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Dr Kurt Douglas
Senior Lecturer

Dr Kurt Douglas

Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering

Pells Sullivan Meynink Senior Lecturer of Rock Mechanics,

Associate Head (Engagement)

School of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Research interest

My research looks at how to better predict the properties of rock so that we can more efficiently design foundations, tunnels, slopes and dams..

I am attempting to improve our understanding and hence predictive capabilities of the behaviour of rock at the field scale using laboratory and field based studies. My research covers rockfill and rock mass strength and deformation as well as erosion prediction of spillways. I also investigate piping behaviour within embankment dams.

My research covers rock mass strength and deformation prediction, spillway erosion assessment and piping within embankment dams.

Lectures/Courses taught

I teach subjects in the Geotechnical Engineering field. As a third year undergraduate I will teach you the fundamentals of engineering geology (the 'geo' part of geotechnical) such that you will be able to predict the possible ground conditions you might encounter when assessing sites for future engineering projects. Students doing my fourth year elective will join me in learning about Geotechnical Engineering design. This includes the design of tunnels, slopes and foundations and the investigation and remediation of landslides. They will also join me on an action packed fieldtrip visiting mines, slopes, landslides, dams and other engineered structures. As a postgraduate student, I will give you specialised training in site investigation techniques, rock engineering for slope and underground design and foundation design.

Awards, Grants, Patents

Awards

2012 UNSW Staff Excellence Award for Excellence in Community Engagement – Group

2012 Professional Staff Excellence Award - Team

Grants

Robin Fell, Chongmin Song, William L. Peirson and Kurt J. Douglas, “Erosion of embankment dams and dam spillways”, Australian Research Council – Linkage Project LP110100389, $480,000 (2011-2013).

