Episode Description

In this episode, the two NGIers Tone Smaavik and Georg H. Erharter talk with Robert Thurner from Keller about onshore geotechnics in Scandinavia. The conversation starts with a discussion about specialities of Scandinavian ground conditions and typical construction methods. We then head on to new standards like the new EC7 and sustainability. Finally we talk about working culture in Scandinavian geotechnics including contractor – client interaction and the importance of having fun at work!

SPEAKERS

Dr. Robert Thurner is originally from Austria and finished his PhD at the Institute of Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering and Computational Geotechnics at the Graz University of Technology in 2000. He then started working at the construction company Keller, built up a R&D department in South-East Europe and worked for the company as regional manager in various European countries. From 2014-2018 he was the technical director for Keller in the Middle East. Since 2018 he is the head of the technical office and special projects and vice VD for Keller Grundläggning in Sweden.

Tone Ratcliffe Smaavik MSc is a geotechnical engineer from Norway who holds a master's in civil engineering from the University of Bristol (UK). After doing offshore geotechnical site investigations for the former company GEMS, she moved to NGI in 2012 and has been department head in the field of onshore geotechnics since 2021.

Dr. Georg H. Erharter is an engineering geologist at NGI where he is working in a broad range of fields from tunnelling to offshore wind foundation design. He holds a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Graz University of Technology (Austria) where he was dealing with machine learning for geotechnics and he is generally engaged with using modern technology to solve long standing problems of the field.

Robert Thurner

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-thurner-0a605743/

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Thurner-2

Tone Smaavik

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tone-ratcliffe-smaavik-2333633/

Georg H. Erharter

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georg-h-erharter-b514b4125/

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=fb3-U50AAAAJ&hl=en

Contact: [email protected]

Special Issue in the journal “Geomechanics and Tunnelling”: Volume 18, Issue 2, April 2025: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/18657389/2025/18/2