Skip to main content
Overview

Professor David Toll

Professor

BSc PhD DIC Eur Ing FICE CEng


Affiliations
AffiliationRoom numberTelephone
Professor in the Department of EngineeringE370 (Higginson) +44 (0) 191 33 42388
Co-Director, IHRR / Professor in the Department of Engineering in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience +44 (0) 191 33 42388

Biography

David Toll is a Professor in the Department of Engineering and Co-Director of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience at Durham University, UK. He also has the following roles:

  • Chair, British Geotechnical Association
  • Chair of Technical Committee TC106 on Unsaturated Soils of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) (2014-2022)
  • Chair, Joint Technical Committee JTC2 of the Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies (representing ISRM, ISSMGE, IAEG and IGS) (2005-2017)
  • Kwang-Hua Chair Professor at Tongji University, China
  • Chair, Institution of Civil Engineers North East (2013-14)
  • Chair, Northern Geotechnical Group (the regional group of the British Geotechnical Association and part of ICE North East) (2009-2014)

David Toll's research encompasses two highly relevant areas of civil engineering: (i) the engineering behaviour of unsaturated and tropical soils and (ii) the application of information technology to geotechnical engineering. The primary focus for his work on unsaturated soils is to find engineering solutions for natural hazards, particularly landslides. Much of his current work examines the impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure through field and laboratory studies and numerical modelling. His research in information technology involves work on data exchange and standards, BIM, data acquisition and computer control systems.

He was Chair of the Scientific Committee for the European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering held in Edinburgh in 2015. He has been a member of the organising/technical committee for many international conferences on unsaturated soils: Singapore, 2000; Recife, 2002; Weimar, 2003; Trento, 2005; Nanjing, 2007; Barcelona, 2010; Pattaya, 2011; Naples 2012; Sydney 2014; Lisbon 2020 and organised the First European Conference on Unsaturated Soils in Durham, 2008. He also organises the conference series on Information Technology in Geo-Engineering with conferences in Shanghai in 2010 and Durham in 2014.

He has twice been a member of the editorial advisory board of Geotechnique and been member of the Editorial Panels for two Geotechnique Symposia in Print (2011 and 2013). He was the founding editor for the international journal, Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, published by Springer, and remains a member of the editorial board. He is a member of the editorial board of Transportation Geotechnics and has been for the Quarterly Journal for Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology

He is Director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Research Challenge for the Department of Engineering. He has been Director of Education, Design Coordinator, Accreditation Coordinator and International Coordinator for the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. He teaches Geotechnical Engineering and Mechanics on the undergraduate MEng course in Engineering.

Research interests

  • geotechnical engineering
  • engineering geology
  • information technology

Research Projects

  • Seismic Safety and Kathmandu’s Historic Urban Infrastructure

Awarded Grants

  • 2020: RF080430: Developing A Novel Climate Change Risk Assessment Framework For Cultural Heritage In Turkey, AHRC, 2020-12-01 - 2021-11-30
  • 2020: Shallow Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Rize, Turkey, Royal Academy of Engineering, £80000.00, 2020-04-15 - 2022-04-22
  • 2019: Embedding Sustainability And Inclusivity In Durham University Taught Programmes(£30000.00 from Royal Academy of Engineering)
  • 2019: Integrated Modelling of Landslides due to Hydrometeorological Impact in Langat Basin, Peninsular Malaysia (iModelLandslides)(£357233.62 from Natural Environmental Research Council)
  • 2018: Achillies(£551677.63 from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
  • 2017: Increasing Climate Resilience of Urban Infrastructure(£37200.00 from British Council Yemen)
  • 2017: Reducing Disaster Risk to Life and Livelihoods by Evaluating the Seismic Safety of Kathmandu's Historic Urban Infrastructure(£109301.00 from The British Academy)
  • 2017: Sustainability and Resilience of Transportation Infrastructure in African Countries(£1108696.16 from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council)
  • 2016: GCRF - CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON INFRASTRUCTURE IN AFRICA(£21000.00 from Epsrc)
  • 2016: IAA-IMPROVEMENT AND COMMERCIALISATION OF THE DURHAM TENSIOMETER(£37552.19 from Epsrc)
  • 2013: iSmart(£240833.00 from Epsrc)
  • 2004: BIONICS(£73695.00 from Epsrc)
  • 2004: MUSE(£184136.00 from European Commission)

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

  • Mechanics: Geotechnical engineering i.e. the engineering properties of the ground with relevance to roads, landslides, foundations
  • Geological hazards: Landslides, particularly rainfall-induced landslides in tropical areas
  • Computers: International Data Exchange (XML)
  • Asia (excluding Middle East): Tropical Soil Engineering with experience in Singapore, Malaysia, China

