Faculty of Engineering
 

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Nick Thom

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Nick Thom is a member of the Nottingham Transportation Engineering Centre research group.

Transportation Infrastructure Engineering MSc: Sustainable Highways / Sustainable Railways courses.

Graduate Engineer, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, 1978-81

Assistant Resident Engineer, Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick, 1981-1984

Research Assistant, University of Nottingham, 1984-1987

Pavement Engineer / Senior Pavement Engineer, Scott Wilson Pavement Engineering, 1987-1991

Lecturer / Assistant Professor, University of Nottingham, 1991-present

Consultant to several highway-related organisations

Expertise Summary

Extensive experience (practical + research) of unbound, cement-bound and asphaltic materials

Pavement performance prediction including: surface deterioration, top-down and bottom-up cracking, geogrid reinforcement and stress absorbing membrane interlayers

Rail track analysis and prediction of settlement / differential settlement

Teaching Summary

Modules taught:

Pavement Engineering (Year 3) - a general overview of the whole subject (materials, design, maintenance)

Railway Engineering (Year 3) - concentrates on railway track (materials, track analysis, maintenance, management)

Airfield Engineering (Level 2) - contribution to a more general transportation module; overview of civil engineering aspects

Research Summary

Rehabilitation and recycling of railway trackbed

Prediction of railway trackbed settlement and differential settlement

Optimizing the use of roller compacted concrete

Designing pavements incorporating cold-mix asphalt

Parameters affecting asphalt rutting

Understanding and prediction of potholes

Risk-based management of pavement maintenance

Past Research

Granular material behaviour (+ associated test development)

Additives in self-compacting concrete

Structural strength foamed concrete

Performance of grouted macadam

Geogrid reinforcement in asphalt roads

Geogrid reinforcement in railway ballast

Stress-absorbing membrane interlayers

Computational analysis of railway trackbeds

The effect of road surface stiffness on fuel consumption

The effect of different fillers on asphalt performance

Future Research

I welcome enquiries from potential PhD candidates from Home, EU and international countries who are interested in the following research areas: Design and analysis of pavements and railway trackbeds; materials for pavements and railway trackbeds.

Faculty of Engineering

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD



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