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From the Board
Dianne about Alex
Alex already joined the board in April 2019. At
that time he was still a Civil Engineering bache-
lor student, but he already knew that he wanted
to do Geo Engineering. He started as treasurer
of De Ondergrondse, but decided to become
Vice-Chairman when the new board members
came on. Little people know that Alex came all
the way to Delft from Romania, to learn Dutch
for a year so he could study Civil Engineering
at the TU Delft. And if you would think doing
a master Geo Engineering and being a board
member is already busy enough, think again,
because Alex is also a TA for Soil Mechanics!
Alex about Emy
Emy will be the new Treasurer of ‘De Onde-
grondse’ for the coming year. After completing
her master’s in China, Emy decided to embark
on a new journey and study Geo Engineering at
the TU Delft. Emy is a hardworking person that
smiles all the time. The Treasurer is playing an
important role in our Dispuut, she must com-
plete the exploitation forms on a weekly basis
and gather all the invoices. Also, Emy will be re-
sponsible for the GETA this year. So, stay tuned
for updates from her!
Emy about Frode
Frode is a board member that is not easily
missed. If not for his height (which comes in
handy for his basketball career), then for his
dedication and enthusiasm for everything in
which he partakes. These are some very use-
ful qualities of our commissioner of activities.
Apart from organizing activities, he is also in
charge of our magazine ‘de Mol’. Will Frode lay
low this year or take the center stage of our
Geodrinks?
Frode about Sybren
Sybren is a guy who has two sides to his person-
ality. On one side, Sybren can really be a serious
guy. He gets things done, which makes him the
perfect fit for the Commissioner of Education.
He will be the perfect leader of the GEEC as
3 From the board
By the Board
well. On the other side, Sybren knows how to
party. Sometimes a little bit too much, he might
headbutt a glass at the Ruif then. If Sybren
wears his glasses in the morning, you’ll instant-
ly know he has a hangover. All in all, the social
skills -which come with the partying attitude-
along with his serious side makes him a very
capable board member. I have no doubt that he
will do great this year.
Sybren about Dianne
Coming from Enschede, Dianne learned that
some things in Delft are different, the hard way.
For example, an education quarter in Dutch
called a “kwartaal” and not a “kwartiel”. Also,
the city plan of Delft is different from that of
Enschede and Dianne’s sense of direction hasn’t
really adapted to Delft yet, which would cause
her to get lost quite some times if it weren’t for
her other board members ;). What Dianne did
learn is to stand her ground. When our pitcher
in the Ruif was stolen she didn’t hesitate for a
moment and threw the whole can in his face!
As chair of the board she can be strict but is
always fair. She keeps an eye on things and
knows everything that is going on with the
dispuut. With Dianne as chair we have a great
year ahead of us in which we will organise some
great events!
Fltr: Sybren, Emy, Dianne, Alex, Frode
 Contents
From the Board 3
Internship in Japan 5
Junior at Crux Eng. 8
Multidisciplinary project 9 11
International Geo Corner 11
Upcoming Activities 14

