1. The first quarter of 2015 has
proven to be an exciting time at
GDG with a number of new faces
joining the team, a range of
exciting projects kicking off and
successful award of a prestigious
Horizon 2020 European research
award.
Our core business in the Irish
market has grown over the past
few months as major
infrastructure projects appear to
be on the rise. These have
included wind farm design,
marine works for harbour and
port developments and river
flood defence schemes. Across
this diverse range of projects, we
have been able to offer value
engineered solutions to both
developers and contractors in
relation to geotechnical
interpretation and foundation
design. Specific design elements
implemented in recent months
include floating roads in soft
peat, crane base foundations in
residual clays and rock anchor
design at Cape Clear harbour.
In parallel with our Irish
workload, GDG has continued to
operate internationally; securing
projects in Germany, the UK and
the Persian Gulf. The project
furthest afield involves a detailed
engineering analysis to consider
the impact of pile ageing on the
capacity of offshore jacket
foundations in the Persian Gulf
with a view to upgrading the
design resistance to facilitate the
structures taking additional
operational loads.
This exciting range of
commercial projects is
complimented by the award of a
high profile EU research award
for a project called Destination
Rail. Led by GDG, this €4 million
euro project will develop new
decision support tools for railway
infrastructure managers.
As the summer months are
rapidly approaching, we look
forward to new soil-structure
interaction challenges and
hopefully some field work to take
advantage of the guaranteed
good weather (fingers crossed)!
Newsletter Issue 4 | Spring 2015
Paul Doherty,
Managing Director
Providing efficient and reliable geotechnical
solutions for the most challenging projects
Welcome to the fourth edition
of GDG Newsletter, April 2015
CONTENTS:
 New Projects
- DESTination RAIL
- Hydrogeology services for the
Geological Survey of Ireland
 Current Projects
- Cape Clear Rock Anchors
- MIDOS Finite Element
Analysis
- Karst Risk Assessment
- Site Testing Canada
 General News
- New Staff Appointments
- Job Opportunities/Internships
- Staff Team Building Event

2. New Projects:
Project #1:DESTination RAIL
GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
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GDG have been appointed to lead the
DESTination RAIL project, a € 3.94 million
Horizon 2020 European research project
which aims to provide solutions for a
number of problems faced by EU rail
infrastructure managers. Novel techniques
for identifying, analysing and remediating
critical rail infrastructure (including slopes,
bridges, tunnels and switches) will be
developed. These solutions will be
implemented using a decision support tool,
which allows rail infrastructure managers to
make rational investment choices, based on
reliable data, See Figure 1. GDG will lead a
European Consortium comprised of
infrastructure managers, universities,
research institutes and SME’s in this 3 year
project which will start with a kick-off
meeting in Dublin on May 19th 2015.
Destination Rail partners include Irish Rail,
Croatian Railways, Slovenian Railways,
Transport Research Laboratory (UK),
Slovenian National Building and Civil
Engineering, Norwegian Geotechnical
Institute, Robsons International Railway
Consultancy, Roughan & O' Donovan Ltd.
Open Track Ltd, University of Zagreb,
Technical University of Munich, Norwegian
National Technical University, University of
Twente and ETH Zurich.
Figure 1. DESTination RAIL Holistic Management Tool
Project: #2
Hydrogeology Services
Following GDG’s successful bid for the
provision of Hydrogeology Services to the
Geological Survey of Ireland, we are looking
forward to working with and supporting the
GSI team on the Groundwater Programme
for the next few years.
Further to the completion of the National
Groundwater Vulnerability and
Groundwater Protection Scheme Maps at
1:40,000 scale, the Groundwater
Programme in the GSI will focus on the
provision of higher resolution information
with the aim of generating 3D subsurface
models that will apply geological science to
aid resource and catchment management,
thereby meeting the requirements of the
end user and the environment. To achieve
this, the Groundwater Programme are
planning a programme of works which will
include data collection and compilation,
field mapping, data interpretation and map
and report production, to further enhance
the existing subsurface mapping to build 2D
and 3D conceptual models for specific
hydrogeological regions.

3. GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
3
Project: #3
Cape Clear Rock Anchors
A precast lock chamber is being installed at
the entrance of new harbour on Cape Clear
Island by L&M Keating. The emptied
chamber is subjected to large uplift loads
of over 100t and needs to be anchored into
the bedrock. GDG was commissioned by
L&M Keating to enhance the existing
anchor design to suit installation
methodologies and provide cost savings.
The anchoring system comprises 12
φ47mm Double Corrosion Protection rock
anchors embedded in local sandstone and
mudstone up to the depths of 26m. GDG
also prepared and reviewed anchor testing
protocols and liaised with the contractor
on a variety of technical issues before and
during installation.
Cape Clear

4. GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
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Project: #4
MIDOS Finite Element Analysis
GDG was commissioned by BAUER
Maschinen GmbH to undertake a study for
capacity assessment of their innovative
Mixed Drilled Offshore Steel pile systems,
MIDOS piles. MIDOS is a piling solution for
construction of offshore foundations, which
combines seabed drilling and soil-cement
mixing into a single, simultaneous offshore
operation.
It is believed that the final capacity of
MIDOS piles is influenced by the pile
dimensions as well as characteristics of the
interface layer of soil-cement mixture. GDG
are investigating load-displacement
characteristics and assessing the pile
capacity. Finite element modelling is being
utilised to calculate the pile-soil interaction
and various interfaces while taking into
account the different soil conditions and
cementation degrees. As a result of this
study, GDG will provide recommendations
regarding the number and type of piles
required for supporting various jacket
arrangements of the Oil and Gas platforms
in different seabed deposits.
See Figures 1&2 Below
Fig 1. FE Soil Pile Model / Plaxis Fig 1. Pile Interface Model / Plaxis

5. GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
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Project: #5
Karst Risk Analysis
Having identified a significant karst feature
during a karst risk assessment project, GDG
were happy to provide de-risking solutions
for the construction phase of a renewable
energy project in southwest Ireland.
Thousands of karst features have already
been documented on the National Karst
Database, but it is estimated that many
thousands more exist and go undocumented
or unnoticed until becoming a public geo-
hazard or construction issue. GDG utilise
existing SI information and non-invasive
geophysical methods to delineate potential
karst features and assess the associated risk
to society and infrastructure. Where
possible, such risk can be constrained or
mitigated by devising site specific design
solutions.
Project: #6
Site Testing in Canada
GDG are engaged in national and
international projects that often involve
travel and site work at far flung locations. In
February a team from GDG travelled to
Nova Scotia to oversee performance of a
specifically designed onshore geotechnical
testing program for an offshore structure.
Weather conditions were harsh, even by
Canadian standards, and brought their own
challenges to various aspects of the site
work. Nevertheless, thanks to the expertise
of our team of subcontractors, the
programme of geotechnical testing was
successfully completed on schedule and to
the clients satisfaction.

6. Student internship
OFFICE NEWS
Recruitment
GDG are currently seeking engineers
interested in working in a dynamic
range of geotechnical and design
projects. Please contact
info@gdgeo.com for additional
information. In particular, we are
looking for an experienced Principal
Engineer.
GDG are currently hosting students from the
University of Castilla–La Mancha Institut
Polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais who completed
industrial placements in our Dublin office as part
of their bachelors thesis. The Dublin office
hopes to continue this French-Irish collaboration
well into the future!
GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
New Staff Members
The GDG team continues to expand with Ruth O’ Briain coming on board in December in the role
of Office Manager. We welcome our newest team member Ciaran Reilly who joined the company
this month.
Ciaran Reilly
Ciaran is a chartered civil engineer who obtained a B.E. from National University of Ireland,
Galway, in 2006 and a PhD in geotechnical engineering from Trinity College Dublin in 2013. He
has over eight years of experience in the construction sector with specialist experience in
transport, geotechnics and trenchless t pipe technology.
Ruth O’ Briain
With over fifteen years experience working as on Office Manager and Executive Assistant in
various fast paced design driven businesses in Ireland and New York, Ruth is delighted to join the
team at this exciting time of expansion and growth.
6

7. Unit 1B, Parkview House, Beech Hill Office Campus,
Clonskeagh, Dublin 4, Ireland
www.gdgeo.com
Email: info@gdgeo.com
GDG Newsletter Spring 2015
Events at GDG
A roaring time was had by all at the GDG
quarterly team building event. The team
gathered at St. Stephens Green for a
Viking Splash Tour followed by a deeply
Viking inspired meal at Milanos. Vikings
LOVE pizza…, who knew? Our tour
operator was hilarious and full of bits and
pieces of odd and interesting Dublin
related trivia.
Fair play to everyone for donning the
helmet. If there had been an award for
the most Viking inspired roar it would
have to have gone to Karlo as can be
evidenced by the photo below, though
there were a few close contenders. And
even though they weren’t braids she was
wearing, Sophie would have to win the
award, hands down, for the most Viking
inspired hair do!