Education

PhD from UNSW Australia

BE with 1st Class Honours in Civil Engineering from the University of Sydney, Australia
Phone
(+61 2) 9385 5046
E-mail
k.douglas@unsw.edu.au
Location
Civil Engineering Building (H20) Level 5, Room CE506 Kensington Campus
  • Books | 1998
    Douglas KJ; Spannagle M; Fell R, 1998, Analysis of concrete and masonry dam incidents, 4, UNICIV Report R373, UNSW
  • Journal articles | 2022
    Peirson WL; Prapakaran V; Fell R; Douglas K, 2022, 'On the hydraulics of flow in cracks in embankment dam cores', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, pp. 1 - 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19648189.2022.2081993
    Journal articles | 2019
    Douglas KJ; Fell R; Peirson WL; Studholme H, 2019, 'Experimental investigation of global backward erosion and suffusion of soils in embankment dams', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 56, pp. 789 - 807, http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2018-0088
    Journal articles | 2019
    Savage S; Douglas K; Fell R; Peirson W; Berndt R, 2019, 'Modeling the Erosion and Swelling of the Sides of Transverse Cracks in Embankment Dams', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 145, pp. 04019015 - 04019015, http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002040
    Journal articles | 2018
    Douglas KJ; Pells S; Fell R; Peirson W, 2018, 'The influence of geological conditions on erosion of unlined spillways in rock', Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology, vol. 51, pp. 219 - 228, http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/qjegh2017-087
    Journal articles | 2017
    Bertuzzi R; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2017, 'Comparison of Intact Rock Strength Criteria for Pragmatic Design', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 143, http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001644
    Journal articles | 2016
    Bertuzzi R; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2016, 'An Approach to model the strength of coal pillars', International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, vol. 89, pp. 165 - 175, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2016.09.003
    Journal articles | 2016
    Bertuzzi R; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2016, 'Comparison of quantified and chart GSI for four rock masses', Engineering Geology, vol. 202, pp. 24 - 35, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2016.01.002
    Journal articles | 2016
    Bertuzzi R; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2016, 'Improving the GSI Hoek-Brown criterion relationships', International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, vol. 89, pp. 185 - 199, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrmms.2016.09.008
    Journal articles | 2016
    Masoumi H; Douglas KJ; Russell AR, 2016, 'A Bounding Surface Plasticity Model for Intact Rock Exhibiting Size-Dependent Behaviour', Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, vol. 49, pp. 47 - 62, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00603-015-0744-8
    Journal articles | 2016
    Pells S; Douglas K; Pells PJN; Fell R; Peirson WL, 2016, 'Rock Mass Erodibility', Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, vol. 143, pp. 06016031 - 06016031, http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)HY.1943-7900.0001243
    Journal articles | 2015
    Green DKE; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2015, 'The simulation and discretisation of random fields for probabilistic finite element analysis of soils using meshes of arbitrary triangular elements', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 68, pp. 91 - 108, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compgeo.2015.04.004
    Journal articles | 2013
    Wu L; Peirson B; Pells S; Douglas K; Miller B, 2013, 'On the significance of aeration in the assessment of erosion of unlined spillways', HOUILLE BLANCHE-REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE L EAU, pp. 30 - 35, http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/lhb/2013022
    Journal articles | 2013
    Wu L; Peirson B; Pells S; Douglas K; Miller B, 2013, 'On the significance of aeration in the assessment of erosion of unlined spillways', Houille Blanche, pp. 30 - 35, http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/lhb/2013022
    Journal articles | 1999
    Douglas KJ; Spannagle M; Fell R, 1999, 'Analysis of concrete and masonry dam incidents', International Journal on Hydropower and Dams, vol. 6, pp. 108 - 115
    Journal articles | 1997
    Helgstedt MD; Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 1997, 'A re-evaluation of in-situ direct shear tests, Aviemore Dam', Australian Geomechanics, pp. 56 - 65
    Journal articles | 1997
    Mostyn G; Helgstedt MD; Douglas KJ, 1997, 'Towards field bounds on rock mass failure criteria', Int. Jrnl. of Rock Mechanics and Mining Science, vol. 34, pp. 689, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1365-1609(97)00163-9
  • Conference Papers | 2019
    Pells S; Douglas K, 2019, 'Guidelines for assessment of scour in unlined spillways', in Africa 2019, Windhoek - Namibia, presented at Africa 2019, Windhoek - Namibia, 02 April 2019 - 04 April 2019
