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Assessment of an amended soil as a climate adaptive barrier: element testing and physical modelling (2025)
Journal Article
Rana, A., Kumar, A., Azizi, A., Osman, A., & Toll, D. G. (2025). Assessment of an amended soil as a climate adaptive barrier: element testing and physical modelling. Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment, 43, Article 100693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gete.2025.100693

This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of using waste from a drinking water treatment plant (water treatment residue WTR) to amend a natural soil and develop a climate-adaptive barrier layer (CABL) that can limit water migration into underlying la... Read More about Assessment of an amended soil as a climate adaptive barrier: element testing and physical modelling.

Investigation of landslides triggered by unprecedented rainfall events during 2023 monsoon in Himachal Pradesh, India (2025)
Journal Article
Sana, E., Kritika, Kumar, A., Robson, E., Prasanna, R., Kala, U., & Toll, D. G. (2025). Investigation of landslides triggered by unprecedented rainfall events during 2023 monsoon in Himachal Pradesh, India. Landslides, 22(2), https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-025-02471-5

Himachal Pradesh, a northern state of India, experienced unprecedented heavy rainfall between July and August 2023 that triggered several devastating and fatal landslides across the state. This paper presents the findings of two key studies that aim... Read More about Investigation of landslides triggered by unprecedented rainfall events during 2023 monsoon in Himachal Pradesh, India.

The Use of High-Capacity Tensiometer for Cyclic Triaxial Testing of Railway Formation Material (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Kumar, A., Azizi, A., & Toll, D. G. (2024, November). The Use of High-Capacity Tensiometer for Cyclic Triaxial Testing of Railway Formation Material. Presented at 5th International Conference on Transportation Geotechnics (ICTG) 2024, Sydney, Australia

The formation layers of railway embankments are often unsaturated and subjected to coupled cyclic traffic-induced and hydraulic loading. Understanding this coupled response requires the development of a testing protocol capable of subjecting soil sam... Read More about The Use of High-Capacity Tensiometer for Cyclic Triaxial Testing of Railway Formation Material.

Digital twin applications in construction: creation and interaction of virtual and data layers (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Sun, Y., Wang, Q., Toll, D., & Szyniszewski, S. (2024, August). Digital twin applications in construction: creation and interaction of virtual and data layers. Presented at International Conference on Civil Engineering: Innovations and Advancements ( ICCEIA 2024), Barcelona, Spain

This paper provides an overview of the establishment of a digital twin framework for building construction. The research focuses on the construction of the virtual layer and the data layer and the connection between the two. The article discusses the... Read More about Digital twin applications in construction: creation and interaction of virtual and data layers.

Deterioration of a compacted soil due to suction loss and desiccation cracking (2024)
Journal Article
Kumar, A., Azizi, A., & Toll, D. (online). Deterioration of a compacted soil due to suction loss and desiccation cracking. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2023-0453

This paper presents the results of laboratory testing of a clayey soil taken from a road subgrade in Tanzania. The results revealed a reduction in the soil water retention capacity, accompanied by shifts in the water retention curves with successive... Read More about Deterioration of a compacted soil due to suction loss and desiccation cracking.

A Field Study on the Stability of Road Cut Slopes in Nepal (2024)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Robson, E., Pradhan, S., & Toll, D. (2023, March). A Field Study on the Stability of Road Cut Slopes in Nepal. Presented at Geo-Resilience 2023, Cardiff University

The density of Nepal’s road network has more than tripled in the last three decades. This growth has been rapid, extensive and in places haphazard, occurring on both the local and strategic road networks, and has resulted in the widespread failure of... Read More about A Field Study on the Stability of Road Cut Slopes in Nepal.

Soil–Water Retention Curve Prediction for Compacted London Clay Subjected to Moisture Cycles (2023)
Journal Article
Dias, A. S., Hughes, P. N., & Toll, D. G. (2024). Soil–Water Retention Curve Prediction for Compacted London Clay Subjected to Moisture Cycles. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 42(4), 2799-2814. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02706-z

The evolution of the hydraulic properties of London Clay when compacted at a range of initial conditions (density and water content) was investigated. The soil–water retention curve (SWRC) is observed to change as the soil is subjected to cycles of w... Read More about Soil–Water Retention Curve Prediction for Compacted London Clay Subjected to Moisture Cycles.

A simple method to determine soil–water retention curves of compacted active clays (2023)
Journal Article
Dias, A. S., Hughes, P. N., Toll, D. G., & Glendinning, S. (2023). A simple method to determine soil–water retention curves of compacted active clays. Transportation Geotechnics, 43, 101138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2023.101138

Determining the Soil Water Retention Curve (SWRC) of an active clay constitutes a challenge due to the significant, and sometimes irreversible, volume changes that occur during wetting and drying cycles. A novel yet simple method of experimentally de... Read More about A simple method to determine soil–water retention curves of compacted active clays.

An Apparatus to Monitor Suction Evolution and Water Migration within a Soil Mass for Climate-Adaptive Infrastructure (2023)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Rana, A., Kumar Sharma, A., Kumar, A., Azizi, A., Muguda, S., Osman, A., & Toll, D. G. (2023, July). An Apparatus to Monitor Suction Evolution and Water Migration within a Soil Mass for Climate-Adaptive Infrastructure. Presented at Geo-Risk 2023, Arlington, Virginia

The present study investigates the potential utility of a capillary barrier system that limits water infiltration into the underlying soil. This was achieved by developing a cylindrical apparatus capable of monitoring matric suction and water content... Read More about An Apparatus to Monitor Suction Evolution and Water Migration within a Soil Mass for Climate-Adaptive Infrastructure.

