Maritime ports are key components of global logistics networks, with steel quay walls providing berthing capacity and operational continuity. Their long-term structural performance is governed by corrosion driven by interactions between salinity, hydrodynamics, microbiological activity, and climatic conditions. Given that across Europe, many twentieth-century structures have exceeded their design life, reassessment of safety and residual capacity is essential. Conventional assessments typically use deterministic, uniform corrosion profiles based on simplified environmental classifications. In practice, however, field data show that corrosion is spatially variable, has short correlation lengths, and involves co-existing uniform and localised mechanisms. The scarcity of long-term, spatially detailed measurements has limited of site-specific deterioration models to be validated and included in design codes. This study analyses corrosion in steel quay walls at the Port of Rotterdam using ultrasonic thickness measurements and laboratory surface-morphology data. The database quantifies mean wall-thickness loss and spatial variability, enabling systematic comparison with design prescriptions. To interpret the observed variability, the study develops a stochastic corrosion representation based on random-fields, allowing explicit incorporation of spatial heterogeneity into structural assessments. The outcomes highlight the limitations of uniform corrosion assumptions and provide a basis for improved reliability evaluations and lifecycle-management strategies for ageing port infrastructure.

Changing climatic conditions present an emerging threat to geo-structures. Climatic scenarios for the Netherlands indicate rising temperatures and larger variations in the atmospheric water balance. Consequently, geo-structures will be subjected to greater annual pore pressure variations and unprecedented stress levels. A particular concern is the impact of these changing conditions on the geotechnical performance of regional dykes, which are composed of and founded on organic soft soil layers susceptible to degradation. Given that changes in weather patterns are already observable, investigation of current in-situ soil state variations can provide valuable insight into the geotechnical response under future intensified environmental conditions. This study analyses in-situ monitoring data from a shallow-slope dyke system in the Netherlands to assess the persistence of atmospheric-driven pore pressure fluctuations in the dyke body and foundation layers. By correlating local weather conditions with soil response, the study identifies atmospheric events that trigger temporary or permanent variations in soil state, providing a guidance to address the consequences of possible future climatic events, which may compromise the geotechnical performance of soft soil dykes.

Peat is a highly organic material that poses significant environmental and geotechnical engineering challenges due to its hydrological relevance and atypical mechanical behaviour. Understanding its unsaturated response is essential for infrastructure built over organic soils, particularly under increasing seasonal variability associated with increased climate stresses. Modelling the water retention behaviour of peat remains complex due to its high compressibility and the fabric rearrangements induced by drying and wetting cycles. This study presents an experimental characterisation of the shrinkage and water retention behaviour of natural and reconstituted fibrous peat from the Netherlands. A combination of high-resolution laser scanning and suction measurements was employed to monitor volume change and water retention throughout drying. The results are interpreted through a framework that distinguishes between inter-and intra-ped porosities, allowing for the separation of their respective contributions to shrinkage and retention. Complementary mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) analyses provided insight into the evolution of pore size distribution during drying, supporting the interpretation of a sequential engagement of pore sizes. The findings underscore the importance of accounting for differential multiscale porosity evolution and fabric structure when evaluating the hydro-mechanical response of peat.

The presence of entrapped gas, formed by the degradation of organic matter, complicates the pore pressure measurement in gassy soils. To address this challenge, fully coupled hydro-mechanical finite element simulations are presented to analyse the pore pressure response observed from triaxial tests of gassy peat samples. The experiments incorporated novel local pore pressure transducers, able to track distinct pore pressure measurements at separate locations. By replicating the experimental tests, the numerical simulations assessed the effects of non-uniform gas concentration and soil-porous disk interactions to refine gassy soil testing procedures and improve data interpretation.

