The Grainger College of Engineering
Civil & Environmental Engineering

Gholamreza Mesri

Gholamreza Mesri
Gholamreza Mesri
  • Ralph B. Peck Professor
  • Professor
(217) 333-6934
2230a Newmark Civil Engineering Bldg

Primary Research Area

  • Geotechnical Engineering

Research Areas

Biography

Gholamreza Mesri holds a B.S. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1965), M.S. (UIUC 1966), and Ph.D. (UIUC 1969), all in civil engineering. He has been on the faculty of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 1969.

Dr. Mesri has taught advanced undergraduate and graduate level courses in Soil Mechanics and Soil Behavior. Dr. Mesri is the co-author with Karl Terzaghi and Ralph B. Peck of the Third Edition of Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice, Wiley Interscience.

Dr. Mesri has served as consultant to government and private organizations in relation to construction projects in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, including airports, offshore facilities, tunnels, hydroelectric developments and building foundations. He is a member of the International Commission on Restoration of Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City, and a member of the International Commission on Swelling Rocks, and International Committee on Coastal Geotechnical Engineering, and International Committee on Foundation Engineering in Difficult Soil Conditions.

Dr. Mesri is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Canadian Geotechnical Society, and International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. He is the recipient of the 1988 Norman Medal and 1992 Middlebrook Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Education

  • Ph.D. Civil Engrg. University of Illinois 1969
  • M.S. Civil Engrg. University of Illinois 1966
  • B.S.(hons) Civil Engrg. University of Illinois 1965

Academic Positions

  • Ralph B. Peck Professor of Civil Engineering 1998-present
  • Professor of Civil Engineering 1978-1997
  • Associate Professor of Civil Engineering 1973-1978
  • Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering 1970-1973
  • Research Associate, Department of Civil Engineering 1969-1970
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering 1968-1969
  • Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering 1965-1969
  • Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil Engineering 1963-1965

Major Consulting Activities

  • Consultant to SNC-LAVALIN on Vancouver Project, Vancouver, Canada (2014-present)
  • Consultant to Harris County Flood Control District, Houston, Texas (2013-present)
  • Consultant to British Columbia Hydro on Site C Clean Energy Dam Project, British Columbia, Canada (2011-present)
  • Consultant to Bechtel Mining & Metals on Kitimat Modernization Project, The Rio Tinto Alcan Kitimat Plant, British Columbia, Canada (2010-pressent)
  • Consultant to Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) on Chicago River Restoration and North Shore Channel Restoration (2008-present )
  • Consultant to Coffey Geotechnics, Ballina Bypass, Australia (2007-present )
  • Consultant to Black and Veatch on Lowman Power Plant, Leros, Alabama (2006-present )
  • Consultant to Amec Earth and Environmental on Iona Island Wastewater Treatment Plant Sedimentation Tanks, British Colombia, Canada (2005-present )
  • Consultant to Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) on O’Hare Modernization Program, South Airfield Drainage Project, Chicago Underflow Plan O’Hare Reservoir Repair and Rehabilitation (2005-present )
  • Consultant to Harris County Flood Control District, Houston, Texas (2005-present )

Professional Registrations

  • 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Toronto, Canada, Chairman, Laboratory Testing
  • 17th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Alexandria, Egypt, Chairman, Session on Soil Properties and Measurement
  • 4th International Conference on Soft Soil Engineering, Vancouver, Canada, Chairman, Session on Soft Clay Modeling for Engineering Practice
  • International Advisory Committee for 17th International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
  • International Committee on Foundation Engineering in Difficult Soft Soil Conditions
  • International Committee on Coastal Geotechnical Engineering
  • International Committee for Coastal Development, Member
  • Canadian Geotechnical Society, Member and Associate Editor, CGJ
  • ASTM Subcommittee D 18.96, Research Steering
  • ASTM Committee D 18, Soil and Rock for Engineering Purposes

