The Cooling Prize competition is held annually by the British Geotechnical Association (BGA) and is named after Dr Leonard Cooling, one of the founders of British Soil Mechanics, a former chair of the BGA, and the 2nd Rankine Lecturer. The Cooling Prize competition is intended for professionals in the geotechnical/ground engineering industry in the early stages of their careers.

At the event there will be a short presentation on the history of the Competition, presented by Sergio Solera, after which the three finalists will present their papers, and there will be a keynote lecture.

The Cooling Prize Finalists are:

Alice Duley (Jacobs UK Ltd) - Practical Geo-Dynamic Assessment of High-Speed Rail Earthworks on the Align Contract (HS2)

Xinjin Ho (Mott MacDonald Ltd) - Automation for 3D Finite Element Modelling

Riccardo Scarfone (Geotechnical Consulting Group) - Capillary Barrier Systems for prevention of rainfall-induced slope instability

The judges are Emily Riley of Costain (2020 winner), Dr Fleur Loveridge of University of Leeds (a former winner of the Cooling Prize), Professor David Toll of University of Durham (Vice Chair of BGA) and Scott O’Neill of Aecom (Midland Geotechnical Society Representative).

After the presentations, while the judges consider their verdict, a short keynote lecture will be given by Sarah Trinder of HS2

Keynote Lecture - HS2 Britain’s new high speed railway – where we are now

HS2 will be the new high speed backbone of our rail network connecting the city centres of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London. By making it easier to move between the south, midlands and north, cutting many journeys in half, HS2 will make it easier for people to live and work where they want. It will free up space on our existing railways for more commuter, regional and freight services. HS2 will increase economic growth, productivity and tourism and support hundreds of thousands of jobs. It will also provide a low carbon alternative for long distance travel, reducing the need for car and plane journeys, and playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s ambitious goal of Britain becoming net zero carbon by 2050.

The design and construction of HS2 represents a huge engineering challenge in terms of both scale and complexity. The main construction works for Phase One, from London to Birmingham, have now begun. This brief presentation will explain where we are now, and present the latest from site, including earthworks and piling trials.

Sarah Trinder is a chartered civil engineer with 30 years’ experience of geotechnical and civil engineering in the UK and overseas. She has worked at HS2 for the last six years as Lead Geotechnical Engineer, Phase One, seconded from Jacobs (formerly CH2M), one of HS2’s Engineering Development Partner companies. Her wide experience includes design, construction and management experience for linear infrastructure and development projects, including ground investigations, earthworks, slopes and landslide remedial solutions, canals and contaminated land assessment and remediation.