Dr. Richard J. Finno Gives 2nd Annual GZA Technical Lecture
Prof. Richard Finno (left) receiving a golden apple from Geotechnical Group Chair Robert Talby at the end of the lecture.
Professor Richard J. Finno delivered the 2nd Annual GZA Technical Lecture titled "Designing Excavation Support Systems to Protect Adjacent Structures" at the CUNY Graduate Center on March 15, 2011. Dr. Finno is Professor of Civil Engineering at Northwestern University.

In his presentation, Dr. Finno discussed the critical topic of how building damage can be related to ground movement in the vicinity. He presented an adaptive management approach for predicting, monitoring and controlling these ground movements. In this approach, monitoring data is used to update performance predictions. The type of monitoring data used in making observations, as well as the quality of numerical simulations used to predict performance, are key components of this approach.

Dr. Finno presented several examples where the adaptive management approach has been applied to make accurate predictions of performance based on monitoring observations.

Summary by Anirban De, photo by Gianni Chieruzzi