Corrie Walton-Macaulay, a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) fellow and a University of Kentucky Civil Engineering Ph.D. candidate, was selected to present a paper at the Fifth International Symposium on the Deformation Characteristics of Geo-Materials in Seoul Korea (IS-Seoul).

The symposium was organized by the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and the Korean Geotechnical Society, and more than 300 delegates from 31 countries attended. The symposium was a platform for the exchanging and sharing of ideas, state-of-the-art knowledge, and research results on deformation characteristics of soil and rock materials. The main thrust of the symposium was to present current research on advanced geotechnical laboratory testing techniques and application of those advanced techniques to integrated site characterization and other practical engineering applications.

Corrie Walton-Macaulay presented on the “Effect of Fouling on the Deformation and Stiffness of Railroad Ballast”. The presentation covered research performed at the University of Kentucky to determine the effect of contamination of railroad ballast by using coal dust as the contaminant. The results of the experimentation were the development of correlations between deformation and stiffness degradation and fouling severity, which can be used in developing design criteria and planning maintenance cycles. The presentation was well received, and colleagues showed interest in future collaborations.