Michael Kenny

Dr Mike Kenny is a Lecturer in Civil Engineering with 20 years experience in geotechnics, and is a Chartered Civil Engineer. After spending two years working in industry, followed by four years as a lecturer at Napier University, he joined Strathclyde University as a lecturer in 1993. He is a very experienced teacher of soil mechanics and the design of geotechnical structures. He was also the Course Director for the Civil Engineering programmes from 2001 - 2007. His research interests are closely related to the needs of industry and cover foundation engineering, reinforced and stabilised soils, and the use of recycled and marginal materials. He is a member of the Scottish Universities Geotechnical Network and has served on the organising committee of the previous (2003) and forthcoming (2008) BGA International Conference on Foundations.

Research Interests

Reinforced and stabilised soils; properties and applications of improved soils and soils mixed with recycled materials. Foundation engineering; the bearing capacity of foundations on layered soils; the continuous flight auger piling technique and new rotary auger displacement piles - investigating the relationship between installation methodology and the resulting pile load-carrying capacity.

Geo-environmental engineering; The re-use in construction of recycled and waste materials. A recent project investigated the use of recycled rubber in various construction applications including concrete products.

Research Related Activities

Committee member of SUGN (Scottish Universities Geotechnical Network), established in 2001. The aim of the network is to improve collaboration and research dissemination amongst researchers in geotechnics in Scotland. The other universities mainly involved are Dundee, Glasgow and Napier.

Organising Committee member for BGA International Conference on Foundations, British Geotechnical Association, Dundee, Sept 2003 and June 2008.

Research Projects and Student Supervision

• The use of recycled rubber for low cost materials for the construction industry. Funding: £51,440 from Onyx Environmental Trust. With R. Cairns, University of Strathclyde. Research student: H Y Kew, PhD (2007).
• Matching section programme in Civil Engineering. Funding: £47,200 from SHEFC, continuing professional development funds. With N. S. Ferguson, University of Strathclyde. 2000-2002.
• Research in sustainable landfilling. With C. F. Clark, University of Strathclyde. Research student: C Ciucci, MPhil (1999).
• Investigation of continuous flight auger piling in sandy soils. Research students: H Canakci, PhD (1996), S Guasti, MPhil (1999).
• The performance of trench reinstatements using flexible cable conduits. Funding: £36,000 from Argival Plastics, Napier University. 1991-1994.

Publications

• Kew, H.Y., Cairns, R. & Kenny, M.J. (2004). The use of recycled rubber tyres in concrete, Sustainable Waste Management & Recycling: Used/Post-Consumer Tyres, Limbachiya & Roberts (eds.), Thomas Telford, London, ISBN 0-7277-3286-2, pp135-142.
• Kenny, M.J., Guasti, S. & Zsak, P. (2003). Continuous flight auger boring in sandy soils, Proc. BGA International Conference on Foundations, Dundee, Thomas Telford, ISBN 07277-3244-7, pp. 433-441.
• Buchanan, D., Clark, C.F., Ferguson, N.S. & Kenny, M.J. (2001). Hydraulic characteristics of wet-pulverised municipal waste, Water and Environmental Management (journal of CIWEM), Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 14-20.
• Kenny, M.J. & Andrawes, K.Z. (1999). The bearing capacity of footings on a sand layer overlying soft clay (discussion), Geotechnique, Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 553-555.
• Buchanan, D., Clark, C.F., Ferguson, N.S. & Kenny, M.J. (1998) Waste collection and disposal practices in Great Britain, Report, University of Strathclyde, ISBN 1 874632 10 3.
• Kenny, M.J. (1998). The bearing capacity of a reinforced sand layer overlying a soft clay subgrade, Proc. 6th International Conf. on Geosynthetics, Atlanta, USA, March, pp. 901-904.
• Kenny, M.J., Canakci, H. & Andrawes, K.Z. (1997). Soil disturbance during CFA pile installation in sand, Proc. 14th International Conf. on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Eng., Hamburg, Sept., pp. 1085-1090.
• Kenny, M.J., Canakci, H., & Andrawes, K.Z. (1997). Densification of granular soils during CFA pile augering, Ground improvement geosystems : densification and reinforcement, Davies & Schlosser (eds.), Thomas Telford, London, pp. 134-140.
• Kenny, M.J. & Andrawes, K.Z. (1997). The bearing capacity of footings on a sand layer overlying soft clay, Geotechnique, Vol. 47, No. 2, pp. 339-345.
• Kenny, M.J. & Kawai, Y. (1996). The effect of bending stiffness of soil nails on wall deformation, Earth reinforcement, Ochiai, Yasufuku & Omine (eds.), Balkema, pp. 771-774.