The Second NGS Monthly Lecture Series held successfully!

Mr. Keshab Sharma lectured on “Rocking Shallow Foundation: An Innovative Foundation Design Concept,” and highlighted that not only past research results but many case studies from the 1960 Chili Earthquake, the 1995 Kobe Earthquake, the 2010 New Zealand Earthquake, etc. showed that a number of structures resting on shallow foundations had escaped more serious damages by rocking on their footing pads. He also emphasized that the rocking shallow foundation can act as a seismic base isolator, and especially in Nepal, the rocking footing approach can be used for seismic retrofit of existing bridges and buildings.

Ms. Lauren Hutchison lectured on “Landform Evolution in Response to the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Central Nepal” all the way from Canada using skype connection. She said she was involved in studying two cases of rock slope failure in Sindhupalchowk over three years period after the 2015 earthquake so as to evaluate the influence of seismic shaking on ongoing slope instability and subsequent behavior in response to the annual monsoon cycle. She highlighted that understanding of post-seismic slope behavior can support policy makers and engineers involved in planning response and recovery efforts following major earthquakes.

Through this post, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the lecturers and all participants. The refreshment during this lecture series was sponsored by Universal Science and Engineering College (USEC), and the lecture hall was provided to us free of charge by DOLIDAR. We would like to acknowledge the generosity of USEC and DOLIDAR.

Thank you.

Nepal Geotechnical Society