Workshop 3

Workshop 3

Geosynthetics Engineering: Reinforcement

Sponsored By: 

International Geosynthetics Society (IGS)

International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE)
Geosynthetics Institute (GI)
Geo-Institute of ASCE


Presiding Officer: 

Prof. Dr. Erol Guler, Bogazici University, Turkey



Presentation Title: Geosynthetic Reinforced wall retaining structures

  1. Chungsik Yoo, PhD, Professor
  2. Professor, Sungkyunkwan University in Korea

Professor Chungsik Yoo is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University in Korea. He obtained his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1993. He worked as a Geotechnical Engineer at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in USA and subsequently became a faculty member at Sungkyunkwan University in 1994. He is currently a Vice-President of Korean Tunnelling Association, Animateur of Working Group 2 "Research" in International Tunnelling Association, and Vice-Chair of TC204 “Underground Construction in Soft Ground” in ISSMGE. Prof. Yoo is also working as Vice-President of International Geosynthetics Society and President of Korean Geosynthetics Society. He is serving as an Editorial Board Member for a number of international journals, such as Geotextiles and Geomembranes, Geosynthetics International, and Computers and Geotechnics. Prof. Yoo is a recipient of 2010 IGS Award from the International Geosynthetic Society (IGS) and has co-authored over 250 technical papers in geotechnical and tunnel engineering based on laboratory testing, numerical modeling, and field testing.



Presentation Title: Earthquake behavior of Geosynthetic Reinforced wall retaining structures

  1. Erol Guler, Ph.D., Professor
  2. Professor, Bogazici University, Turkey

Dr. Erol Guler is a full professor of geotechnical engineering at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey since 1989. He acted as the Director of Environmental Sciences Institute of Bogazici University between 1996 and 1999 and as the Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department between 2004 and 2010. He was a visiting Fulbright Professor at the University of Maryland between 1989 and 1991. Prof. Guler is the leading geosynthetic scientist in Turkey, having been an IGS Member since 1989. He founded the IGS Turkish Chapter in 2001 and served as its president until 2005, and was reelected as President again in 2011. He was the organizer for the first two national geosynthetic conferences in 2004 and 2006 and is currently the chairman of the organizing committee of the 2016 European Regional Conference of IGS, EuroGeo6. Prof. Guler has been a member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) Technical committee on geosynthetics as a representative of the Turkish Standards Institute since 2002. He is currently the Convener of the WG2 of ISO/TC221 (Technical Committee on geosynthetics) and is also the Convener of the WG2 of CEN-TC189 (European Committee for Standardization’s Technical Committee on geosynthetics). Prof. Guler is currently an international member of the USA TRB Committee on Geosynthetics. Prof. Guler’s research has focused mainly on geosynthetic reinforced walls and specifically he conducted research on the use of marginal soils in such structures and their behavior under earthquake loading conditions. His research work includes numerical studies as well as shaking table tests and full scale tests. In addition to his research work, Prof. Guler has extensive practical experience, including design work for numerous projects where geosynthetics were used as reinforcement or liners.


Presentation Title: Geosynthetic Encapsulated Columns and piled embankments

  1. Dr. Ing. Dimiter Alexiew
  2. Technical Director of HUESKER; Huesker Synthetic GmbH, Gescher, Germany

In 1954, Born in Sofia, Bulgaria. 1973 –1978, Studied at the Technical University for Civil Engineering (TUCE) in Sofia: Dipl.-Ing. (alias Magister). 1978 – 1980, Post-graduation at the TUCE Sofia (bridges, special foundations). 1981 –1983, Research and Development Engineer at the Computer Centre of TUCE; simultaneously Appl. Assistant Lecturer at TUCE for Computing in civil engineering. 1983 – 1990, Research and Design Engineer at the Institute of the Bulgarian Ministry for Construction Industry – Dept. Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering: geotechnical consultancy and research, special foundation projects, design and construction recommendations and standards; simultaneously Appl. Assistant at the Chair for Soil Mechanics and Foundations of TUCE Sofia. 1990, Doctorate in geotechnical engineering: Dr.-Ing. (alias PhD). 1991 – 1992, Employee at the Institute for Geotechnics at the LGA – Bavaria, Nuremberg, Germany: consultancy and design; general geotechnics and foundations, waste disposals, waterways, transportation structures, geosynthetics. Since Summer 2010, Invited Lecturer at the Chair for Geotechnical Engineering of the Technical University of Siegen, Germany, simultaneously to the main job in HUESKER; regular courses on geosynthetics in geotechnical engineering. Since September 2010, Technical Director of HUESKER; focal point engineering. Regarding Publications, More than 180 technical publications in different languages, partly in form of technical standards, codes and recommendations. Regarding Lectures, More than 120 lectures and reports at international and national conferences and at technical seminars for Universities Project activities as design and/or consulting engineer Geosynthetic reinforcement in transportation engineering (piled embankments, bridging sinkholes, embankments on soft soils, walls, slopes, bridge abutments), landfills, industrial areas on soft soils, sludge lagoons, reactivation of contaminated old industrial areas etc.


Presentation Title: Geosynthetic reinforcement of paved and unpaved roads

  1. Jie Han, Ph.D., PE, Fellow of ASCE
  2. Professor, The University of Kansas

Dr. Jie Han is a full professor at Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas in the United States. He received his BS and MS degrees in Geotechnical Engineering from Tongji University in 1986 and 1989 respectively, his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1997, and has been a professional engineer in Georgia since 1998. Prof. Han’s research and practical experiences have dealt with geosynthetics, ground improvement, pile foundations, buried structures, and roadways. He has published more than 300 international journal and conference papers and recently authored a textbook in English entitled “Principles and Practice of Ground Improvement”. He has served as an associate editor for the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and the ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, an editorial board member for other eight international journals, and a technical chair/member for a number of international conferences. Prof. Han has received a number of research grants as a principal or co-principal investigator from the National Science Foundation, the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) 2, the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), the Federal Highway Administration, etc. He received the Best Paper Award in Soil Mechanics from the U.S. Transportation Research Board in 2008, was the recipient of the 2011 Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in Practice of Geotechnical Engineering, awarded the Changjiang Lecture Scholar by the Ministry of Education of China in 2013, the recipient of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) Award in 2014, the first author of the paper presentation selected as the Best of the Best Award at the ASCE GeoStructures Congress in Phoenix, Arizona in 2016, and the corresponding author of the Design and Construction Group Practice Ready Paper Award from the U.S. Transportation Research Board in 2016. Prof. Han was elected to the ASCE Fellow in 2014.