Paul le Roux graduated with the degrees BEng (Civil Engineering) in 2013 and BEngHons (Geotechnical Engineering) in 2014. He is currently enrolled for a MEng (Geotechnical Engineering) degree. His research, led by Prof. SW Jacobsz, started with the development of a high capacity tensiometer for the continuous measurement of soil suction. The applications for the new instrument help to open up the field of study in unsaturated soils at the university. Furthering the work, the instrument’s range and reliability is being improved with positive results. One application is the focus of his dissertation – the development of a method to measure continuous soil-water characteristic curves for soils. The method provides a more rapid and accurate testing procedure than traditional point-measurement based methods.

Current research interests

-  Hydro-mechanical characterisation of unsaturated soils.

-  Intersection of experimental theory and practical applications for unsaturated soils.

Publications

Le Roux, P.F. 2013. The continuous measurement of soil suction. Unpublished Research Project. University of Pretoria.

Le Roux, P.F. 2015. A new method for the measurement of continuous soil-water characteristic curves. MEng Dissertation in preparation. University of Pretoria.

Contact

[email protected]