Aingaran Sellaiya

University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Post-Doc

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A baptized Jehovah's Witnesses Christian, Professional of Transport Infrastructure Geotechnical Engineering, born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka - The Pearl of Indian Ocean in mid 1980s. I grew up in the downtown area. I went to local elementary and high schools. During that time I played and organized sports including soccer, cricket and badminton. In 2003 I graduated High-School and attended University of Moratuwa for Engineering. I graduated in 2008 with an Honours degree, MEng Level, in Civil Engineering (Accredited by ICE UK).

I enrolled at University of Southampton in March 2009 for a PhD in Civil Engineering, specialising in the cyclic seasonal effects on Transport Infrastructure Earthworks. During my graduate school studies I have had the opportunity to work with Highways Agency UK, in Germany with BAST and in Oxford along Newbury Motorway. I have also had the opportunity to participate at many international conferences and workshops. My supervisors were Prof. William Powrie and A/ Prof Joel Smethurst.

Suspending my doctoral studies, I joined the University of Southampton as a Senior Geotechnical (Research& Development) Engineer (Sub Consulting for Mott Macdonald ltd, Croydon) in Mar 2012 and involved in advanced field permeability testing, advanced geotechnical laboratory testing and technical report writing. Some of the key undertakings includes projects for Rail Safety Standard Board (RSSB). My line managers were Prof. William Powrie and A/ Prof Joel Smethurst.

I resumed my doctoral studies in March 2016, went on to process the data collected and write and submit the thesis and successfully passed my PhD Viva voce examination in January 2018 and was awarded the PhD degree in Civil Engineering in the following year. During this writing up period I also worked as a lecturer in civil engineering in North Sri Lanka.

I joined Tony Gee and Partners LLP in Summer 2018 as a Geotechnical Design Engineer (Transport Infrastructure) at their Head Office in Esher. I was mainly involved in works pertaining to framework agreement of Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd through BAM Nuttal ltd. My line manager was Mr Michael Haliburton. After 3 happy years, I left Tony Gee and Partners LLP, in summer 2021.

I joined RSK Environment Ltd in their Hemel Hempstead office in Summer 2021 as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer.

I currently work and live in Hertfordshire, England and looking forward to live and work in at least one country in each continent in future (Except Antarctica :)).
Supervisors: Prof William Powrie and Dr Joel Smethurst
Address: Engineering,
University of Southampton,
Southampton Boldrewood Innovation Campus,
Burgess Road,
Southampton,
SO16 7QF

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Seasonal slope surface deformation measured with TLS

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 2014

In temperate European climates, soil water removal due to vegetation transpiration peaks in summe... more In temperate European climates, soil water removal due to vegetation transpiration peaks in summer and soil rewetting from higher levels of precipitation occurs in winter. In clays of high plasticity, the seasonal cycles of drying and wetting cause the soil to experience a volumetric change, resulting in seasonal shrinking and swelling. For a clay slope exhibiting volume change, such behaviour can lead to excessive deformation and could contribute to strain-softening and progressive slope failure. This can in turn cause traffic disruption and loss of life if roads and railways are founded on or surrounded by such slopes. This paper discusses the driving forces of seasonal surface movement, in particular the role of vegetation, and presents the use of Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) to measure the surface movement of a lightly vegetated London Clay slope near Newbury, UK. Two TLS scans were carried out in early and late summer respectively, representing relative wet and dry conditions of the slope. Continuous field measurements of soil water content in upper layers of the slope were obtained from TDR ThetaProbes already installed at the site. The water content data are used to support the results obtained from TLS by indicating the likely volumetric change in the soil due to loss of water.

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A Long-Term Record of Water Content and Pore Water Pressure in a Vegetated Clay Highway Cut Slope

by Aingaran Sellaiya and A. Blake

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering

The major highway network in the UK was developed from the 1960s, and the earthworks are generall... more The major highway network in the UK was developed from the 1960s, and the earthworks are generally well engineered. However, as many of the earthworks get older, slope failures are becoming more common, with some posing a threat to the safety of transport operations. Field measurements of soil water content and pore water pressure changes within the surface zone of a highway cut slope in London Clay at Newbury, Berkshire, UK, have been carried out continuously since 2003. This paper describes and gives examples of the long-term field measurements from the site at Newbury and details a number of significant findings from the observations from the site. The paper explains how these have been used to calibrate appropriate models of seasonal cycles of pore water pressure and slope deterioration.

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Cyclic seasonal effects on infrastructure earthworks

Aingaran Sellaiya

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