5
 Internship in Japan
In January 2019, I applied for an internship
Oriental Shiraishi Corp.
position at Oriental Shiraishi Corporation.
The internship allowed me to experience life
abroad whilst working for a highly special-
ized company. During the next few months
everything was arranged Japanese style:
well-planned and executed. In August I left
for three months to live in Tokyo.
Oriental Shiraishi Corporation is a Japanese
engineering firm and contractor. They are
renown for their state-of-the-art knowledge
of pre-stressed and prefab concrete technol-
ogy for bridge construction and pneumatic
caissons. The company was founded in 1952
and has approximately 670 employees. The
company is one of the three largest compa-
nies who design and construct pneumatic
caissons in Japan. The R&D-departments
of the company are constantly developing
and refining their technologies in order to
maintain their top position. My internship
was part of a three-year project where three
students come to Tokyo for a duration of 2
months each.
The internship is focused on the bearing ca-
pacity of the soil related to pneumatic cais-
sons during the initial conditions of the con-
struction. The work chamber is constructed
at the surface. The first concrete layer with
the cutting edges is poured around the work
chamber. After completion, the working
By Bart Verstijnen
chamber gets excavated and when the self-
weight is bigger than the bearing capacity of
the soil it starts to sink. The bearing capacity
used to be determined using Terzaghi’s bear-
ing capacity equation. However, the results
are becoming more unrealistic due to the
increasing size of the pneumatic caisson.
Numerical simulations in Plaxis 2D are per-
formed to create a more accurate view of the
bearing capacity. Using the Plaxis Remote
Scripting for Python Wrapper, it was possible
to automate the process of determining the
bearing capacity. 32 individual cases using
variable strength parameters were deter-
mined using the script. An additional set of
correction factors was created using statistical
regression analyses to take account of the
characteristics of the caisson.
During my stay in Japan, Paul, a 29-year-old
French guy was my guide in Tokyo. He was
living in Japan and had been working for ORSC
for almost 4 years. He showed me around in
the enormous city, the packed metros and
unreadable words. I lived in a quiet subur-
ban area of Tokyo, but the core regions of
Shibuya, Shinjuku and Chiba seemed to be
composed of skyscrapers and neon-lights.
Still, the traditional culture with its impressive
temples, monks and kimonos fuses effort-
lessly with the neon skyscrapers, white-collar
works and suits.
The average workday starts at 8 o’clock in
the morning when the morning commute
starts during rush hour. I travelled 40 min-
utes by metro together with 2.5 million
other commuters to get to the office. Public
transportation is chaos compared to the oth-
er, more organized aspects of life in Tokyo.
The workday starts at 9 a.m. when the first
bell rings. Everybody is dressed in business
attire. Until the first of October it is allowed
to ‘dress cool’, so no jacket or tie. Lunch is
between 12 a.m. and 1 p.m. It is encouraged
to take a break as the light dim down and
a lot of colleagues take a nap after some
lunch.
I am working on my project and have meet-
ings with Mr. Terasaki and Dr. Oishi. Japanese
people speak little English, so Mr. Terasaki
acts as a translator for my technical super-
visor, Dr. Oishi. The last bell rings at 5.30
p.m. and indicates the end of the day. Some
people leave, others keep working overtime.
Luckily, the extreme overtime associated
with the Japanese working culture was not
present here. However, people did structur-
ally work small amounts of overtime. At 7
p.m. I was back at my apartment in Kasai.
take shelter from the biggest typhoon that hit
Japan since 1958.
I visited colleagues throughout Japan with
Paul where we were warmly received and
had great food and drinks. Welcome/goodbye
parties organized by my colleagues were cha-
otic but very amusing. Lots of beer and high-
balls(whisky+soda) were ordered and with
them delicious food.
I spent another two weeks of holiday with my
girlfriend throughout the Tokyo and Kansai
regions after the two months of internship.
Many parts of Japan seem to be colored red
because of koyo momiji, or autumn colors.
The phenomenon is barely to be seen in
Tokyo, but nature around Mt. Fuji is beautiful
and a huge contrast to the nightlife of Shibuya
and Shinjuku, where the streets are colored
neon-blue, green and yellow.
The last 1.5 weeks we spent tasting sake,
eating ramen in tiny restaurants and strolling
through many temples before returning to the
Netherlands.

During the weekends, I tried to visit as many

places around Tokyo as possible. Typhoon
season made this difficult sometimes, but
the Japanese are very helpful, and friend-
ships are quickly formed. Together with
Yuichiro, I bypassed storm damage and visit-
ed the Valley of Death and the Ishi-Daibutsu
(Great Stone Buddha). I was eating sushi
when I got invited to eat takoyaki (octopus
balls) at Mayuko and Takeshi’s place and to
6 Internship in Japan
 Amsterdam
Delft
Eindhoven

Geotechnical Surroundings Ground

Engineering – Improvement
– –
Soil Investigation Adjacencies research Permeation grouting
Foundations and ground structures Vibration predictions Jet grouting
Construction pits Deformation analysis Mixed-in-place
Bored tunnels and trenchless tech. Damage predictions Compensation grouting (compaction)
State-of-the-art dike verification Monitoring plans Compensation grouting (fracture)
Low Subsidence or sub. free systems Monitoring and supervising Ground freezing
Dynamics and earthquakes Damage investigations

Hydrogeology Environmental Internship/

– – graduation
–
Pumping systems Environmental soil and water studies CRUX 2019 achievements:
Model studies (Re)usability of soil and construction - Finalist Cobouw Awards Best
Statistical groundwater analysis materials Employer
Hydrogeological effect studies Working in contaminated soil - Great Place to Work Certified
Ground energy systems (ATES) Environmental supervising - Finalist Schreudersprijs
Pump tests Consulting on asbestos remediation ... and much more!

