Join the BCRRA Pre-Conference Workshops – Sunday, 21 June 2026!
This dedicated workshop day offers focused, practice and research oriented sessions led by experts providing actionable insights and an excellent opportunity to engage with the BCRRA community ahead of the conference:
WS 1: Experimentation and Modelling for Transportation Infrastructure Facing Climate Extremes
WS 2: Geosynthetics in Pavement Engineering: Reinforcement and Stabilisation for Roads, Railways, and Airfields
WS 3: Intelligent Construction Technologies (ICT) for Asphalt Pavement Construction
WS 4: Rockfall – From Risk to Resilience for Roads and Railways
WS 5: Toward Net Zero Impacts on Performance and Implementation in Transportation Materials
WS 6: Traffic Speed Deflectometer Device (TSDD) Quality Control
Workshops will run with a minimum of 10 participants. Early registration is recommended by 30 April 2026.
WS 1: Experimentation and modelling for transportation infrastructure facing climate extremes
Transportation infrastructures, including roads, railways and airfields, are fundamental and key components for daily life. In the last decades, climate extremes become more severe, with strong storms, heavy rainfall and flooding, extreme freezing and extremely high temperature. These climate extremes have brought a tough challenge for the long-term operation of the transportation infrastructures. Unravelling the performance of the transportation infrastructure facing climate extremes becomes urgent and necessary.
Our full-day workshop includes experimentation and modelling for transportation infrastructure facing climate extremes. Around 15 presentations from the well-known experts in this field will be delivered during our workshop, to address the topic.
Coordinator:
Prof. Yu-Jun Cui, École des Ponts ParisTech, France ( yu-jun.cui@enpc.fr )
Professor Yu-Jun Cui, doctoral supervisor and expert in unsaturated soil mechanics. Professor Yu-Jun Cui was the head of Geotechnical Engineering Group (CERMES) of Navier Laboratory at ENPC, and is a member of the Council of French Society for Soil Mechanics, a member of Technical Committee of ISSMGE for unsaturated soils (TC106) and for transportation geotechnics (TC202). He is also an Associate Editor of “Canadian Geotechnical Journal”, “Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering”, “Transportation Geotechnics” and a Panel Member of “Géotechnique Letters”. He has participated in the management of a number of EU projects and industrial projects related to different applications of unsaturated soil mechanics. His research interests include laboratory testing, constitutive modelling, environmental geotechnical engineering, transportation geotechnics, nuclear waste disposal, lime/cement treatment, soil-vegetation-atmosphere interaction, etc.
Co-coordinators:
Prof. Tatsuya Ishikawa, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan ( t-ishika@eng.hokudai.ac.jp )
Dr. Tatsuya Ishikawa is a Professor of the Faculty of Engineering at the Hokkaido University, Japan. After graduation from Kyoto University, Japan, he worked at East Japan Railway Company as an engineer for about 15 years, including about 7 years’ temporary transfer to Railway Technical Research Institute, Japan. In 2002, he became a faculty member of Hokkaido University. So far, he mainly has studied transportation geotechnics, including disaster prevention against heavy rainfall and frost-heave, from the viewpoints of experimental and analytical research. In the 2022-2026 term, he is the chair of Technical Committee 202 (TC202) on Transportation Geotechnics, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), after being the secretary of ISSMGE TC202 during 8 years from 2013 to 2021. Also, from 2013, he is the chair of TC202 Japanese Domestic Committee of Japanese Geotechnical Society. In addition, he is the editorial board member of Transportation Geotechnics Journal and the associate editor of Journal of Soils and Foundations. Moreover, as the head of the geotechnical disaster survey teams for the August 2016 Hokkaido heavy rainfall and the 2018 Hokkaido Eastern Iburi earthquake etc., he has been engaged in maintaining and securing a safe and secure living environment for residents and developing civil engineering projects in Hokkaido, Japan, from the perspective of disaster prevention and mitigation against the natural disasters under the climate change.
