Page 14 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Twelve

Geologists: gneiss*, tuff** and a little bit wacke***!
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Originally from Newcastle in Australia, Chad Douglas joined W M Donald in October 2020. Chad is an Engineering Geologist/Geotechnical Engineer, a profession which typically carries out investigations and analysis to assess the ground conditions and designs solutions to minimise geological hazards during earthworks and civil engineering construction projects.
After qualifying with a BSc in Geology from the University of Newcastle, Chad worked in open cut coal mines and on coal seam gas projects in the Hunter Valley, north of Sydney. This region is better known in the UK for its wineries and Semillon and Shiraz grape varieties.
Moving to the UK in 2012 with his wife, a geologist raised in Aberdeen, Chad continued on coal seam gas projects, this time in Stirling, Forth Valley. Chad then moved on to undertaking geological site investigations for a company in Glasgow and this was followed by five years working in Aberdeen for a local consulting engineering firm.
‘The geotechnical aspects of all civils groundworks projects are varied and important, getting the right strategy to address the conditions is imperative to a successful project’.
‘A key aspect of my role is to look at what we have to work with from a geological perspective and plan the works to ensure we use the materials in the most efficient manner which in turn reduces the carbon footprint of the site’.
With four children between the ages of three and eleven, it’s fair to say that Chad doesn’t have much spare time to indulge his Aussie passions of surfing, dirt bikes and cycling.
*A common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock
**A type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption.
***A variety of sandstone characterised by its hardness and dark colour.