Dr. Geoff Eichhorn, P.Eng studied Geological Engineering at Queen’s University (B.Sc.E,2010), and subsequently took up a position in consulting engineering in Calgary, Alberta, where he practiced engineering and obtained his P.Eng, from 2010 to 2016. Dr. Eichhorn worked on large mine tailings dam design, monitoring, and instrumentation programs before turning his attention to linear infrastructure in the oil and gas industry. Dr. Eichhorn specialized in geohazards impacting critical linear infrastructure and provided project management and geotechnical expertise for a number of pipeline clients in Western Canada.
Inspired by the real challenges faced by utility operators with long distance transmission infrastructure, Dr. Eichhorn studied at the University of Cambridge where he focused on experimental modelling using centrifuges to examine the interaction of buried pipes and landslides induced by rainfall. He was awarded the University of Cambridge Turner Prize in 2019 for outstanding contributions to experimental modelling in engineering. He completed his PhD experimental work in 2020, and returned to Kingston where he took up a post-doctoral position at the Royal Military College (RMC) from 2020 – 23. Dr. Eichhorn worked in the GeoCORE centre at RMC where he examined infrastructure in permafrost, and cold regions engineering problems, including expansive soils. Dr. Eichhorn has held several teaching positions at RMC including for undergraduate students in soil mechanics, numerical methods, and geotechnical engineering courses. Dr. Eichhorn was awarded a position at Queen’s in the Department of Civil Engineering, which he began in 2023.
Education
Ph.D., Geotechnical Engineering, University of Cambridge, 2016 – 2022
B.Sc.E., Geological Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, 2005 - 2010
Academic Experience
2023 – present Assistant Professor, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada
2020 – 23’ Research associate, Royal Military College (RMC), Kingston, Canada
Professional & Consulting Activities
2016- present, BGC Engineering Inc. (part-time contractor)
2010 – 2016, BGC Engineering Inc. (full time)
Journal publications:
Laporte, S., Eichhorn, G., Kingswood, J., Siemens, G., & Beddoe, R. (2023). Physical modelling of climate-soil-infrastructure interactions of paved roadways constructed in expansive soil. Transportation Geotechnics, 43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2023.101126
Clarkson, C., Eichhorn, G., & Siemens, G. (2023). Centrifuge modelling of axially loaded steel piles in cold and thawing frozen sand. International Journal of Physical Modelling in Geotechnics. https://doi.org/10.1680/jphmg.22.00062
Moore, E., Haigh, S.K., Eichhorn, G.N. (2021). Anchor penetration depth in sandy soils and its implications for cable burial. Ocean Engineering. 7 pages. (DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2021.109411)
Eichhorn, G.N., A.J. Bowman, S.K. Haigh, S.A. Stanier. (2020). Low cost digital image correlation and strain measurement for geotechnical applications, Strain 56(6): e12348. 18 pages. (DOI: 10.1111/str.12348)
Conference contributions:
Kozachuk, N., Cooper, C., Eichhorn, G.N., Beddoe, R., Siemens, G., Wilson, A., Humphries, J. (2023). Monitoring of permafrost beneath a stream crossing along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway. In proceedings of the 76th Canadian Geotechnical Society annual conference, GeoSaskatoon 2023. Saskatoon, Oct 1-4, 2023.
Carter, R., Froese, C., Scheip, C., Porter, M., Eichhorn, G.N., Gauthier, D. (2023). Identifying hydroclimatic precursors for sudden activity transitions in large landslides using modelled hydroclimatic data from satellites. In proceedings of the 6th World Landslide Forum 2023, Florence, Italy, 14-17 Nov 2023
Clarkson, C., Eichhorn, G.N., Siemens, G. (2022). Process for physical modelling of single pile capacity in thawing ground. In proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG). Daejeon, Korea.
Eichhorn, G.N., Haigh, S.K. (2020). Resilience of Buried Onshore Pipelines During Rainfall Induced Landslides. In proceedings of the 1st International Symposium Construction Resources for Environmentally Sustainable Technologies (CREST 2020). Fukuoka, Japan.
Eichhorn, G.N., Haigh, S.K. (2019). Imaging of landslide-pipeline interaction in a geotechnical drum centrifuge. In proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Infrastructure (ICONHIC). Chania, Greece. (International Conference, with oral presentation & manuscript)
Eichhorn, G.N., Haigh, S.K. (2018). Landslide Pipe-Soil Interaction: State of the practice. In Proceedings of the 12 International Pipeline Conference (IPC) 2018. Calgary, Canada.
DOI: 10.1115/IPC2018-78434 (International Conference, with oral presentation & manuscript)
Eichhorn, G.N., Haigh, S.K. (2018). Uplift resistance of a buried pipeline in silty soil on slopes. In Proceedings of International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG). London, UK. ISBN 9781138559752 (International Conference, with oral presentation & manuscript)
Ferris, G., Newton, S., Ho, M., Eichhorn, G., & Bear, D. (2015). Flood Monitoring for Buried Pipeline Watercourse Crossings. In Proceedings of Rio Pipeline Conference and Exposition 2015. Rio de Janiro. (International Conference, with oral presentation & manuscript)
Invited talks:
Landslide pipe-soil interaction: new insights using fiber optic sensing and change detection photogrammetry. (2022) Invited seminar of the Cambridge Geotechnical Society. January 27, 2022. Cambridge, United Kingdom
Landslide pipe soil interaction: New insight using distributed fiber sensing. (2021) Seminar at GeoEngineering Centre at Queen’s University & RMC. February 3, 2021. Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Flying Fibres: Optical sensing in geotechnics. (2019) Seminar in FIbre NErvous Sensing SystEms (FINESSE) series TE5. September 19, 2019, Cambridge, UK
Centrifuge modelling of landslides and pipelines. (2018) BGC Engineering Lunch n’ Learn. September 20, 2018, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Undergraduate summer research assistantship 2024 – 3D photogrammetry landslide mobility
Undergraduate summer research assistantship 2024 – Geotechnical engineering laboratory research assistant for specialized soil strength testing using fiber optics
MASc Geotechnical / Infrastructure Engineering – Buried critical infrastructure interaction in landslides, minimum 2 yr position. Two graduate student positions available.