An Evolutionary Neural Network Approach for Slopes Stability Assessment (2023)
Journal Article
Tinoco, J., Gomes Correia, A., Cortez, P., & Toll, D. (2023). An Evolutionary Neural Network Approach for Slopes Stability Assessment. Applied Sciences, 13(14), Article 8084. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148084

A current big challenge for developed or developing countries is how to keep large-scale transportation infrastructure networks operational under all conditions. Network extensions and budgetary constraints for maintenance purposes are among the main... Read More about An Evolutionary Neural Network Approach for Slopes Stability Assessment.

The bounding effect of the water retention curve on the cyclic response of an unsaturated soil (2022)
Journal Article
Azizi, A., Kumar, A., & Toll, D. G. (2023). The bounding effect of the water retention curve on the cyclic response of an unsaturated soil. Acta Geotechnica, 18(4), 1901-1917. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-022-01724-0

The water retention properties of soils present in formation layers of roads and railways continuously vary due to repeated traffic loads and periodic rainfall events. This is important because the accumulated deformation and resilient modulus of suc... Read More about The bounding effect of the water retention curve on the cyclic response of an unsaturated soil.

An investigation of the combined effect of rainfall and road cut on landsliding (2022)
Journal Article
Pradhan, S., Toll, D., Rosser, N., & Brain, M. (2022). An investigation of the combined effect of rainfall and road cut on landsliding. Engineering Geology, 307, Article 106787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106787

The reduction of soil suction and consequent loss of shear strength due to infiltration is known to trigger shallow landslides during periods of concentrated rainfall. In the mountainous terrain of Nepal, the risk of shallow rainfall-induced landslid... Read More about An investigation of the combined effect of rainfall and road cut on landsliding.

Reusing Fe water treatment residual as a soil amendment to improve physical function and flood resilience (2022)
Journal Article
Kerr, H. C., Johnson, K. L., & Toll, D. G. (2022). Reusing Fe water treatment residual as a soil amendment to improve physical function and flood resilience. SOIL, 8(1), 283-295. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-283-2022

Soil degradation is a global challenge that is intrinsically linked to climate change and food security. Soil degradation has many causes, but all degraded soils suffer from poor soil structure. The increasing global production of water treatment res... Read More about Reusing Fe water treatment residual as a soil amendment to improve physical function and flood resilience.

The mechanical properties of a high plasticity expansive clay (2022)
Journal Article
Gaspar, T., Jacobsz, S., Heymann, G., Toll, D., Gens, A., & Osman, A. (2022). The mechanical properties of a high plasticity expansive clay. Engineering Geology, 303, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2022.106647

The mechanical properties of a high plasticity expansive clay from South Africa are reported. The experimental programme considered wetting after loading tests followed by one-dimensional consolidation and unloading of undisturbed and statically comp... Read More about The mechanical properties of a high plasticity expansive clay.

The Influence of Cyclic Loading Frequency on the Response of an Unsaturated Railway Formation Soil (2022)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Kumar, A., Azizi, A., & Toll, D. (2022, March). The Influence of Cyclic Loading Frequency on the Response of an Unsaturated Railway Formation Soil. Presented at Geo-Congress 2022, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

This paper presents the results of cyclic triaxial tests conducted on unsaturated soil samples recovered from the railway embankment of a South African coal line to investigate the influence of cyclic loading frequency on a formation layer material,... Read More about The Influence of Cyclic Loading Frequency on the Response of an Unsaturated Railway Formation Soil.

Application of suction monitoring for cyclic triaxial testing of compacted soils (2022)
Journal Article
Kumar, A., Azizi, A., & Toll, D. (2022). Application of suction monitoring for cyclic triaxial testing of compacted soils. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 148(4), https://doi.org/10.1061/%28asce%29gt.1943-5606.0002766

The performance of compacted soils that are used for the construction of railway embankments are impacted by weather-driven suction and water content fluctuations. Hence, the accurate measurement of the water retention properties of soil during cycli... Read More about Application of suction monitoring for cyclic triaxial testing of compacted soils.

Coupling cyclic and water retention response of a clayey sand subjected to traffic and environmental cycles (2021)
Journal Article
Azizi, A., Kumar, A., & Toll, D. G. (2023). Coupling cyclic and water retention response of a clayey sand subjected to traffic and environmental cycles. Géotechnique, 73(5), 401-417. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.21.00063

Compacted soils used as formation layers of railways and roads continuously undergo water content and suction changes due to seasonal variations. Such variations, together with the impact of cyclic traffic-induced loads, can alter the hydro-mechanica... Read More about Coupling cyclic and water retention response of a clayey sand subjected to traffic and environmental cycles.

Predictive and prescriptive analytics in transportation geotechnics: Three case studies (2021)
Journal Article
Tinoco, J., Parente, M., Gomes Correia, A., Cortez, P., & Toll, D. (2021). Predictive and prescriptive analytics in transportation geotechnics: Three case studies. Transportation Engineering, 5, Article 100074. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.treng.2021.100074

Transportation infrastructure is of paramount importance for any country. The construction, management and maintenance of this infrastructure is a complex task that requires a significant amount of resources (e.g., human work equipment, materials, ma... Read More about Predictive and prescriptive analytics in transportation geotechnics: Three case studies.