Thursday, October 29, 2026
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
(5:30 - 6:30 Social Hour - Lecture starts at 6:30)
UNH Holloway Commons Piscataqua Room
Foundation Design for Offshore Renewables
Governments around the world have ambitious plans for offshore energy generation, particularly from renewable sources. The foundation design is a critical element for any offshore structure, influencing the structural layout, the structural dynamic and fatigue response as well as the construction and installation approach. The choice of the foundation, and the design approach taken, can have significant impacts on the overall project economics. This lecture will provide an overview of typical foundation types for marine energy, including suction caisson foundations and pile foundations, and highlight typical design considerations. The lecture will then explore recent research on monopile foundations, a singular tubular pile, often driven into the ground, upon which the structure is fixed. Monopiles must be designed to safely resist the lateral loading and overturning moments derived from the environmental conditions acting on the structure, including the wind, wave and current loading; this applied loading can range from one-off peak loads (e.g. storms), to regular and repetitive cycling (e.g. waves), often combined with a sustained load (e.g. current, wind). The lecture will provide an overview of the development, over the past decade, of new design methods that address monotonic and cyclic loading of foundations. The paper will highlight the outputs from medium scale pile field testing, as well as laboratory model testing, exploring the results within an appropriate framework that can be applied in offshore design.
Professor Byron Byrne
Professor Byron Byrne holds the Ørsted / Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair in Advanced Geotechnical Design at the University of Oxford where he leads on research into geotechnical engineering for offshore renewable energy structures. He works collaboratively with industry to solve practical problems applying experimental work, at both laboratory scale and larger scale in the field, theoretical analysis and computational techniques, to develop simplified design methods for the engineer. He was Principal Investigator for the Carbon Trust / Ørsted / Industry funded PISA project (2013-2018), which has delivered new design methods for large diameter monopile foundations, now applied to many offshore projects. He currently leads on the Oxford–Ørsted Research Framework PICASO project (2018-2028) on cyclic loading for monopile foundations and was a Co-Investigator on the EPSRC / industry ALPACA Project (2018-2023). He is a Co-Investigator on the Strathclyde / Oxford / Edinburgh EPSRC CDT for Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures (2019-2027), and was the Oxford Director, and Co-Investigator, for the Cranfield / Oxford / Strathclyde EPSRC CDT for Renewable Energy Marine Structures (2014-2022). He is a Co-Director of the EPSRC Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy Impact Hub 2023 led by Plymouth University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
Professor Pedro de Alba joined the Dept. of Civil Engineering at UNH in 1977. In his 33 years at UNH he taught over 12 courses in geotechnical engineering at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Professor de Alba was an outstanding teacher, a scholar and a true gentleman. He was a mentor and role model to his students and colleagues. His professional interests were in experimental techniques for measuring the dynamic response of soils, especially residual strength of liquefied sand. Professionally he was involved with several major research projects. He was a member of ASCE, EERI and ASTM, and also co-editor and found of the earthquake engineering journal, Sismodinamica. His dedication to the engineering profession was truly exemplary.
donate to the pedro de alba lecture fund
2025 Pedro de Alba Lecture "Geoenvironmental Engineering and Stormwater Management"
Patricia J. Culligan, PhD, C.Eng., FICE, F.AAAS, Dist.M.ASCE; Matthew H. McCloskey Dean of the College of Engineering University of Notre Dame
2024 Pedro de Alba Lecture "The Role of Emerging Technologies in realizing Smart Infrastructure"
Kenichi Soga, Donald H. McLaughlin Chair and Distinguished Professor Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering University of California Berkeley
2023 Pedro de Alba Lecture "Energy - Climate - Livabiltiy: Geotech in Changing Times"
J. Carlos Santamarina, G. Clough Chair and Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Civil & Environmental Engineering Department
2022 Pedro de Alba Lecture "Unsaturated Soils: From Complex Behavior to Simplified Solutions"
Dr. Sandra Houston, Emeritus Professor, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environmental at Arizona State University
2021 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. Jean Benoît, Professor UNH Civil and Environmental Engineering
2019 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. Jeffrey R. Keaton, Principal Engineering Geologist, Wood Environment & Infrastructure Solutions, Los Angeles, CA
2018 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. Harry Poulos, Senior Consultant, Coffey Group & Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney, Australia
2017 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. G.W. Clough, Professor Emeritus, Georgia Institute of Technology, Secretary Emeritus of The Smithsonian Institution
2016 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. I.M. Idriss, Professor Emeritus, University of CA, Consulting Geotechnical Engineer, Santa Fe, NM
2015 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Dr. Robert D. Holtz, Professor Emeritus, University of Washington
2014 Pedro de Alba Lecture
Kenneth Stokoe, Professor, University of Texas at Austin
2013 Pedro de Alba Lecture
James Mitchell, Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech.
