Engineering Centre Queen's‑RMC
Department of Civil Engineering
Royal Military College of Canada
13 General Crerar
Kingston (Ontario) Canada K7K 7B4
- Research Director, GeoEngineering Centre at Queen's-RMC
- Professor, Civil Engineering Department, RMC, Kingston, Ontario
- Cross-appointed/Adjunct Professor to Civil Engineering Departments at Queen's University, University of British Columbia - Okanagan, University of Manitoba
Research Interests
- Hydraulic-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soil
- Physical modeling of hydraulic-thermal systems using transparent soil
- Constitutive behaviour of swelling soil
- Hydraulic behaviour of soil-geosynthetic systems
- Qualified students are actively being sought for projects in these areas. Interested parties should contact Dr. Siemens directly.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering (Geotechnical), Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba (Coursework completed at the University of Alberta), 2006
- Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, 2003
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery Grant (DG) and Major Resources Support (MRS)
- Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO)
- Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)
- Academic Research Program (ARP), Department of National Defence
- RMC Start-up Funds
Honours and Awards
- Young Member Award 2013 - International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE)
- 'Editor's Choice' Selection - Geosynthetics International - Rowe, R.K., Rayhani, M.T., Take, W.T., Siemens, G., and Brachman, R.W.I. 2011. GCL hydration under simulated daily thermal cycles. Geosynthetics International, 18(4): 196-205.
- Honourable Mention for Best Paper - Geotextiles and Geomembranes - Siemens, G.A. and Bathurst, R.J. 2010. Numerical parametric investigation of infiltration in one-dimensional sand-geotextile columns. Geotextiles and Geomembranes. 28: 460-476.
- Canadian Geotechnical Society Graduate Student Presentation Competition, 2006
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Postgraduate Scholarship - Doctoral, 2004 - 2007
- Petro-Canada Resources Fellowship in Engineering, 2004
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Canadian Graduate Scholarship - Masters, 2003
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Postgraduate Scholarship - Masters, 2003 - 2005
- Neil Burgess Memorial Scholarship, 2003
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Undergraduate Research Award, 2002
Publications
Selected Journal Publications
- Lim, B.F. and Siemens, G.A. 2013. An unconfined swelling test for clayey soils that incorporates digital image correlation. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal. 36:6 823-833 [doi: 10.1520/GTJ20120220].
- Siemens, G.A., Peters, S.B. and Take, W.A. 2013. Comparison of confined and unconfined infiltration in transparent porous media. Water Resources Research. 49: 851-863 [doi: 10.1002/wrcr.20101].
- Rowe, R.K., Rayhani, M.T., Take, W.A., Siemens, G.A. and Brachman, R.W.I. 2013. Physical modeling of GCL shrinkage under simulated field conditions. Geotextiles and Geomembranes 40: 12-19 [doi: 10.1016/j.geotexmem.2013.07.008].
- Powell, J.S., Siemens, G.A., Take, W.A. and Remenda, V.H. 2013. Characterizing the swell potential of Bearpaw Shale. Engineering Geology. 158: 89-97 [doi: 10.1016/j.enggeo.2013.03.006].
- Rowe, R.K., Rayhani, M.T., Take, W.A., Siemens, G.A. and Brachman, R.W.I. 2013. Physical modeling of GCL shrinkage under simulated field conditions. Geotextiles and Geomembranes 40: 12-19 [doi: 10.1016/j.geotexmem.2013.07.008].
- Siemens, G., Take, W.A., Rowe, R.K.R. and Brachman, R.W.I. 2012. Numerical investigation of transient hydration of unsaturated geosynthetic clay liners. Geosynthetics International, 19(3): 232-251, [doi: 10.1680/gein.12.00011].
- Powell, J.S., Siemens, G.A., Take, W.A. and Remenda, V.H. 2012. Influence of specimen geometry on sample disturbance observed in oedometric testing of clay shales. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal. 35(5): 771-783 [doi: 10.1520/GTJ104172].
- Powell, J.S., Take, W.A., Siemens, G.A. and Remenda, V.H. 2012. Time dependent behavior of the Bearpaw Shale in oedometric loading and unloading. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 49(4): 427-441 [doi: 10.1139/T2012-004].
- Peters, S.B., Siemens, G., Take, W.A. 2011. Characterization of transparent soil for unsaturated applications. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal Special Issue on Innovations in Characterizing the Mechanical and Hydrological Properties of Unsaturated Soil, 34(5): 445-456. [doi: 10.1520/GTJ103580].
- Rowe, R.K., Rayhani, M.T., Take, W.T., Siemens, G., and Brachman, R.W.I. 2011. GCL Hydration under Simulated Daily Thermal Cycles. Geosynthetics International, 18(4): 196-205 [doi: 10.1680/gein.2011.18.4.196]. 1 1Received 'Editor's Choice' Selection for Geosynthetics International 2011.
- Rayhani, M.T., Rowe, R.K., Brachman, R.W.I., Take, W.A. and Siemens. G.A. 2011. Factors affecting GCL hydration under isothermal conditions. Geotextiles & Geomembranes, 29(6): 525-533 [doi: 10.1016/j.geotexmem.2011.06.001].
- Siddiqua, S., Blatz, J.A. and Siemens, G.A. 2011. Evaluation of pore fluid chemistry on the hydro-mechanical behaviour of clay based sealing materials. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 48(2): 119-213 [doi: 10.1139/T10-064].
- Siddiqua, S., Blatz, J.A. and Siemens, G.A. 2011. Experimental study on the performance of light backfill and dense backfill. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 48(2): 214-225 [doi: 10.1139/T10-057].
- Siemens, G.A. and Bathurst, R.J. 2010. Numerical parametric investigation of infiltration in one-dimensional sand-geotextile columns. Geotextiles and Geomembranes. 28: 460-476 [doi:10.1016/j.geotexmem.20 09.12.0 09].2 2Received Honourable Mention for Geotextiles and Geomembranes Best Paper Award 2010.
- Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2009. Evaluation of the influence of boundary confinement on the behaviour of unsaturated swelling clay soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 46(3): 339-356.
- Bathurst, R.J., Siemens, G.A. and Ho, A.F. 2009. Experimental investigation of infiltration ponding in one-dimensional sand-geotextile columns. Geosynthetics International, 16(3): 158-172.
- Siemens, G.A., Blatz, J.A., and Ruth, D.G. 2007. A capillary tube model for transient two-phase flow through swelling soil. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 44(12): 1446-1461.
- Blatz, J.A., Anderson, D.E.S. and Siemens, G.A. 2007. Evaluation of the transitional inelastic behaviour of unsaturated clay-sand mixtures. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 44(4): 436-446.
- Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2007. Development of a hydraulic conductivity apparatus for bentonite soils. Canadian Geotechnical Journal. 44(8): 997-1005.
- Siemens, G.A. and Blatz, J.A. 2007. A triaxial apparatus for applying liquid infiltration with controlled boundary conditions and internal suction measurement. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering. 133(6): 748-752.
- Bathurst, R.J., Ho, A.F., and Siemens, G.A. 2007. A column apparatus for investigation of 1-D unsaturated-saturated response of sand-geotextile systems. ASTM Geotechnical Testing Journal. 30(6): 433-441.