AGS Adelaide Symposium 2025

Geotechnical Challenges and Lessons Learnt

Keynote speakers: Allan McConnell and Dr Jack Pappin

The SA-NT Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is pleased to announce its 2025 Symposium “Geotechnical Challenges and Lessons Learnt” which is to be held at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide, on Tuesday 28 October 2025. 

The event

The symposium forms part of the continuing program of events organised by the SA/NT Chapter of the AGS and will feature a diverse range of presentations, discussions, and networking. 

In geotechnical engineering, we continue to be influenced by risk factors associated with ground conditions, reliance on past experience and the desire to provide sound geotechnical assessments and designs. 

Past experiences of geotechnical challenges in design and construction can provide valuable lessons that lead to increased awareness of potential problems and allow geotechnical professionals to improve practices, develop innovative technologies and provide the best solutions. 

The main aims of the symposium are to share experiences of geotechnical challenges faced and the lessons learnt in overcoming these challenges. Topics will include overviews of current design practice, state of-the-art practices, geotechnical testing and data management, new research findings, novel technologies, artificial intelligence, innovative solutions, and case studies.

The Symposium will bring together industry leaders, practitioners, researchers, specialist contractors, regulators, educators, and students from a range of backgrounds, to share and discuss their experiences on the topic of Geotechnical Challenges and Lessons Learnt, with a particular emphasis on the South Australian and Northern Territory regions.

The symposium will be held as a face-to-face event in Adelaide.

Keynote speakers

Allan McConnell Founder, Insitu Geotech Services

The First Geotechnical Challenge – Proper Site Characterisation – Lessons to be learnt

To quote a highly experienced geotechnical engineer, Graham Scholey of WSP, in the first line of his paper presented at ISC’7 in Barcelona last year, “Even the most experienced geotechnical engineer is likely to assume that the results of cone penetration tests are unquestionably accurate, reliable and repeatable”. Then he goes on to describe in that paper how wrong this assumption might be and his perplexing experience with seriously wrong in situ testing data on a major Australian project.

The same applies to all geotechnical testing and sampling methods – techniques and equipment must be (a) properly chosen, (b) properly calibrated, (c) properly implemented, and (d) results should be properly challenged, before any test data is accepted as correct.

This is all complicated by the fact that some significant changes are underway in the in situ testing arena.  And Graham’s site is a classic case – when re-investigated using absolutely current methods, the previous problem was overcome and put into perspective, leading to re-design of the project.  This project will be briefly described in this presentation.

The speaker, Allan McConnell, is an Australian geotechnical engineer with more than 50 years experience: firstly, more than 30 years as a consultant; and then later as an in situ testing and sampling contractor.  For some decades he has been on a mission to manage/reduce/minimise/eliminate geotechnical uncertainty. The passion for this led him to eventually give up on day-to-day consulting and start up (in the year 2000) the specialist testing and sampling company Insitu Geotech Services (IGS). The company’s motto – to “reduce geotechnical uncertainty”.

Allan knows a lot about in situ testing and sampling, and will talk to us at our Symposium, on significant advances/changes in CPT, Vane Shear and DMT in very recent times. 

Some of these advances/changes are a bit confrontational, being paradigm shifts in things we have believed and trusted “forever”; some are works in progress, still evolving but definitely “on the move”. 

There will also be a few elephants in the in situ testing room to be revealed and dealt with during this presentation, in particular with respect to CPT testing in very soft stuff, which is where a lot of CPT testing is done.  Some of the advances/changes to be described and explained are directly related to this issue.

Dr Jack Pappin Arup Fellow

Dr Jack Pappin is a highly respected geotechnical engineer with over four decades of international experience spanning Australia, the UK, and Asia. After graduating from the University of Adelaide, Jack worked with CSIRO before completing a PhD at the University of Nottingham. He joined Arup’s London office in 1980 and later relocated to Hong Kong, where he became a leading figure in the firm’s global geotechnical earthquake engineering practice. Jack became a specialist in geotechnical earthquake engineering after seeing the aftermath of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

Jack’s expertise covers a wide range of geotechnical challenges including seismic hazard assessment, deep excavations, foundations, and soil-structure interaction. He has led the development of advanced numerical analysis methods and played a key role in seismic design for major infrastructure projects across the Asia-Pacific. A passionate advocate for robust and resilient design, Jack is widely recognised for his deep technical insight, mentorship, and enduring contributions to the field.

Topics

• The first geotechnical challenge – Proper site characterisation
• Harnessing generative AI
• Shear strength of engineered fill
• 21^st Century technology improving site characterisation
• Jet Grouting applications, challenges and insights
• Various project case studies – lessons learnt

Confirmed Speakers

• Alan McConnell – IGS
• Dr Jack Pappin – ARUP
• Dr Ali Parsa –  JK Geotechnics
• Dr Nasser Khalilli – UNSW
• Dr Lia Song – University of Adelaide
• Stuart Cowan – Jacobs
• Mark Drechsler – SMEC
• Dr Peter Mitchell – Aurecon
• Andrew Campbell – Mott MacDonald
• Brenton Harris – WGA
• Daniel Pham – WSP
• Ivy Moland – Aurecon
• Helen Boot – Menard
• James Taylor – Earthsolve
• Abu Rabbi – ENGEO
• Cal Taylor- Keller
• Ross Evans – Piletest

Important dates and submission

• 15^th August – Abstract submission 
• 29^th August – Notification of accepted abstracts  
• 26^th September – Submission of presentations  
• 3^rd October – Presentation acceptance notifications  
• 17^th October – Final presentation submission and registration deadline
• 28^th October – Symposium  

Sponsorship

The AGS is pleased to offer three levels of sponsorship for this year’s symposium: Platinum; Gold; and Silver. Sponsorship helps the AGS committee facilitate high quality events at competitive prices, and we encourage potential sponsors to consider supporting this event.

Interested parties can purchase a sponsorship online. For more information, please contact Rod Fyfe via [email protected].

Platinum Sponsor – $1500 Sold Out

• Two free delegates
• Opportunity to give a brief talk about their organisation
• One full page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day with prior advertising of this event.

Gold Sponsor – $1000

• One free delegate
• One full page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day and with prior advertising of this event.

Silver Sponsor – $500

• Half page of advertising space in the proceedings
• Promotion of company logo on the day and with prior advertising of this event.

Registration

Registration is now closed, as the symposium has sold out.

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.