Industry geotechnical specialists at the John Mitchell lecture warned that UK foundation design on chalk is still misjudging key behaviours such as solution features, variable weathering profiles and the risk of brittle collapse under cyclic loading. Speakers pointed to recent pile and shallow foundation projects where inadequate chalk characterisation, limited core recovery and over-reliance on generic SPT correlations led to unexpected settlements and construction delays. Attendees were urged to adopt more rigorous chalk-specific investigation, including targeted boreholes, high-quality sampling and site-specific load testing, before finalising foundation schemes.

Calls to add ground condition metrics to public weather forecasts argue that engineers, utilities and transport operators now need near real-time data on soil moisture, pore pressure and desiccation risk, not just rainfall totals and wind speeds. Proponents point to recent UK failures on clay cuttings, embankment slips and buried pipe bursts after prolonged drought–storm cycles, where Met Office rainfall data alone gave little warning of loss of shear strength or shrink–swell movement. Integrating sensor networks, satellite soil-moisture indices and probabilistic geotechnical models into daily forecasts could materially change inspection, access planning and temporary works decisions.

Around 55,000t of rock armour is being placed by PD Ports along the South Gare breakwater at Redcar to reinforce coastal protection for the River Tees against increasingly severe North Sea storm conditions. The works focus on strengthening the existing rubble-mound structure, which has experienced accelerated damage and overtopping, with rock sizes and gradings selected to resist higher wave energy and storm surges. For coastal and geotechnical engineers, the scheme signals a need to reassess armour stability and design return periods on older breakwaters under changing wave climates.