Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/S87430/01
Title:	Biological & Engineering Impacts of Climate Change on Slopes (BIONICS)
Principal Investigator:	Glendinning, Professor S
Other Investigators:	Manning, Professor DAC Toll, Professor DG Dixon, Professor N Greenwood, Mr J Hall, Professor JW Quinn, Dr P Parkin, Dr G Rouainia, Dr M Bransby, Dr MF Muir Wood, Professor D Clarke, Professor BG Davies, Professor M.C.R. anderson, Professor mg Kilsby, Professor C Davison, Professor A
Researcher Co-Investigators:	Professor O Heidrich
Project Partners:	British Waterways CIRIA Geotechnical Observations Ltd Highways Agency Metronet Rail SSL Ltd Mott Macdonald Network Rail New & Renewable Energy Ctr NaREC Rail Research UK Railway Safety Ltd Scottish Crop Research Institute (The) Skanska UK Plc
Department:	Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Organisation:	Newcastle University
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	01 September 2004	Ends:	28 February 2009	Value (£):	895,435
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Ground Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Construction Transport Systems and Vehicles
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
This project will enable the effects of climate change on infrastructure slopes to be deduced by establishing a unique facility consisting of a full-scale, instrumented soil embankment, planted with a variety of flora with controlled heating and rainfall at its surface. It aims to establish a database of highquality embankment performance data to enable further research into the interaction of climate, vegetation and engineering on the behaviour of infrastructure earthworks. By bringing together key stakeholders and academics, it will provide the focus for 'spin-off' projects aimed at answering specific needs-based problems. In the longer term this strategy will enable advanced procedures for maintaining serviceability and safety of strategic embankments and cuttings in addition to advancing the science base.The first projects that will make use of this facility are:1. The development of a hybrid hydrological- geotechnical model that can be used to predict the behaviour of embankments over their design lives. The model will be validated against the data from the embankment and from a series of centrifuge models. A second studentship will assess the capabilities of a range of hydrological and geotechnical models and potential 'coupling' mechanisms, then recommend future inter-disciplinary modelling strategy.2. A 'biological' project will examine the colonisation of the newly constructed embankment by new species, establish the vegetation and monitor the effects of the controlled climate on growth.3. A further project studentship, will assess the spatial and temporal variability of soil properties both before and after construction.
Key Findings
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Potential use in non-academic contexts
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Impacts
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher
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Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.ncl.ac.uk