Han-Lin Wang, Hunan University, China ( wanghanlin@hnu.edu.cn )
is a professor in College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University. He also serves as the Associate Dean of National Graduate College for Elite Engineers, Hunan University. He obtained Bachelor and PhD degrees from Zhejiang University. Before joining Hunan University, he studied or worked in Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, University of Macau, Cardiff University and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. In 2021, he was awarded the Distinguished Young Scholar (Overseas) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. His research focuses on transportation geotechnics, with 12 publications in Géotechnique, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, and Canadian Geotechnical Journal. His relevant investigations have been adopted in several practical engineering projects, including several tunnelling projects in Changsha and Shenzhen, substructure maintenance for TGV high-speed railway lines in France. He is currently a Corresponding Member of TC202 (Transportation Geotechnics) in International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). He was elected as the secretary of the Task Force 6 “Climatic effects on geomaterial behaviour related to mechanics of unsaturated transportation foundations” for TC202. He serves as the Editorial Member or Editor of Special issues in several journals, including Transportation Geotechnics, Transportation Infrastructure Geotechnology, etc. In 2024, he was awarded the “Bright Spark Lecture Award” by ISSMGE in the 5th International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics.
António Gomes Correia, Universidade do Minho, Portugal ( agc@civil.uminho.pt )
António Gomes Correia holds a Civil Engineering degree (IST, Portugal, 1977), a Doctor-Engineer degree (ENPC, France, 1985), and a Habilitation (IST, Portugal, 1998). With over 600 publications, his career spans transportation infrastructure and digitalisation in geotechnics, with a focus on geomaterials and geotechnologies. He received the Manuel Rocha Award (1987), became a specialist at Portugal’s National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC), and served as Full Professor at the University of Minho (2003–2020), including in leadership roles such as Vice-Dean of the School of Engineering. Since 2021, he has been Professor Emeritus at the University of Minho, continuing to contribute to geotechnics through research, editorial leadership, and international collaboration. He chaired ISSMGE’s ETC 11 (1998–2001), TC 3 (2001–2009), and TC 202 – Transportation Geotechnics (2009–2013), and co-delivered ISSMGE’s 2nd webinar on Intelligent Compaction. He founded the Transportation Geotechnics conference series, launched the Young Transportation Geotechnics Engineers Forum, and co-founded the International Society for Intelligent Construction (ISIC). A founding editor of Elsevier’s Transportation Geotechnics, he is also Editor-in-Chief of Transportation Engineering. His honours include the XXXIII Manuel Rocha Lecture (2016), the 2nd Proctor Lecture (2017), the 23rd Šuklje Lecture (2024), and the 30th Széchy Memorial Lecture (2025). More details are available at his ORCID profile: (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0103-2579).
Programme
| Time | Presenter | Presentation topic |
|---|---|---|
| 08:00–08:30 | Registration | |
| 08:30–08:40 | Tatsuya Ishikawa (Hokkaido University) | Welcome speech |
| 08:40–09:10 | Yu-Jun Cui (École des Ponts ParisTech) | Title to be confirmed |
| 09:10–09:40 | Joel Smethurst (University of Southampton) | The impact of climate change on the performance of clay earthworks in the UK |
| 09:40–10:10 | Jian-Kun Liu (Sun Yat-Sen University) | Anti-degradation measures for permafrost under railways in global warming conditions |
| 10:10–10:30 | Group photo & Coffee break | |
| 10:30–11:00 | Tatsuya Ishikawa (Hokkaido University) | Title to be confirmed |
| 11:00–11:30 | Ana Heitor (University of Leeds) | Title to be confirmed |
| 11:30–12:00 | Han-Lin Wang (Hunan University) | Deformation characteristics of mudstone foundation in the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan Railway |
| 12:00–12:50 | Round-table discussion hosted by António Gomes Correia, Universidade do Minho, Portugal) | |
| 12:50–13:00 | Yu-Jun Cui (École des Ponts ParisTech) | Closing remarks |
WS 2: Geosynthetics in Pavement Engineering: Reinforcement and Stabilisation for Roads, Railways, and Airfields
This workshop, jointly supported by the IGS Technical Committees TC-R (Reinforcement) and TC-S (Stabilisation), will explore the state of the art in the use of geosynthetic materials in pavement engineering, with a particular focus on applications for the reinforcement and stabilisation of roads, railways, and airfields. Through expert presentations, case studies, and interactive discussions, participants will gain insights into design approaches, performance evaluation, and future research needs for sustainable and resilient infrastructure.
