Professor Harianto Rahardjo
Professor Rahardjo has conducted extensive research on unsaturated soil mechanics to solve geotechnical problems associated with tropical residual soils. His research focus has been on rainfall-induced landslides; one of the major natural disasters occurring in many parts of the world.
He has applied unsaturated soil mechanics principles to better understand the mechanisms of rainfall-induced slope failures especially in tropical residual soils. These research activities have led to the development of an advanced unsaturated soil mechanics laboratory at Nanyang Technological University and numerous comprehensive instrumented slopes. Professor Rahardjo and his team have developed the Capillary Barrier System (CBS) for slope stabilization, GeoBarrier System (GBS) for a cover system and a retaining structure, Slope Management and Susceptibility Geographical Information System for Singapore. In addition, Professor Rahardjo has also applied unsaturated soil mechanics to soil improvement for tree stability, understanding the effects of rainfall on tree stability and developed instruments for tree inclinometer with the associated analytics. Professor Rahardjo is currently developing Advanced Moisture Sensing Technology for Urban Greenery and Monitoring of Slope Stability.
Professor Rahardjo is the co-author of the first textbook on unsaturated soils “Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils“, by D.G. Fredlund and H. Rahardjo, published by John Wiley in 1993, the second textbook “Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice”, by D.G. Fredlund, H. Rahardjo and M.D. Fredlund, published by John Wiley in 2012 and over 400 technical publications. He has also presented his research works in numerous keynote / invited lectures and short courses in various countries.
He has received several awards : Singapore International Chamber of Commerce Awards (2021) on Most Sustainable Collaboration on GBS, Korean Geotechnical Society (KGS) Awards Lecture (2019), Minister for National Development’s R&D Awards (2017) on Slope Stabilisation using Mangrove based on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Principles, ISSMGE TC106 Award (2015) for the “Inaugural Asia-Pacific Distinguished Lecture on Unsaturated Soils”, ASTM International Award (2006) for “Outstanding Article on the Practice of Geotechnical Testing”. He holds a patent on GeoBarrier System (GBS).
He is a registered Professional Engineer in Saskatchewan, Canada and Singapore. He has also served as a consultant on various projects for several engineering firms and government institutions in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, China, Canada, and Australia.
