PhD Studentship in Environmental Engineering: New Scour Protection Measures to Improve Bridge Resilience

Award Summary

Fully funded Studentship with a tax-free annual living allowance of £21,000, a research training support grant + UKRI fees paid.

Overview

Bridges are essential elements of infrastructure the world over and their maintenance and protection is critical to ensure public safety and to facilitate travel within and between the places people live and work. Bridge failure can be devastating, resulting in loss of life, injury and huge costs. This project focuses on one threat to bridge safety, scour: the erosion of soil surrounding the piers and abutments forming bridge foundations. Scour is caused by fast-moving water removing sediment from around the foundations, leaving holes that can seriously compromise bridge integrity. This is the most common cause of bridge failure, either directly over a long period, or accelerated by flooding. The wetter winters and more intense summer storms expected due to climate change make the question of how to protect bridge foundations all the more pressing. There is thus considerable interest in better understanding scour. 

This project is a unique opportunity to use Newcastle University’s state of the art facilities for experimental work and to be involved in development of new numerical models to investigate scour with and without features designed to protect bridge foundations. New solutions will be sought and critical questions answered by this timely and exciting project. This PhD is linked to the EPSRC CDT WIRe Programme, which gives the additional benefit of attending all programme activities (further information justine.easten@ncl.ac.uk). 

Number Of Awards

1

Start Date

25 September 2023

Award Duration

4 years

Application Closing Date

31 March 2023

Sponsor

Newcastle University, School of Engineering.

Supervisors

Dr Caspar Hewett and Dr Vassilis Glenis

Eligibility Criteria

A First Meng/MSc in a relevant subject or First or upper second class UG degree (2:1). Enthusiasm for research, the ability to think and work independently, excellent analytical skills and strong verbal and written communication skills are also essential requirements.

This PhD is open to home UK candidates only.

How To Apply

You must apply through the University’s Apply to Newcastle Portal 

Once registered select ‘Create a Postgraduate Application’.  

Use ‘Course Search’ to identify your programme of study:  

• search for the ‘Course Title’ using the programme code:8209F 
• Select PhD Water Infrastructure & Resilience (WIRe)' as the programme of study 

You will then need to provide the following information in the ‘Further Questions’ section:  

• a ‘Personal Statement’ (this is a mandatory field) - upload a document or write a statement directly in to the application form  
• the studentship code WIRE2303 in the ‘Studentship/Partnership Reference’ field  
• when prompted for how you are providing your research proposal - select ‘Write Proposal’. You should then type in the title of the research project from this advert. You do not need to upload a research proposal.  

Contact Details

justine.easten@ncl.ac.uk

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