Are you an enthusias-

tic and driven student
of Civil Engineering or
Structural Engineering
and interested in an
internship/graduation
at CRUX? Send your CV
and motivation to
info@cruxbv.nl.

©2019 / 2020 info@cruxbv.nl

CRUX Engineering BV +31 (0)20 4943070 cruxbv.nl
 I am Jay Srigopal (25) and one of the ten junior geotechnical
advisors at CRUX Engineering BV. I would like to offer you an
insight on the working experience of a junior geotechnical
advisor after finishing your Masters. Between my green
light and defence meeting I applied at multiple different
companies, which consisted of contractors and engineering
offices. At that moment I did not know yet what sort of
company would be a better fit for me.
Jay Srigopal

Three qualities of CRUX pulled me over the edge to
sign for them:
• The immense knowledge at CRUX. Today we are with
45 advisors with diverse specialties for different
kinds of projects, such as building pits, dikes and
embankments, hydrogeology, environmental engi-
neering, risk analysis for surroundings, earthquake
engineering, ground improvement and many others.
• Personal care. At CRUX you get treated as a person
and not as a pawn. You can pass through your pref-
erences in projects and they make sure you do not
get overloaded in work. Furthermore the manage-
ment team is active on the work floor, which caus-
es that hierarchy is not noticeable.
• CRUX is the perfect mixture of theory and practice.
For many projects CRUX is hired by the contractor
to design the geotechnical solutions. Therefore it is
common to be part of the execution part and per-
form site engineering or to observe the execution
of the design.
Furthermore this year I was asked to join the GPTW
team (Great Place To work), which consisted of bring-
ing input opinions about the company policies and
processes to get licensed as a Great Place To Work.
This gave me a whole new perspective about the
company and made me feel involved in which direc-
tion the company is heading.
Next to our work activities, CRUX tries to promote
the non-work related activities which create better
relations between co-workers. I really enjoy these
activities, as you better get to know your co-workers
and you can interact in a more casual environment
So, yes, I am still happy with my choice for CRUX and
would not have done it differently if I had the chance.
If someone has any questions about my working ex-
perience at CRUX or CRUX itself, feel free to contact
me on my LinkedIn or my email srigopal@cruxbv.nl.

As a junior you are guided by medior or senior advi-

sors during projects. At first they will lead the proj-
ects for you. But once you get the hang of it, they will
let you lead your own project. At CRUX the projects
diverse from small to complex and rare specials. The
diversity in projects is one of the things that keeps
me motivated, as every project brings me new knowl-
edge to obtain.

Another activity within CRUX, is the new CRUX acad-

emy that is starting in January 2020. These are in-
house courses provided by seniors and specialists
for different specialties.
 Multidisciplinary Project By Steve van Adrichem and Jelle Zijlstra
Ecuador

In the year of worldwide climate protests and emotional speeches of Greta Grumberg, we're five
Civil Engineers in Ecuador trying to add their part to a greener world. Daily, there was mailing with
“Juan en alleman”, model building and preparations of presentations. Between 8:30 and 17:00
everything was pointing towards the one goal: the feasibility of floating solar panels on the Gala-
pagos Islands. Outside the office we worked hard to broaden our cultural experience. We'll gladly
tell you more about the life we had in Ecuador!

We got the idea to do an MDP almost 8 months went.

