Dr Gareth M Swift

Lecturer

• Newton Building Room LG12
• T: +44 (0)161 295 4835
• E: G.M.Swift@salford.ac.uk
• SEEK: Research profile

Having gained academic qualifications from mining engineering departments in Wales, Exeter and Nottingham, I have followed a circuitous route into civil engineering, via periods of industrial training  in the civil engineering profession with Taylor Woodrow Construction and Golder Associates. I have developed strong research interests in rock mechanics through these formative years that have now incorporated other disciplines more aligned with traditional civil engineering, at the forefront of which is soil mechanics, but with a smattering of structural mechanics and environmental engineering. At the core of my research are solutions to real-world problems using physical and numerical models, and much of my research is stimulated by industry.

If you want to have a chat about ideas you may have for PhD study then please contact me.

Soil and rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering

Environmental engineering (contaminated land and waste management)

Geotechnical aspects of transport infrastructure (www.masonryarch.org)

Numerical modeling of large deformation problems in geotechnics (eg. subsidence, sinkholes)

Application of neural networks in engineering

Risk assessment and management of natural and man-made geohazards 

Unsaturated soil behavior

Ground engineering

BSc Mining

MSc Mining Geology

PhD Geomechanics

Member of the British Geotechnical Association

Member of the International Society for Rock Mechanics

Member of the Institute of Mining, Materials and Metallurgy

Chartered Engineer

Melbourne, C., Swift, G.M. & Augusthus Nelson, L. 2013. Assessment of masory arch bridges. Paper accepted for presentation at the 7th International Conference on Arch Bridges, Split, Croatia, 2-4 October 2013.

Swift, G.M., Augusthus Nelson, L. & Melbourne, C. 2012. Physical modelling of masonry arch bridges. Paper accepted for presentation at the 7th International Conference on Arch Bridges, Split, Croatia, 2-4 October 2013.

Wu, G., Swift, G., Wang, Y. and Chen, J. 2013. Laboratory investigation of the effects of temperature on the mechanical properties of sandstone. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering (DOI:10.1007/s10706-013-9614-x)

Fitria, D., Scholz, M. & Swift, G. 2012. Impact of different shapes and types of mixers on sludge dewaterability. Environmental Technology, 2012