Professional Societies

  • Member of the Advisory Panel on consultants to the Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station on their 1.6 million dollar research project on compacted shales and expansive soils
  • Review Committee Member, Ninth International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering
  • Review Committee Member, Technical Publication, Journal of the Geotechnical Engineering Division of ASCE
  • Review Committee Member, Research Proposals, National Science Foundation

Service on College Committees

  • Advisory Committee on Appointments

Other Outside Service

  • Reviewer, Géotechnique
  • Reviewer, Engineering Geology
  • Reviewer, Soils and Foundations
  • Reviewer, McGraw-Hill
  • Reviewer, Associate Editor, Canadian Geotechnical Journal
  • Reviewer, Wiley & Sons
  • Reviewer, Geotechnical Research Center in McGill University, Canada
  • Reviewer, Canadian Geotechnical Journal
  • Reviewer, Geotechnical Engineering
  • Reviewer, American Society of Testing Materials

Research Interests

  • Movement of Landslides
  • Lime Remediation of Reactivated Landslides
  • Settlement of Kansai Airport Islands
  • Ground Improvement Using Vacuum Loading Together with Vertical Drains
  • Movement of Landslides
  • Horizontal pressures in granular ground subjected to vibration
  • Long-term stability of stiff-fissured clay slopes
  • Experience with electrical treatment of soils
  • Stability of earth dams during rapid drawdown
  • Undrained deformation of soft clay and silt deposits subjected to foundation and embankment loading
  • Engineering properties of peat
  • Mechanisms of electro-osmotic and electro-chemical ground modification

Research Statement

Dr. Mesri's current fields of active research include engineering properties, construction problems, and ground modification technology in soft clays and silts, stiff clays and soft rocks, as well as granular materials.

Primary Research Area

  • Geotechnical Engineering

Research Areas

Books Authored or Co-Authored (Revisions)

  • Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice by Karl Terzaghi, Ralph B. Peck, and Gholamreza Mesri, Third Edition, John Wiley & Sons (1996), 549 p.

Books Edited or Co-Edited (Revisions)

  • Peck, R. B. and G. Mesri. Foreword to Second Printing of Theoretical Soil Mechanics by Karl Terzaghi, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
  • Mesri, G. Handbook of Soil Mechanics, 1 Soil Physica, A Kezdi, Book Review: Journal of Hydrology, 27, 3 and 4 (December 1975): Elsevier, Amsterdam, 367 p.

Chapters in Books

  • Mesri, G. "Geotechnical Engineering Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1942-2011" Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois, Edited by W.J. hall, February 2011
  • Mesri, G. "The General Principle of Effective Stress" invited contribution to Year 2000 - Geotechnics, AIT, November 2000

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Mesri, G. and Wang, C. "Large-strain elastic viscoplastic consolidation analysis of very soft clay layers with vertical drains under preloading." Canadian Geotechnical Journal, (2015).
  • Mesri, G. and Wang, C. "Experimental and DEM Examination of Ko in Sand under Different Loading Conditions." Discussion, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ACSE, (2015).
  • Mesri, G. "D.W. Taylor and Foundation of Modern Soil Mechanics." Discussion, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, (2015).
  • Mesri, G. and Wang, C. "Test fill on soft plastic clay at Onsoy, Norway." Discussion, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 51 (2014): pp. 1-3.
  • Khan, A.Q. and Mesri, G. "Vacuum Distribution with Depth in Vertical Drains and Soil during Preloading." Geotechnics and Engineering, 6, 4 (2014): pp. 359-376.
  • Mesri, G. and Feng. T.W. "Consolidation of Soils." Special ASCE Publication Honoring Roy E. Olson (2014). From Soil Behavior Fundaments to Innovations in Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE Geotechnical Publication No. 233: pp. 322-337.
  • Mesri, G. "Soil-foundation modeling in laterally loaded historical towers." Discussion, Géotechnique, 64,7 (2014): pp.587-588.
  • Mesri, G. "The interparticle coefficient of friction at the contacts of Leighton Buzzard sand quartz." Discussion, Soils and Foundations (2014).
  • Mesri, G. "Influence of state and compressibility on liquefied strength of sands." Discussion, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 51, 4 (2014): pp.465-466.

