Contaminated Land Approvals: What Councils Must Know to Manage Risk and Expedite Decisions
With state-level reforms and updated contaminated land management manuals (July 2024), councils face growing pressure to demonstrate due diligence while keeping approvals on track. Inconsistent documentation and unclear consultant deliverables remain among the most common causes of delay. Contaminated land management is a key responsibility for local councils and regulators in Australia. Former industrial or […]
High Water Tables and Flood Risk: What Developers and Councils Need to Consider Before Building
Why the Water Beneath Matters Flood risk management often focuses on what we can see: protecting our rivers, creeks and stormwater systems. Yet a major flood risk lies underground: the Rising Groundwater Challenge. After prolonged periods of high rainfall or flooding, groundwater levels can rise and remain high for extended period. When the water table […]
Inside the Graduate Program: Project Manager Course
Building the Next Generation of Project Managers At Douglas Partners, technical excellence is only part of the story. Delivering grounded solutions for the built environment requires more than strong geotechnical, environmental and groundwater expertise. I It demands leadership, commercial awareness and trusted client relationships. It’s for these reasons our Graduate Program goes beyond technical training. […]
Douglas Partners’ 38th Annual Technical Seminar “Win Winning”
Uniting Expertise, Innovation and the Spirit of Winning Each year, Douglas Partners brings together our geotechnical engineers, geologists, hydrogeologists, environmental specialists and technical professionals from across 19 branches for our Annual Technical Seminar, an event that sits at the heart of our culture of technical excellence, collaboration and shared success. Our team shared practical insights, […]
Celebrating Emerging Talent: Stephanie Salim Awarded the AGS Don Douglas Youth Fellowship Award
Douglas Partners is pleased to spotlight an important moment from the recent Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) Sydney Symposium, where the Don Douglas Youth Fellowship Award was presented to Stephanie Salim (PSM) in recognition of the best paper by a young geotechnical professional in 2024. The award honours the legacy of Don Douglas, founding Managing Director […]
Understanding the Plate Load Test: Procedure, Interpretation & Importance in Foundation Design
Designing Shallow Foundations In geotechnical engineering, the safe and cost-effective design of shallow foundations depends on accurately determining the soil’s bearing capacity at the intended depth. Without reliable data, there is a risk of over-designing, which increases costs, or under-designing, which compromises structural safety. The Plate Load Test (PLT) is a widely used in-situ method […]
Case Studies of Filling Movements under Buildings
Abstract Three case studies of filling works are reviewed. In the first case, a deep quarry was backfilled with a combination of clays, ripped shale and ripped sandstone under controlled conditions. Settlement monitoring was carried out over a period of two years to measure the consolidation of the filling. The settlement results are presented and […]
Sodic Soils and Design / Construction Implications for a Recreational Lake in Central Western Queensland.
Building a recreational lake sounds simple enough. Dig a basin, let the water in, and enjoy the boating, skiing, and community events that follow. But in regions like Central Western Queensland, the soils beneath our feet can create challenges that go far beyond the surface. One of the biggest culprits? Sodic soils. What Is Soil […]
Deep Foundation Design for Complex Soils
Why Deep Foundations Are Required In many projects, shallow foundations are sufficient to support the loads of a structure because the surface soils have adequate bearing capacity and settlement characteristics. However, in other cases, near-surface soils may be too weak, compressible, or variable to provide reliable support. This is particularly evident in areas with soft […]
Three-dimensional Bearing Capacity of Footings on Sand over Clay
Introduction The bearing capacity of soil is one of the most critical factors in foundation design, particularly where sand overlies clay. While dense sand offers relatively high load-bearing strength and effective drainage, underlying clay soils are often weaker, compressible, and more prone to long-term settlement. This layered interaction poses challenges for shallow foundations, where the […]