Presented by Alison Thompson, Ross Roberts and John Scott
Alison Thompson – WDC structural Engineer Geotechnical background for Whangarei District Council and what Council are looking for in a Geotechnical report.
Ross Roberts – Chair of NZGS, Geotechnical and Geological Practice Lead Auckland Council. As Auckland Council’s in-house geotechnical specialist, I provide technical leadership across geotechnical issues and am the go-to person for geotechnical advice, practices and risk mitigation. I lead a small team of great geotechnical engineers who help keep Council’s projects on track.
My role includes the development of technical standards and guidance for geotechnical practice across the Auckland region and representing Auckland in the development of national standards.
I review geotechnical work undertaken by external providers on behalf of council, and am actively involved in the procurement of geotechnical services on Council projects to give the best outcome for the council and the people of Auckland
John Scott – John is going to talk briefly about some of the issues councils and other agencies are encountering in the geotechnical engineering space.
John has a geotechnical engineering background and has worked in NZ, Australia, UK and Hong Kong over a 30+ year period. In more recent times he has worked in NZ in the project management fields managing community facility and infrastructure projects at local government level and with a major consultant. Since the Canterbury Earthquake sequence John has worked at central government level coordinating the development of technical guidance, influencing the direction of natural hazard research and providing input into post earthquake response and recovery activities. John has also been heavily involved with the set up and running of the NZ Geotechnical Database.