Articles in Conference Proceedings

  • Mesri, G., Pakbaz, M.C. and Wang, C. "Swelling pressure of a shale against a stiff turned support." 15th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Buenos Aires, November 15-18, 2015.
  • Mesri, G. “Ralph B. Peck 1912 – 2008.” Seventh International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, Chicago, Illinois, April 29 – May 4, 2013.
  • Mesri, G. and Moridzadeh, M. "Lime Remediation of Landslides." Proceedings of 18th International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris, France, 2013.
  • Mesri, G. and Khan, A.Q. "Increase in Shear Strength Due to Vacuum Preloading." Proceedings of 2011 Pan-American CGS Geotechnical Conference, Toronto, Canada, October 2-6, 2011.
  • Mesri, G. and Khan, A.Q. "Interpretation of Vacuum Preloading Using ILLICON Methodology." Proceedings of International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, Lahore, Pakistan, November 5-6, 2010, pp. 27-34.
  • Mesri, G. and N. Huvaj. “The Asaoka Method Revisited.” Proceedings of 17th International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Alexandria, Egypt, October 2009, Vol. 1, pp. 131-134.
  • Mesri, G. "Ralph B. Peck, 1912-2008." Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Geotechnical Engineering 162, IGE5, October 2009, pp. 295-297.
  • Mesri, G. and Huvaj, N. "Shear Strength Mobilized in Undrained Failure of Soft Clay and Silt Deposits." Invited Keynote Lecture, GeoDenver 2007, Geo-Institute Conference, Denver, Colorado, February 2007, pp. 1-22.
  • Mesri, G., N. Huvaj, B. Vardhanabhuti, and Y-H. Ho. “Excess Porewater Pressures During Secondary Compression.” Proceedings of 16th International Conference in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Osaka, Japan, September 2005, Vol. 2, pp. 1087-1090.

Teaching Honors

  • Faculty Ranked Excellent (Outstanding) (2013)
  • Faculty Ranked Excellent (Outstanding) (2009)
  • Faculty Ranked Excellent (Outstanding) (2005)
  • Outstanding Advisors List (1993)
  • Faculty Ranked Excellent (Outstanding) (1993)
  • Outstanding Advisors List (1992)
  • Faculty Ranked Excellent (Outstanding) (1992)

Research Honors

  • Karl Terzaghi Award of American Society of Civil Engineers (2015)
  • Norman Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers (2004)
  • Middlebrooks Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers (1992)
  • General Reporter, Prediction and Performance of Soft Ground, Tokyo, Japan (1991)
  • Member of Scientific Committee, Geo-Coast '91, Japan (1990)
  • Norman Medal of the American Society of Civil Engineers (1988)
  • Panel Member, International Symposium on Geotechnical Engineering of Soft Soils, Mexico City, Mexico (1987)

Other Honors

  • Best paper runner-up, Canadian Geotechnical Journal (2019 )
  • Distinguished Lecture, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada (2014)
  • Nominated by Slopes and Embankment Committee of ASCE for Best Paper Award in 2012 (2012)
  • Stanley D. Wilson Memorial Lecture, Seattle, Washington (2009)
  • Beyer Distinguished Lecture, University of Houston (2005)
  • Appointed International Scientific Advisor to the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute Center of Excellence on Geohazards (2003)
  • Ralph B. Peck Professor of Civil Engineering (1999)
  • Kersten Lecture, Minnesota Geotechnical Society (1997)
  • Lectureship Program inviting world renowned foreign scholars and scientists to visit the Republic of China (1994)
  • Senior Scientist, National Defense Academy of Japan (1988)
  • NTNF Senior Scientist Fellowship to visit Norwegian Geotechnical Institute, June and July (1981)