before we went to Ecuador. It seemed really
cool to us to use our free elective space by do-
ing research on the other side of the world with
friends. After a group was formed with students
from different master tracks within Civil Engi-
neering the hardest part could start; finding a
project. We all agreed that we wanted a warm
and Spanish speaking country. We called many
old contacts, friends who are graduating at
companies and spoke to several companies.
Eventually we got into contact with Oceans of
Energy, who put the first floating solar panel on
the sea in December 2019. This source of ener-
gy is great for places which are scarce in land,
have high solar intensity and high energy prices.
The Galapagos Islands seemed to be a really
interesting spot for this technology! We found a
supervisor who supported us and Oceans of En-
ergy were glad to have us. In the months before
we went to Ecuador we requested funds, took a
Spanish course together and organized contact
with a local university, through which we got in
contact through a professor. We spoke with our
Ecuadorian supervisor through skype and off we
We went to Ecuador in the first period, which
had the advantage that we could go traveling
during the summer holiday and meet after-
wards in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian university
did not have master students and on the inter-
national day only 15 students were present. You
could imagine that five Dutch guys stood out of
the crowd when we joined the other students
for the daily lunch with rice at the canteen. We
tried to spend our working time wisely and not
sit behind our computers, gathering data all the
time. Instead, we went to many professors and
other students on the university to present our
idea. They could put us into contact with other
people that had knowledge about the subject
and in that way we could quickly gather the info
needed before going to the Galapagos.
The Galapagos are 1000km off the coast from
Ecuador and a flight is expensive. Because we
were ‘Ecuadorian students’, we could go for a
lower price.
We went to the islands for two weeks and had
20 meetings there. With environmentalists, spe-
cialists from the energy company, national park,
WWF and several with governmental authori-
ties. Our presentation was adjusted somewhat
every time we did one, but you can imagine that
we could pitch it by heart. More than 80% of
electricity is generated by diesel generators in
the Galapagos and they cannot build on 97% of
the land, because it is a national park. So, many
of them were very interested in this new tech-
nology these foreigners brought. In the mean-
while there was more than enough time for
snorkeling and going around the islands. After
all, we went to broaden our cultural experience
as well.
We did our research in Guayaguil, the largest
city in Ecuador. Here we lived in an AirBnB half
an hour walking from our office on the univer-
sity. We called each other ‘Guayaco’s, street
language for an citizen of Guayaguil.
The difference between poor and rich is ex-
treme in Guayaguil and criminality is very com-
mon. Because of the safety, not many tourist
visit the industrial city. Luckily we made friends
during parties and at the university. They could
show us some really local places and parties,
in that way we could see the city in a very nice
way. In our office we made a list on the wall of
all things we wanted to do in Ecuador. Every
weekend we would take the bus to a different
city to cross something of the list. This included
surfing, spotting wales, rafting in the rainforest
and visiting some cultural hotspots. The night
bus took away much of our sleep, but we saw
most of Ecuador and had a great time.
One weekend we stayed in Guayaguil, when the
greatest football match of the year took place.
El Classico: Barcelona vs Emelec. For me it was
on the top of the list. The quality of football
was disappointing, but the atmosphere was
definitely not. We went to the football match
with our supervisor from the university, which
was a really nice professor. He helped us with
the Spanish language and with the culture dif-
ference. We learned Spanish really quickly due
to the fact that nobody spoke English in Quay-
aquil and also at the university Spanish was
preferred. So we integrated very fast in to the
way they live in Ecuador with one thing being
important in this culture, the music: Salsa and
Reggeaton.
During the day at our office and during the
night when we were at the bar or local clubs,
we listened to the same music all the time.
After a few weeks we could sing along with the
music of the local superstars: Becky G, Manuel
Turizo and Piso21. We even got to a concert of
the above superstars, which was really fun. We
all are really tall, so everything was pretty good
visible for us and there even was an empty
space behind us, because no one could see a
thing there.
After this experience I would advise everyone
to do a Multidisciplinary project in their master.
You have to start early and it is more work than
the 10 credits you’ll get for it. But the experi-
ence is definitely worth it!
MDP in Ecuador 10
 I am currently a master student in the a Finite Element Model of the steel frame
Geo – Engineering master since September which support the whole silo structure.
2019, at the TU Delft. Before arriving in the
Netherlands, I graduated at the Hong Kong All my colleagues came from different parts
Polytechnic University (2016) and worked as of the world, such as Israel, Italy, Spain and
a graduate engineer for 2 years at the air- Siri Lanka. They were really nice and provid-
ports third runway project on Lantau Island, ed extra support to me because it was my
Hong Kong. first time staying abroad. I still have contact
with them and they became my pen friends.
To be a competent engineer, it is vital to be One of the colleagues from Israel even visit-
a member of the civil engineering associa- ed me twice in Hong Kong when she trav-
tion in Hong Kong (HKIE) or UK (ICE). Howev- elled through south east Asia three years
International