Workshop Overview
Geosynthetics provide sustainable solutions that improve the performance, durability, and cost-effectiveness of transportation infrastructure, including roads, railways, and airfields. This workshop will offer a focused platform to explore the use of geosynthetics in pavement structures and railway track systems, covering:
- the mechanisms governing their performance in different applications;
- key geosynthetic properties relevant to design and long-term behaviour;
- available design approaches and methodologies and
- case studies demonstrating real-world implementation.
Coordinator:
Stanislav Lenart, Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG), stanislav.lenart@zag.si
Co-coordinators:
Ivan Puig Damians, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain, ivan.puig@upc.edu
Dr. Ivan P. Damians is a civil and geotechnical engineer with nearly 20 years of experience in university teaching, research, and specialized professional practice. He holds a PhD in Geotechnical Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya-BarcelonaTech (UPC), where his research focused on the mechanical behavior and sustainability assessment of reinforced soil walls. Dr. Damians has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. Since 2007, he has taught undergraduate and graduate geotechnical engineering courses at UPC-BarcelonaTech, coordinated sustainability-oriented coursework, and supervised numerous bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral theses. In parallel with his academic career, he has developed a strong professional profile as a geotechnical engineer and R&D Manager of the VSoL systems at VSL International as well as Associate Research Professor at International Centre for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE), contributing to major international projects on thermo-hydro-mechanical modelling for deep geological nuclear waste disposal. He is actively involved in international technical committees and is currently Chair of the TC-Reinforced Fill of the International Geosynthetics Society, reflecting his international leadership and recognition in geotechnical engineering.
Erol Tutumluer, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA, tutumlue@illinois.edu
Dr. Erol Tutumluer is Abel Bliss Professor specializing in Transportation Geotechnics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is an ASCE Distinguished Member, the highest honor reserved for civil engineers who have achieved eminence in the profession. Dr. Tutumluer has been active in geosynthetics engineering research, education, and practice for more than 25 years. He has research interests and expertise in characterization of pavement and railroad track geomaterials, i.e., subgrade soils and base/ballast unbound aggregates, and geosynthetics. He has completed major studies on subgrade restraint and unbound aggregate stabilization applications of geogrids and geotextiles. He has served as an investigator on over 140 research projects, graduated 28 PhD and 47 MS students, and authored/co-authored over 400 peer reviewed publications. Dr. Tutumluer is a Council Member of the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) and serves as Chair of the Technical Committee (TC) on Roads, Railways and Airfields. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Transportation Geotechnics Elsevier journal and the immediate past Chair of the ISSMGE TC 202 on Transportation Geotechnics. Dr. Tutumluer received the 2023 IGS Award in recognition of his significant contributions towards the use of geosynthetics in roadways, railways, and airfields.
Programme
The detailed half-day workshop programme is being finalised.
WS 3: Intelligent Construction Technologies (ICT) for Asphalt Pavement Construction
The objectives of this workshop are to:
- Provide an overview of non-destructive testing and Intelligent Construction Technologies (ICT) for asphalt paving.
- Summarise the capabilities, limitations, and appropriate use of Paver-Mounted Thermal Profiles (PMTP), Intelligent Compaction (IC), the Dielectric Profiling System (DPS), and Veta software.