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Glastonbury JP; Douglas KJ, 2018, 'Catastrophic rock slope failures - Observed characteristics and behaviour', in ISRM International Symposium 2000, IS 2000
    Conference Papers | 2018
    Mostyn G; Douglas K, 2018, 'Strength of intact rock and rock masses', in ISRM International Symposium 2000, IS 2000, CRC Press. Permission to Distribute - International Society for Rock Mechanics, Melbourne, Australia, presented at ISRM International Symposium 2000, Melbourne, Australia, 19 November 2018 - 24 November 2018, https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/ISRM-IS-2000-034?sort=&start=0&q=Strength+of+intact+rock+and+rock+masses&from_year=&peer_reviewed=&published_between=&fromSearchResults=true&to_year=&rows=10#
    Reports | 2016
    Douglas KJ; Fell R; Peirson W; Studholme H, 2016, Experimental Investigation of Global Backward Erosion and Suffusion, School Of Civil and Enviornmental Engineering, UNSW Australia, Sydney, UNICIV, R-465, https://www.engineering.unsw.edu.au/civil-engineering/research/uniciv-reports
    Conference Papers | 2016
    Pells S; Fell R; Douglas KJ; Peirson W, 2016, 'Erosion Of Unlined Spillways in Rock', in 20th Congress of the Asia and Pacific Division of IAHR, 20th Congress of the Asia Pacific Division of the International Association for Hydro Environment Engineering & Research, Colombo, Sri Lanka, presented at 20th Congress of the Asia Pacific Division of the International Association for Hydro Environment Engineering & Research, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 28 August 2016 - 31 August 2016
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Allan R; Peirson W; Douglas KJ, 2015, 'Laboratory experiments and numerical modelling of backward erosion piping', in Wintera J; Wity A (ed.), Eksploatacja budowli piętrzących – diagnostyka i zapobieganie zagrożeniom, INSTYTUT METEOROLOGII I GOSPODARKI WODNEJ PAŃSTWOWY INSTYTUT BADAWCZY, Wierchomla, Poland, pp. 141 - 151, presented at TKZ2015 - XVI Dam Monitoring International Conference, Wierchomla, Poland, 29 September 2015 - 02 October 2015
    Conference Papers | 2015
    Pells SE; Pells PJN; Peirson WL; Douglas KJ; Fell R, 2015, 'Erosion Of Unlined Spillways In Rock - does a "scour threshold" exist?', in CContemporary challenges for dams : conference proceedings : 2015 / ANCOLD, Australian National Committee on Large Dams, Brisbane, presented at ANCOLD Conference 2015, Brisbane, 04 November 2015 - 08 November 2015
    Conference Papers | 2014
    Allan RJ; Douglas KJ; Peirson WL, 2014, 'Development of an experimental research program into backward erosion piping', in Cheng L; Draper S; An H (eds.), Scour and Erosion. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Scour and Erosion, CRC Press/Balkema, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, pp. 249 - 255, presented at 7th International Conference on Scour and Erosion, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, 02 December 2014 - 04 December 2014
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Martel B; Graham IT; Douglas KJ; Och D, 2012, 'Relationship between in-situ stress magnitudes and mineralogy of the Hawkesbury Sandstone, Sydney', in Proceedings of ANZ 2012, 11th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics (ANZ 2012), Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 1129 - 1134, presented at 11th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics (ANZ 2012), Melbourne, Victoria, 15 July 2012 - 18 July 2012
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Masoumi H; Douglas KJ; Russell AR, 2012, 'Experimental investigation of the size effect of Gosford Sandstone', in Proceedings of ANZ 2012, 11th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics (ANZ 2012), Melbourne, Victoria, pp. 644 - 649, presented at 11th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics (ANZ 2012), Melbourne, Victoria, 15 July 2012 - 18 July 2012
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Masoumi H; Douglas KJ; Saydam S; Hagan P, 2012, 'Experimental study of size effects of rock on UCS and point load tests (CD Paper No. 215)', in Proceedings 46th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Curran Associates, Inc./ARMA, Chicago, USA, pp. 2561 - 2568, presented at 46th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, Chicago, USA, 24 June 2012 - 27 June 2012, https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/ARMA-2012-215
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Pells SE; Peirson WL; Wu L; Douglas KJ, 2012, 'Scour of Rock in Spillways – A Review', in Proceedings of the 34th Hydrology & Water Resources Symposium, Engineers Australia, Sydney, pp. 136 - 143, presented at 34th Hydrology & Water Resources Symposium, Sydney, 19 November 2012 - 22 November 2012
    Conference Papers | 2012
    Wu L; Peirson WL; Pells S; Douglas KJ; Miller BM, 2012, 'Aeration Drag Effects On Unlined Spillways - Paper 24/ICSE2012/000024', in Sixth International Conference on Scour and Erosion, Sixth International Conference on Scour and Erosion, Paris, France, presented at Sixth International Conference on Scour and Erosion, Paris, France, 27 August 2012 - 31 August 2012, http://scour-and-erosion.baw.de/conferences/icse6/index.php.html?id=98902a22d3159c0f17fb513fd8e1d698