er, it required 3 years of relevant experience ago. We visited many tourist spots in Hong
in construction design and site manage- Kong, such as the Ladies Market, Victoria
ment. Harbor and the Historical Temple. This has
encouraged me to study abroad and make
In Hong Kong, many companies cannot pro- more friends around the world.
vide job rotation in different departments
and therefore, it is hard to obtain all those In September 2016, I start working as a
experiences. I always believed that further graduate engineer in China Harbour Engi-
studies can improve my personal growth neering Company, which is responsible for
and technical knowledge. Therefore, I finally the reclamation works at the third airport
decided to study at the TU Delft to learn runway in Hong Kong. 0.1 billion cubic
more about geotechnical engineering. meters of sand has to be moved in this
project. There are a number of restrictions
My student life was full of joy and challeng- from the licensing department. To avoid the
es at HK Polyu. In the summer of 2015, I obstruction of telecommunication signal at
worked as a summer intern in Peter und the airport control center, there is a height
Lochner, a structural consultant in Stuttgart, restriction of the working barge in different
Germany. I was responsible for carrying out

Geo-Corner
11 International Geo-Corner By Kwok Kam Ting
work locations. Once the barges exceed the
required height, construction work will stop
until a work resume permission is given by the
marine department. Also, a silt curtain has to be
installed around the whole construction area,
which can reduce the pollution of suspended
solid to the open sea. I finally realized that the
environmental and quality assurance concerns
are equally important as the works progress.

The whole reclamation can roughly be divided

into two main construction sub parts, which are
sand fill and ground treatment work. Since the
site area is situated in the pearl delta region, a
20m thick alluvium layer at the seabed of the
works area. Therefore, ground treatment is nec-
essary to turn the normally consolidated clay to
over consolidated clay.
There are three main methods to achieve the
result, they are prefabricated vertical drains
(PVD), stone columns and deep cement mixed
(DCM). PVD and stone columns can facilitate the
rate of consolidation because it can reduce the
drainage path. Deep cement mixed can increase
the strength of clay and hence provide greater
support to the building. Before the commence-
ment of ground treatment, a 2m layer of sand
blanket was laid on the seabed and provided a
drainage path for the ground treatment.
Working in the reclamation project is a bitter-
sweet experience. Hong Kong is well known as
a place with the longest working hours in the
world. Most of the people work for 60 hours a
week. In construction industries, people usu-
ally work for 10 to 12 hours a day and some of
them even work in public holidays. In some spe-
cial occasion, I had to finish all the paper work
in the official working hour and inspect the site
at night. All those experiences improved my
stress management skills and make me more
determined to be a competent geotechnical
engineer.
After 2 years of working at a contractor, I
have decided to use all my savings to study at
the TU Delft. All the lectures and the campus
environment are fascinating, and most of the
classmates are very helpful and friendly. It is my
wish to experience different cultures and hope
that it will become one of the most unforgetta-
ble memories in my entire life.
www.cob.nl/schreudersstudieprijs

Win 2.500 euro en

de eeuwige roem
Inschrijven kan vanaf nu tot en met 31 maart 2020
Voor meer informatie, neem contact op met
Ellen van Eijk: ellen.vaneijk@cob.nl of 085-4862410

GENOMINEERDEN 2018
Winnaar conceptueel - Thijs Niemeijer (links)
Winnaar techniek - Carolina Lantinga (rechts)

PUBLIEKSPRIJS 2018
Thijs Niemeijer
Stichting A.M. Schreuders reikt om
het jaar de Schreudersstudieprijs uit
aan twee studenten die zijn afgestudeerd
aan een HBO of universiteit op het gebied
van ondergronds bouwen. Met de prijs
wil de stichting vernieuwend ondergronds
ruimtegebruik stimuleren, om zo een bijdrage
te leveren aan het oplossen van ruimtelijke
problemen in ons dichtbebouwde land.
Upcoming Activities

9 Jan New Years Dinner

20 Feb Geodrinks

26 Mar Geodrinks

TBA Lunch lecture

Contact Circulation: 300

“De Ondergrondse” Editors: Coco Man, Jurren Snijders Blok,
Colophon

p/a Stevinweg 1, Room 0.0.43 Bart Verstijnen

2628 CN Delft Layout: Jurren Snijders Blok, Bart Verstijnen

T | 015-278 2778 Cover: Erik Eastman

E | ondergrondse@tudelft.nl Sponsor page : Kuan Fang
W | www.ondergrondse.nl Back: David Carballar

Next edition expected: December 2019

Upcoming Activities 14