Publications

Chapter in book

Conference Paper

Conference Proceeding

  • Toll, D.G., Phoon, K.K., Cheng, Y.G. & Karthikeyan, M. (2007). The Effect of Climate on Landslides in Singapore. Expert Symposium on Climate Change: Modelling, Impacts & Adaptations, Singapore, Research Publishing Services.
  • Toll, D.G. (2007). Representing Slopes in XML. Proc. Specialized Session S02 of 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, Lisbon.
  • Lourenço, S.D.N., Gallipoli, D., Toll, D.G., Evans, F.D. & Medero, G.M. (2007). Determination of the Soil Water Retention Curve with Tensiometers. Mechanics of Unsaturated Soils, Weimar, Germany, Springer.
  • Toll, D.G., Ali Rahman, Z. & Gallipoli, D (2007). Towards Understanding the Behaviour of Unsaturated Bonded Soils. 3rd Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Nanjing, P.R. China, Science Press.
  • Chandler, R.J., Quinn, P.M., Beaumont, A.J., Evans, D.J. & Toll D.G. (2006). Combining the power of AGS and XML: AGSML the data format for the future. GeoCongress 2006: Geotechnical Engineering in the Information Technology Age, Atlanta, USA, American Society of Civil Engineers.
  • Toll, D.G., Malandraki, V., Ali Rahman, Z. & Gallipoli, D. (2006). Bonded Soils: Problematic or Predictable?. 2nd International Conference on Problematic Soils, Malaysia, Ci-Premier.
  • Martin, J. & Toll, D. (2006). The Development of a Data Structure for the Storage of Preliminary Site Investigation Data. 10th Congress of International Association of Engineering Geology and Environment, Nottingham, UK.
  • Stenke, F., Toll, D.G. & Gallipoli, D. (2006). Comparison of Water Retention Curves for Clayey Soils using Different Measurement Techniques. 4th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Carefree, Arizona, USA, American Society of Civil Engineers.
  • Lourenço, S.D.N., Gallipoli, D., Toll, D.G. & Evans, F.D. (2006). Development of a Commercial Tensiometer for Triaxial Testing of Unsaturated Soils. 4th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Carefree, Arizona, USA, American Society of Civil Engineers.
  • Hossain, S. & Toll, D.G. (2006). Geomechanical Aspects of some Tropical Clay Soils from Dhaka, Bangladesh. 10th Congress of the International Aassociation of Engineering Geology an the Environment, Nottingham, UK.
  • Gallipoli, D., Toll, D., Augarde, C., Tarantino, A., De Gennaro, V., Vaunat, J., Wheeler, S. & Mancuso, C. (2006). The MUSE Network: Sharing Research Expertise on Unsaturated Soils across Europe. 4th International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Carefree, Arizona, USA, American Society of Civil Engineers.
  • Lourenço, S.D.N., Gallipoli, D., Toll, D. & Evans, F. (2006). Use of Tensiometers for the Measurement of Soil Suction. 10th Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Lisbon.
  • Walker, S., Gallipoli, D. & Toll, D.G. (2005). The Effect of Structure on the Water Retention of Soil Tested using Different Methods of Suction Measurement. Proc. International Symposium on Advanced Experimental Unsaturated Soil Mechanics, Trento, Italy, Taylor & Francis.
  • Stephens, S.T., Gallipoli, D. & Toll, D.G. (2004). Influence of Initial Water Content on the Strength of a Statically Compacted Clay. 5th Brazilian Symposium on Unsaturated Soils, São Carlos, Brazil.
  • Toll, D.G. (2004). The Critical State in Unsaturated Soils. 3rd International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Recife, Brazil, Swets & Zeitlinger.
  • Gallipoli, D., Stephens, S.T. & Toll, D.G. (2004). L'effetto del contenuto d'acqua iniziale sulle proprieta meccaniche di un argilla costipata (the effect of initial water content on the mechanical properties of compacted clay). Incontro Annuale dei Ricercatori di Geotecnica (IARG2004), Trento, Italy.
  • Toll, D.G. (2003). On the Shear Strength of Unsaturated Soils. International Conference on Problematic Soils, Nottingham, UK, CI-Premier.
  • Toll, D.G. & Hossain, A.T.M.S. (2003). Pre-failure behaviour of the tropical clay soils of Dhaka, Bangladesh. 3rd Int. Conf. on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, Lyon, France, A A Balkema Publishers.
  • Tsaparas, I. & Toll, D.G. (2003). Factors affecting Infiltration into an Unsaturated Soil Slope. 2nd Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils (UNSAT-ASIA 2003), Osaka, Japan.
  • Tsaparas, I. & Toll, D.G. (2002). Numerical Analysis of Infiltration into Unsaturated Residual Soil Slopes. 3rd International Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Recife, Brazil, Swets & Zeitlinger.
  • Hatipoglu, B, Toll, DG, Giolas, A & Incecik, M (2001). Knowledge-based geotechnical correlation systems applied to slope stability. 15th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey, A A Balkema.
