the influence zone of a single tree was several times greater than its canopy size.

“For the rail industry, this means that planting trees 15 – 20 meters away from rail tracks can stabilise the soft formation sufficiently, saving a significant portion of the billions of dollars spent on rail network maintenance,” Mr Fatahi said.

“In the Faculty of Engineering at UoW, we have developed a model linking civil engineering and botanical science. Vegetation contributes to problematic soil stabilization through reinforcement of the soil and dissipation of pore pressure to increase strength.”

Last year Mr Fatahi was also a prize winner at UOW's Higher Degree Research Student Conference 2005 in the category of “Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries”.

Project 86 is one of approximately 40 Rail CRC research projects, which were established and supported under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme.

Rail CRC is based at Central Queensland University’s Rockhampton campus and consists of rail industry partners – TMG Rail Technology, ARTC, Pacific National, Queensland Rail, and Rail Corp - and six university partners – University of South Australia, Central Queensland University, Monash University, The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and the University of Wollongong.

For more information on this and other Rail CRC projects visit www.railcrc.com.au .