Geotechnical Consulting Group (GCG) is pleased to announce that John Davis, Senior Partner at GCG, will deliver a keynote presentation at the Engineering Group of the Geological Society Annual Conference 2026, taking place in Cambridge from 9–11 April 2026.
John’s keynote, titled “Crossrail – lessons learned and lessons forgotten?”, will draw on almost a decade of first-hand involvement in one of Europe’s most complex underground infrastructure programmes. His experience includes six years seconded to the Crossrail Chief Engineer’s Group, where he held responsibility for addressing and managing ‘ground issues’ across the eastern section of the project.
The presentation will provide a reflective and practical examination of the Crossrail programme, exploring not only what worked well, but also where challenges emerged and why some lessons risk being overlooked on subsequent projects. Using a series of short, focused case studies, John will highlight examples of below-ground construction activities that did not proceed as planned, examining the technical, organisational and risk-related factors involved.
Importantly, the keynote will look beyond Crossrail itself, considering what projects of all scales can learn from its successes and shortcomings. The session will be particularly relevant to professionals involved in underground construction, ground risk management, engineering geology, and the delivery of major infrastructure schemes in complex ground conditions.
The EGGS Annual Conference 2026, themed ‘Engineering Geology of Infrastructure Projects’, brings together leading practitioners from industry and academia to share knowledge, experience and emerging best practice across the sector.
For all conference information, visit: https://billetto.co.uk/e/engineering-group-of-the-geological-society-annual-conference-engineering-geology-of-infrastructure-projects-tickets-1786881
