About
Joel Smethurst is Professor of Geotechnical Infrastructure within the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton. He is member of the Infrastructure Group and is currently the Director of Programmes for Civil Engineering.
"Geotechnical Engineering underpins the infrastructure that we all rely on every day – my research is about ensuring that as it ages, it continues to perform for society."
His main technical interest is in geotechnical infrastructure, including the long-term performance, deterioration/aging, and failure of geotechnical structures, and their upgrade and repair. This includes earthworks (cuttings and embankments) for transport infrastructure including transitions onto bridges, flood levees, retaining walls, and deep basement structures. Joel has also worked on large natural landslides, at Ironbridge and on the Hampshire coast.
Joel completed his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Southampton in 2004, and was previously a Research Fellow (2002-2012), Lecturer (2012-2018) and Associate Professor (2018-2024) at the University.
He was a member of the Editorial Board of Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology from 2014 to 2022, has been a reviewer for more than 20 international scientific journals, and for research councils in the UK and abroad. Joel is also a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers South Branch committee.
His Web of Science record is F-6734-2010
Research
Research groups
Research interests
- Deterioration of geotechnical infrastructure subject to both seasonal cycles of wetting and drying and applied traffic loading
- The effect of extreme weather events and climate change on the performance of earthworks (cuttings and embankments) and flood levees
- The effects of vegetation transpiration and root reinforcement on the performance of earthworks
- The stabilisation of both infrastructure slopes and large landslides using discretely spaced piles
- Short and long-term heave of clay beneath deep basement structures
Current research
Much of my research (in the areas described above) is based on field measurement of the performance of real structures, often over long periods of time, with one instrumented slope site having been monitored continuously for over 20 years. In many cases, field data and supporting laboratory measurements have been used to calibrate numerical models which are used to further investigate behaviour and/or performance.
My research has been funded by EPSRC and a number of industrial partners including Cementation Skanska, Mouchel (now part of Kier and WSP), Mott MacDonald, Environment Agency, National Highways, London Underground, Network Rail, and Rail Safety and Standards Board.
Recently completed research projects include the major EPSRC Programme Grant ACHILLES (www.achilles-grant.org.uk) which investigated weather driven deterioration of clay earthworks, and a Network Rail project analysing transitions between clay embankments and underbridges.
Research projects
Completed projects
Publications
Teaching
I currently teach the module CENV3020 Geotechnical Engineering, and contribute to CENV3065 Railway Engineering and Operations.
I am currently Director of Programmes for Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southampton, leading educational experience and quality for a group of undergraduate and MSc programmes within the discipline area. This has included leading re-validation and re-accreditation of the programmes (2023-24) and changes to ensure that the programmes meet the Engineering Council’s AHEP4 Learning Outcomes (2023 on) and create graduates with the knowledge, skills and affective behaviours to be able to strongly contribute to engineering in the 2020s and beyond.
This follows terms in other education-related leadership roles including Admissions Tutor (2014-2019) and Part 4 Coordinator (2019-2022).