On behalf of the Editorial Board of Geotechnical Research (GeoRes), we would like to announce a themed issue of GeoRes on ‘Recent advances in biogeoscience applications in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering’, which is planned for publication in 2023–2024. The use of biogeoscience techniques, which include the processes of bioprecipitation (i.e., microbial-induced and enzyme-induced calcite precipitation), biomineralisation, biocementation, bioremediation and bio-geopolymerisation, has seen tremendous growth in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering as an environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternative for ground improvement. These techniques may enhance waste valorisation for a net-zero and circular economy.
The themed issue will concentrate on the development of green bio-geomaterials for geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering applications through, but not limited to, the following areas:
state-of-the-art literature and/or bibliometric reviews
fundamental, theoretical and applied experiments on chemical and physical properties
laboratory experiments, field observational methods and numerical modelling
machine learning techniques, statistical and parametric analyses
physicochemical, mineralogical and microstructural investigations
practical engineering investigation, design and construction
case studies.
Editor-in-Chief Ong is the champion of this themed issue and welcomes an immediate submission of abstracts for initial evaluation. The deadline for submission of a full manuscript is 31 August 2023. Both Editors-in-Chief, Ong and Rahman, agreed to offer a number of waivers for article publication charges (APC).
As GeoRes is the first gold Open Access (OA) journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers, the authors have to pay APC, but the journal maximises the impact of research articles and knowledge-based case studies in a wide range of geotechnical areas. Therefore, the APC waiver offers a great opportunity for prospective authors and readers. Any manuscript that is not awarded an APC waiver may be eligible for a range of discounts, particularly for researchers from the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) countries. Such a discount policy aims to partially eliminate an economic barrier to disseminating research output from developing countries.
The contributions from the fast-growing regions of Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, as well as the mature regions of Europe and North America, are very much acknowledged and appreciated. In the last few issues, GeoRes has published articles in the following key areas in geotechnical engineering: (i) innovative ground soil improvement work (Ahenkorah et al., 2021; Lavanya and Kumar, 2022; Liu et al., 2022; Weng et al., 2020), (ii) complex soil–structure interaction (Can et al., 2022; Guo et al., 2021; Inazumi et al., 2021; Li et al., 2022; Qin and Ma, 2021; Ülker and Baksı, 2022), (iii) review (Lopes and Dias, 2021) and (iv) reliable laboratory testing/model development (Feng and Liu, 2021; Shuttle et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2021).
The third issue of volume 9 (2022) includes four articles on practical applications in geotechnical engineering.
Nishizono et al. (2022) present their study on the long-term stability of mechanically dewatered clay (MDC) from the Shinmoji-Oki disposal pond in Japan. After 10 years of construction, the MDC in a revetment was evaluated by the box shear test on the block samples, the tip resistance (q t) by radioisotope cone penetration test and the shear wave velocity (v s). Its strength properties did not change much over time, and the stability of the revetment raised by MDC was satisfactory.
Zavala et al. (2022) conducted constant-volume cyclic simple shear (CSS) tests on dry sands. It was hypothesised that the dissipated energy required to reach failure by a sand sample depends only on its initial states and is independent of the characteristics of the cyclic loading applied. They found that their approach yields reasonable failure predictions for the sands subjected to complex and irregular shear stress loading.
Gao et al. (2022) used the discrete-element method (DEM) to study the sensitivity to basic joint parameters (Coulomb slip model, cohesion c and friction angle φ) in strata movement induced by mining under a slope. They also evaluated the primary strata failure modes and the typical strata movement process. They found the strata movement is more sensitive to φ than c, and φ is positively associated with the strata movement angle, θ. There are four primary strata failure modes and three typical strata movement processes under different joint strengths. This study will help in understanding the joint impact of the strata movement induced by mining under the final slope.
A study on the static lateral response of socketed piles in Dubai sedimentary rock is presented by Mughieda et al. (2022). The ground lithology for selected piles constitutes medium-dense to dense sand for top layers, which is critical in the evaluation of the lateral capacity of piles. The authors found p–y non-linear analysis and finite-element approaches predict the lateral response of soil more accurately compared with the Broms method at smaller lateral loads.
GeoRes always encourages quick dissemination of research articles. Therefore, there are some research articles that have been published ahead of print that cannot be included in this issue. Notably, Fang and Fall (2022) present shear characteristics between a rock and cemented tailings and Sobhee-Beetul and Kalumba (2022) show the benefits of reinforcing fibres generated from plastic bottle waste.
