25 June 2025 18:00 - 20:00 | , Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BG and online
25 June 2025 | 18:00 - 20:00 | , Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BG and online
London Clay Formation underlies an east-west triangular swathe of southern England from Essex (where in the east it reaches up to 150m thick) and north Kent through London to east Wiltshire, together with deposits around the east Dorset-Hampshire-Sussex basin. The formation is perhaps one of the most frequently ground-investigated deposits in the UK, if not globally, as the soils are home to foundations for so many buildings and civil engineering structures in these often intensively developed regions.
However, ‘The London Clay’ is not a heterogeneous soil and this will be discussed in the geological context in relation to the London Basin and its depositional environments. Stuart will talk about the sequencing within the Formation, its compositional differences and how these are identified both visually and through laboratory testing. Some of the mineralogy will be discussed and how these minerals occur and can be identified.
Venue opens for refreshments at 17:30 with the lecture commencing at 18:00.
Online attendees can join the live stream on Zoom by clicking the button below.
Watch this lecture onlineStuart Wagstaff – Director, Soil Consultants Ltd
Stuart has over 30 years’ experience in the geological and geotechnical industry, most recently as the director running Soil Consultants Ltd. During his career, Stuart has literally been involved in thousands of projects, both small and large. These range from ‘routine’ ground investigations to providing expert technical and project management support to critical investigations to both the public and private sectors. Soil Consultants have developed a strategy of good value and quality, not always seen in the industry, and have been involved in some interesting and complex projects, where knowing and understanding what lies beneath their feet has been vital!
Whilst not necessarily an academic expert on the London Clay, having been asked to provide comment on engineering ‘failures’ over the years, these ‘failures’ largely come down to misunderstanding of the geology. Stuart often says that our most important role (logging) is bestowed to our least experienced people, and it is these less experienced staff that need to understand the geology, the potential variations and its importance to design and construction.
Importantly, Stuart has been there through those vital early career years. After graduating in Geology and Engineering Geology from the University of Portsmouth, Stuart spent eight years as a field geologist and site investigation geotechnical engineer before completing a Geotechnical Engineering MSc at the University of Surrey. After a brief spell as a foundations design engineer, he joined Soil Consultants Ltd in 1998, which he has now been running for over 15 years. He also sits on the assessors panel for the Register of Ground Engineering Professionals (RoGEP) and has actively been involved with the Geology Society and a UK mineral preservation society.
This event is FREE to attend for all Fellows and Student Members. Click on the book now button to register by email, remembering to quote your membership number.