Benoit Jones

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Biography

Benoît Jones graduated from the University of Bristol in 2000 with a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering with Study in Europe (Polytech’ Grenoble, France). He then joined Mott MacDonald as a Graduate Tunnel Engineer. Between 2002-2006 he undertook research for an EngD at the University of Southampton with Professor Chris Clayton as his supervisor, sponsored by Mott MacDonald and the EPSRC. After working on Crossrail MDC3, in late 2007 he went to work for Morgan Est (now Morgan Sindall) as Section Engineer on the King’s Cross Underground Station Redevelopment, then as Engineering Manager on the Stoke Newington to New River Head Thames Water Ring Main Extension Tunnel. In Autumn 2010 he joined OTB Engineering, a small consultancy specialising in tunnelling and geotechnics, working on temporary works designs for Tottenham Court Road Station Upgrade and for the Crossrail Eastern Running Tunnels (C305). He joined the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick in September 2011.

During his time with Chris Clayton at the University of Southampton he sought to answer questions about how loads come onto tunnel linings, and how tunnel junctions behave and should be analysed. This included field measurements and laboratory tests involving pressure cells, and numerical experiments using FLAC3D. The work on stress measurements used field data obtained from pressure cells installed in the sprayed concrete lining of the Heathrow Express Terminal 4 station concourse tunnel and the Terminal 5 SWOT frontshunt tunnel. Data was collected over 8 ½ years and 9 months respectively. Laboratory testing and careful analysis of the field data revealed a new kind of temperature sensitivity, the ‘ground reaction temperature sensitivity’. A suite of 3D numerical experiments simulating sequential tunnel junction construction with the ground modelled explicitly showed that most 2D approximations, wished-in-place analyses and Winkler spring models of shaft-tunnel junctions are both unconservative and incorrect.

He has worked with a large variety of different people from very different backgrounds. As well as working long shifts at the tunnel face, he has learnt a great deal about time management, safety, risk and contracts. He has managed subcontracts for design, monitoring services, labour-only, priced work and M&E installations. He successfully managed the interfaces with Network Rail, London Underground, Tube Lines, Metronet, Network Rail (CTRL) and British Waterways, whose tunnels and stations were underpassed by the Thames Water Ring Main Extension tunnel over a period of just a few months. At the same time he improved methods of predicting subsurface ground settlements due to tunnelling after finding that existing methods were inadequate at the depths below ground surface (40-60m) encountered on the project.

Research

Current research interests include:

  • Simple settlement monitoring methods for low-risk tunnels
  • Sprayed concrete technology and the composite action of sprayed concrete layers with or without waterproof membranes between them
  • The empirical and theoretical prediction of ground movements due to tunnelling
  • New methods of early age strength testing for sprayed concrete linings
  • Uplift stability of open face tunnels

Teaching

In 2011/12, Benoît will lead or contribute to the following modules:

Research Grants and Contracts

  • 2012-2013: Using thermal imaging techniques for the first time to monitor early strength development of sprayed concrete, Warwick Impact Fund (supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund Round 5), £49k
  • 2010-2012: Surface and subsurface settlements due to tunnelling, ICE Research and Development Fund, £7k

Professional Involvement

  • Chartered Civil Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
  • Editorial Panel member, ICE Proceedings Geotechnical Engineering, 2010-present
  • Committee member, British Tunnelling Society Sustainability Committee, 2009-present
  • Member of the British Tunnelling Society (BTS), British Geotechnical Association (BGA), International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) and the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM)

Awards and Invited Lectures

  • 2010: ICE Geotechnical Engineering Lecture
  • 2009: ICE Telford Premium Award for outstanding contribution to the civil engineering literature
  • 2008-2010: ETB (now known as EngineeringUK) Visiting Lecturer

Selected Publications


Benoit Jones

Dr Benoît Jones
Principal Teaching Fellow

Room F321
School of Engineering
University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom

T: +44(0)24 765 51745
F: +44(0)24 764 18922

B dot D dot Jones at warwick dot ac dot uk