- Share ICT implementation strategies to improve quality and safety, enhance asset management and performance, and reduce costs.
Coordinator:
Ben Worel, Minnesota Department of Transportation, USA ( ben.worel@state.mn.us )
Ben Worel has served as the MnROAD Operations Engineer at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) since 1996. He has led the design, construction, instrumentation, testing, analysis, and research of MnROAD test sections in collaboration with MnROAD partners, including state departments of transportation, materials and equipment manufacturers, and consultants, with the aim of improving pavement design, materials, and construction for long-lasting pavements. He also leads the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) multi-agency pooled fund as Executive Director.
Co-Coordinator:
Dr. George K. Chang, Transtec Group, a Terracon Company, USA ( GKChang@TheTranstecGroup.com )
George is a world-renowned expert in pavement smoothness and intelligent compaction/construction technologies. He is the founder and President of the International Society for Intelligent Construction (ISIC) and the developer of industry-standard tools such as ProVAL and Veta, which are used globally to advance pavement analysis and intelligent construction.
Programme:
The detailed half-day workshop programme is being finalised.
WS 4: Rockfall – From Risk to Resilience for Roads and Railways
Rockfall hazards present complex challenges that require thoughtful, tailored solutions. To foster deeper understanding and support professional exchange, we cordially invite you to our upcoming technical workshop, which will focus on practical approaches to rockfall protection.
The workshop will address the boundary conditions that influence rockfall protection projects—such as terrain geometry, space constraints, construction timelines, environmental factors, and the characteristics of potential impacts. Together, we aim to develop approaches to manage these challenges while also presenting innovations and optimisations in protection systems, along with complementary solutions.
Coordinator:
Tomaž Cej, Rejda, Slovenia ( tomaz.cej@rejda.si )
Co-Coordinator:
Leonhardt Volker, Geobrugg AG, Switzerland ( volker.leonhardt@geobrugg.com )
Programme
The detailed half-day workshop programme is being finalised.
WS 5: Toward Net Zero Impacts on Performance and Implementation in Transportation Materials
Coordinator:
Ben Worel, Minnesota Department of Transportation, USA (ben.worel@state.mn.us)
Ben Worel has been the MnROAD Operations Engineer at the State of Minnesota – MnDOT since 1996. He has been leading the test section design, construction, instrumentation, testing, analysis, and research with MnROAD partners, including the US State Department of Transportation, material/equipment manufacturers, consultants, etc., to improve pavement designs, materials, and construction for long-lasting pavements. He also leads the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA) multi-agency pooled fund as the Executive Director.
The objectives of this workshop are:
- Overview of low carbon initiatives and the challenges facing both governments and industry in Europe and United States related to low carbon reduction and policies.
- Low Carbon with a focus on design, new materials, and related performance
- Investigate the actions are being taken to field test low carbon initiatives.
- What Low Carbon Roadmaps currently exist and what do they need to contain. Panel discussion on this topic.
- What Procurement/Implementation that is being done and how it will be done. Panel discussion on this topic.
WS 6: Traffic Speed Deflectometer Device (TSDD) Quality Control
TSDD measurements have become established worldwide for bearing capacity assessment within a very short time. Extensive experience is now available regarding complex field operation, data evaluation, and interpretation, and this experience is increasingly reflected in regulations. A key element is quality-assured operation. While many lessons can be drawn from FWD practice and other methods, TSDD also brings new and complex challenges.
This workshop will present current experience and regulations, as well as ongoing challenges. Participants will discuss the requirements, opportunities, and limitations associated with network-wide use of TSDD, considering both client and contractor perspectives.
Coordinator:
Susanne Baltzer, Danish Road Directorate
Co-coordinators:
- Chad Murnane, ARRB System, Australia
- Dirk Jansen, BASt, Germany ( jansen@bast.de )
Programme
The detailed half-day workshop programme is being finalised.