    Conference Papers | 2010
    Masoumi H; Douglas KJ, 2010, 'Review of rock slope displacement-time curves and failure prediction models', in Extracting the Science: A Century of Mining Research, Society of Mining Engineers (SME), Littleton, Colorado, USA, pp. 247 - 259, presented at Extracting the Science: A Century of Mining Research, SME Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona, 28 February 2010 - 03 March 2010
    Conference Papers | 2010
    Masoumi H; Douglas KJ; Seyed A, 2010, 'Yielding in intact rock at different scales', in Xie F (ed.), Rock Stress and Earthquakes, CRC Press, Beijing, China, pp. 769 - 776, presented at The 5th International Symposium on In-situ Rock Stress, Beijing, China, 25 August 2010 - 27 August 2010, https://www.onepetro.org/conference-paper/ISRM-ISRS-2010-125
    Conference Papers | 2007
    Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2007, 'SPT-CTP Correlations from Botany Sands', in 10th ANZ Conference on Geomechanics, 10th ANZ Conference on Geomechanics, Brisbane, Qld, presented at 10th ANZ Conference on Geomechanics, Brisbane, Qld, 21 October 2007 - 24 October 2007
    Conference Papers | 2007
    Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2007, 'The strength of rock defects - numerical analysis of scale effects', in 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, Lisbon, Portugal, presented at 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, Lisbon, Portugal, 09 July 2007 - 13 July 2007
    Conference Papers | 2004
    Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 2004, 'The shear strength of rock masses', in 9th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, 9th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, Auckland, New Zealand, presented at 9th Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics, Auckland, New Zealand, 08 February 2004 - 11 February 2004
    Conference Papers | 2000
    Duran A; Douglas KJ, 2000, 'Experience with empirical rock slope design', in Ervin MC (ed.), GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, pp. 41, presented at GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, 19 November 2000 - 24 November 2000
    Conference Papers | 2000
    Glastonbury JP; Douglas KJ, 2000, 'Catastrophic Rock Slope Failures', in Ervin MC (ed.), GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, pp. 21, presented at GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, 19 November 2000 - 24 November 2000
    Conference Papers | 2000
    Mostyn G; Douglas KJ, 2000, 'Issues Lecture: The shear strength of intact rock and rock masses', in GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, presented at GeoEng2000 An International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, Melbourne, 19 November 2000 - 24 November 2000
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 1999, 'Strength of large rock masses - Field verification', in Vail Rocks 1999 - 37th U.S. Symposium on Rock Mechanics (USRMS), pp. 271 - 276
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Douglas KJ; Mostyn G, 1999, 'Strength of large rock masses - field verification, rock mechanics for industry', in 37th US Rock Mechanics Symposium, 37th US rock mechanics symposium, Vail, Colorado, USA, presented at 37th US rock mechanics symposium, Vail, Colorado, USA, 06 June 1999 - 09 June 1999
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Douglas KJ; Spannagle M; Fell R, 1999, 'Estimating the probability of failure of concrete and masonry gravity dams', in Heinrichs P; Fell R (ed.), Proceedings of NZSOLD and ANCOLD Sympsoiums, ANCOLD Conference on Large Dams 1999, Australia, pp. 53 - 64, presented at ANCOLD Conference on Large Dams 1999, Australia
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Duran A; Douglas K, 1999, 'Do slopes designed with empirical rock mass strength criteria stand up?', in 20th Century Lessons, 21st Century Challenges., pp. 87 - 90
    Conference Papers | 1999
    Duran A; Douglas KJ, 1999, 'Do slopes designed with empirical rock mass strength criteria stand up', in 9th ISRM International Congress on Rock Mechanics, 9th ISRM International Congress on Rock Mechanics, Paris, France, pp. 87 - 90, presented at 9th ISRM International Congress on Rock Mechanics, Paris, France, 25 August 1999 - 28 August 1999
    Conference Papers | 1998
    Douglas KJ, 1998, 'Case studies in the assessment of rock mass strength', in 3rd Australia-NewZealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference, 3rd Australia-NewZealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference, Melbourne, presented at 3rd Australia-NewZealand Young Geotechnical Professionals Conference, Melbourne
    Conference Papers | 1998
    Douglas KJ; Spannagle M; Fell R, 1998, 'Estimating the probability of failure of concrete and masonry gravity dams', in Heinrichs P; Fell R (ed.), Proceedings of NZSOLD and ANCOLD Sympsoiums, NZSOLD and ANCOLD Simposium 1998, Sydney, presented at NZSOLD and ANCOLD Simposium 1998, Sydney