Dr. R.S. (Rod) Read, P.Eng., P.Geol., is the firm's President and Principal Consultant. Dr. Read holds a B.A.Sc. in Geological Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and a Ph.D. in Civil/Geological Engineering from the University of Manitoba. He is a specialist geotechnical/rock mechanics engineer with over twenty five years of experience in civil and geological engineering projects. This experience stems from projects undertaken by RSRCI, and from previous employment with other companies and consulting firms. Dr. Read is a member of several professional organizations, and is registered in Canada as a Professional Engineer in British Columbia and Manitoba. He carries dual registration as a Professional Engineer and Professional Geologist in Alberta.
Dr. Read's experience stems from projects related to pipeline geotechnics, natural hazards, nuclear waste disposal, petroleum geomechanics, transportation (railway and highway) geotechnics, , dams, and civil/mining geotechnics. This experience includes development and application of geohazard assessment approaches for Arctic and South American pipelines, geomechanical analysis of pipeline and petroleum-related processes, application of instrumentation and monitoring systems from surface and underground to assess geohazards and related physical processes, planning and management of multi-disciplinary projects and experimental programs, geomechanics research for nuclear waste disposal, slope stability analysis, surface and underground geotechnical characterization, design and analysis of underground excavations, and construction supervision.
Between 1987 and 1997, Dr. Read was Principal Investigator and/or Experiment Manager for several large multi-disciplinary in-situ investigations at AECL's Underground Research Laboratory, including the Mine-by Experiment, the Heated Failure Tests, the Excavation Stability Study, and the Thermal-Mechanical Stability Studies. These investigations studied fundamental issues associated with rock mass response to excavation and heating, including tunnel instability and excavation damage zone (EDZ) development.
Since 1997, Dr. Read has provided consulting services to clients in the civil, petroleum, transportation, and energy sectors. He has consulted to AECL, Ontario Power Generation, SKB and other international organizations in regards to geomechanics and monitoring issues associated with nuclear waste disposal. Recent studies include an exhaustive summary of EDZ findings from international programs, a detailed description of Features, Events and Processes (FEPs) related to geology and/or rock mechanics, and planning of large-scale laboratory testing to investigate the issue of rock shear effects on emplaced waste containers.
Other recent projects have included geohazard assessment of pipelines in arctic and tropical environments, as well as geohazard assessment, geotechnical monitoring system design, and project engineering for the Turtle Mountain Monitoring Project in Crowsnest Pass, Alberta - the site of the 1903 Frank Slide. Dr. Read has also been involved in a number of civil and petroleum-related projects including the Mackenzie Gas Project, the Oldman River Dam Project, and the St. Mary's Dam spillway replacement project. Dr. Read is experienced in the application of FLAC and other numerical codes to conduct complex analyses, and has managed diverse field characterization and laboratory testing programs.
In addition to geohazard assessment of pipelines, Dr. Read has related northern pipeline engineering expertise including analysis of northern trenching trials, development of plans for frost heave drilling programs, supervision and analysis of uplift resistance testing and geomechanical testing of frozen soil, stewarding development of right-of-way preparation plans, and conducting geomechanical analysis of potential karst collapse beneath pipelines. In other related projects, he has undertaken numerical analysis of pipeline deformations associated with slope movement, assessed gas storage feasibility and associated applications of microseismic monitoring, addressed water disposal issues associated with oil sands development, and conducted borehole stability analysis of petroleum wells and horizontal directional drillholes.
Dr. Read's research has included thermal-mechanical studies of rock mass response to excavation, and related stability and contaminant transport issues. He has also conducted research into in situ stress determination methods, as well as integration and interpretation of results from microseismic monitoring and other geotechnical instrumentation. Dr. Read is currently developing linkages between his involvement in multi-disciplinary research for AECL and other applications of geotechnical engineering, such as enhanced oil recovery, CO2 sequestration, and in-situ monitoring of natural hazards.
Since 1987, Dr. Read has authored or co-authored over 100 published articles and reports on various technical aspects of his work, and has received awards from the Tunnelling Association of Canada and the Association of Professional Engineers of Manitoba.