A relevant part of the geotechnical infrastructure in the north of Europe and overseas is built on soft organic soils, including peat. Peat is extremely vulnerable to climate-related hazards as increased temperature accelerates drying, shrinkage and decomposition of the organic matter. Peat exhibits dramatic changes in volume with changes in water content. As the material deforms, the pore space evolves and changes the water retention response. The evolution of the pore space leads to a hysteretic relationship between suction, water content, and void size distribution. In this work, data from free shrinkage-swelling and suction measurements on natural fibrous peat subjected to drying and wetting cycles are presented and discussed. The water retention and shrinkage behaviour of the samples are modelled by accounting for capillarity and considering the evolution of the pore size distribution. X-Ray computer tomography was used to explore the change in the pore space upon shrinkage and drying. The experimental evidence shows that peat experiences distinct shrinkage zones including one where accelerated contraction occurs. Such behaviour is explained as a consequence of the interactions of an aggregated fabric. This is supported by the conceptual modelling approach that highlights the pivotal role of the evolving pore space.

Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the Netherlands is raising attention on the unsaturated response of geo-infrastructures, promoting research projects to provide an overview of the impact of unsaturated conditions on the response of shallow soil layers and embankments, and to better address maintenance and mitigation measures. As part of this effort, we discuss the results of standard laboratory tests performed on initially unsaturated samples retrieved from the field and tested in natural conditions, as well as after controlled drying and wetting. The variation of the "undrained"(i.e. at constant water content) shear strength with the degree of saturation obtained from the laboratory tests aligns well with CPT measurements performed in the field. An elastic-plastic constitutive model with mixed isotropic-rotational hardening developed for saturated soft soils was extended to unsaturated conditions by following a robust approach previously developed for compacted clayey soils. Coupling between the mechanical and the hydraulic behaviour is provided by the water retention curve. The model nicely captures the response observed in the laboratory, until extreme dry conditions, which possibly alter the structure of the soil, the peak stress, and the brittleness after failure. The model is capable of reproducing the effects of the previous hydraulic history on the stress-strain behaviour observed from the laboratory tests over a wide range of degree of saturation.

Monitoring structural behavior of earth structures during construction and in service is a common practice done for safety reasons, consolidation control and maintenance needs. Several are the techniques available for measuring displacements, water pressures and total stresses, not only in these geotechnical structures but also at their foundations. Materials testing has been used for calibrating models for structural design and behavior prediction, and these models can be validated with instrumentation data as well. Relatively recent investigation on the behavior of these materials considering their degree of saturation focuses on monitoring the evolution of water content or suction as function of soil-atmosphere interaction, necessary to predict cyclic and/or accumulated displacements, and has huge potential to predict the impact of climate changes on the performance of existing geotechnical structures. This new need justifies the investment on developing sensors able to be used for in situ monitoring of water in the soils, such as those presented here. Testing and monitoring becomes even more important nowadays when, for sustainability purposes, traditional construction materials are replaced by other geo-materials with unknown behavior and long-term performance (mainly accumulated displacements). Existing experimental protocols and monitoring equipment are used for such cases, however new techniques must be developed to deal with particular behaviors. Three case studies are presented and discussion is made on monitoring equipment used and how monitored data helped understanding the behaviors observed.

Ground borne vibrations generated by the passage of underground trains may change over time due to objective causes, such as increasing weight and speed of trains or ageing of the infrastructure components, as well as a variation in the dynamic response of the soil surrounding the tunnel. Among the possible causes of changes in the soil dynamic response, its hydrologic state has been seldom investigated. In this contribution, the role played by the conditions of the soil above the water table is addressed, starting from a case history in the city of Milano. Two-dimensional plane strain numerical models have been developed for the infrastructure. The models were calibrated on the results of two geophysical investigations performed at the same site in the city centre, but at two different times, which allowed distinguishing different dynamic responses. The system was excited by a synthetic load time history, matching a reference dynamic load spectrum included in Italian recommendations. Limitations of using this input on a 2D plane strain model were assessed by comparing the computed vibrations with experimental acceleration records collected on the tunnel. The results of the two numerical models are compared with those of a simulation performed assuming fully dry conditions above the water table. Overall, the set of analyses shows that even small changes in the dynamic response of the soil, interpretated as a consequence of variable saturation, may result in a change of a few decibels in the acceleration levels. Much larger accelerations are predicted on average with the simpler dry model, clearly showing the advantages of a more accurate modelling strategy.