Breaking Ground’s latest episode discusses geosynthetics, including product types and applications, with Tensar chief civil engineer Chaido (Yuli) Doulala-Rigby.
In this episode of Breaking Ground, host Steve Hadley chats to Yuli Doulala-Rigby, who has previously represented the International Geosynthetics Society (IGS) on the Ground Forum. She will also finish her one year tenure as Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) chair for the North West chapter in July.
They begin by talking about Doulala-Rigby’s journey into geosynthetics. After starting out as a tunnel engineer working on the Jubilee Line extension, she moved to Hong Kong to work on slope stability projects. After 10 years there, she moved her family back to the UK and started working for Tensar.
It was at Tensar – which invented geogrids in 1978 – where Doulala-Rigby became fully immersed in the world of geosynthetics. Since then, she has become increasingly involved in the IGS, for which she was a chair between 2016 and 2018.
Doulala-Rigby is keen to promote geogrids as playing a key role in sustainable temporary and permanent works geotechnical solutions.
She explains that there are eight globally recognised functions of geosynthetics: separation, filtration, drainage, reinforcement, stabilisation, barriers, protection and erosion control.
Product wise, she says there are many types of geosynthetics. Apart from geogrids, there are geotextiles – woven or non-woven and permeable and impermeable, like geomembranes, which are thick plastic black liners that you would put at the bottom of landfills, for example. Thicker geotextiles can be used for installing around pipes for protection. These products are mostly made from polymer materials like polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester and fibre glass.
Doulala-Rigby concludes with the following message to the geotechnical sector: “All geosynthetics work and offer benefits but their performance in soil can vary dramatically. So, don’t simply swap geogrids and geosynthetics in bespoke manufacturers’ designs, but change the accompanying design accordingly too. And follow the design specifications.”
She also goes on to bust some myths about women in engineering and offers an inspirational tale for others to follow.
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