  • Toll, DG (2001). Computers and geotechnical engineering: A review. 8th Int. Conf. on Civil and Structural Engineering Computing, Eisenstadt, Austria, SAXE-COBURG PUBLICATIONS.
  • Toll, DG, Tsaparas, I & Rahardjo, H (2001). The influence of rainfall sequences on negative pore-water pressures within slopes. 15th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Istanbul, Turkey, A A Balkema.
  • Toll, DG, Ong, BH & Rahardjo, H (2000). Triaxial testing of unsaturated samples of undisturbed residual soil from Singapore. 1st Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Singapore, A A Balkema.
  • Tsaparas, I., Toll, D.G. & Rahardjo, H. (2000). Influence of rainfall sequences on the seepage conditions within a slope: A parametric study. 1st Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Singapore, A A Balkema.
  • Ling, N.L. & Toll, D.G. (2000). Suction and strength behaviour of unsaturated calcrete. 1st Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Singapore, A A Balkema.
  • Wong, J.C., Rahardjo, H., Toll, D.G. & Leong, E.C. (2000). Shear strength of undisturbed Bukit Timah granitic soils under infiltration conditions. 1st Asian Conference on Unsaturated Soils, Singapore, A A Balkema.
  • Toll, DG (2000). Information technology applications in geotechnical education and vocational training. 12th European Conference Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, A A Balkema.
  • Jaksa, M.B., Davison, L.R. & Toll, D.G. (2000). Computer aided learning in geotechnical engineering education. GeoEng 2000, Melbourne, Australia, A A Balkema.
  • Toll, DG (1999). Using Excel macros for data processing. Civil Comp Press.
  • Toll, DG (1999). A data acquisition and control system for geotechnical testing. Civil Comp Press.
  • Toll, DG (1998). A review of artificial intelligence systems for site characterization. A A Balkema.
  • Toll, DG (1996). Discussion on session 2: Data management. THOMAS TELFORD SERVICES LTD.
  • Oliver, AJ & Toll, DG (1996). A computer system for site investigation data management and interpretation. Thomas Telford Services Ltd.
  • Toll, DG & Barr, RJ (1995). Computer-aided learning for geotechnical engineering. CIVIL COMP PRESS.
  • Toll, DG & Giolas, A (1995). A knowledge-based System for estimation of geotechnical properties. CIVIL COMP PRESS.
  • Oliver, AJ & Toll, DG (1995). An object-oriented approach to site investigation data management and interpretation. CIVIL COMP PRESS.
  • Toll, D.G. (1994). Interpreting Site Investigation Data Using a Knowledge-Based System. A A Balkema.
  • Malandraki, V. & Toll, D.G. (1994). Yielding of a Weakly Bonded Artificial Soil. A A Balkema.
  • Toll, D.G. (1993). A Computer Control System For Stress Path Triaxial Testing. Civil Comp Press.
  • Toll, D.G. & Malandraki, V. (1993). Triaxial Testing of a Weakly Bonded Soil. A A Balkema.
  • Vaptismas, N. & Toll, D.G. (1993). Interpreting Borehole Information. Civil Comp Press.
  • Moula, M. & Toll, D.G. (1993). Representing Geotechnical Knowledge - Soils and Field Tests. Civil Comp Press.
  • Toll, D.G., Moula, M. & Vaptismas, N. (1991). Representing the Engineering Description of Soils in Knowledge Based Systems. Computational Mechanics Publications Ltd.
  • Toll, D.G., Vaptismas, N. & Moula, M. (1991). Comparing Soils Using Knowledge Based Systems. Civil Comp Press.
  • Toll, D.G. & Attewell, P.B. (1990). Use of an Expert System in Site Investigation. A A Balkema.
  • Grace, H. & Toll, D.G. (1989). The Improvement of Roads in Developing Countries to Bituminous Standards Using Naturally-Occurring Laterites. 3rd International Conference on Unbound Aggregates in Roads, Buttorworth-Heinemann.

Edited book

  • Winter, M.G., Smith, D.M., Eldred, P.J.L. & Toll, D.G. (2015). Geotechnical Engineering for Infrastructure and Development, XVI European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Edinburgh. London: ICE Publishing.
  • Osman, A.S. & Toll, D.G. (2015). Proceedings of the 24th European Young Geotechnical Engineering. Durham University.
  • Toll, D.G., Zhu, H., Osman, A., Coombs, W, Li, X. & Rouainia, M. (2014). Information Technology in Geo-Engineering. 2nd International Conference on Information Technology in Geo-Engineering. The Netherlands: IOS Press (Millpress).
  • Huat, B.B.K, Toll, D.G. & Prasad, A. (2012). Handbook of Tropical Residual Soils Engineering. CRC Press, Leiden.
  • Toll, D.G., Zhu, H. & Li, X. (2010). Information Technology in Geo-Engineering. 1st International Conference on Information Technology in Geo-Engineering, Shanghai. The Netherlands: IOS Press (Millpress).
  • Toll, D.G., Augarde, C.E., Gallipoli, D. & Wheeler, S.J. (2008). Unsaturated Soils: Advances in Geo-Engineering. Proc. 1st European Conference on Unsaturated Soils. Leiden: CRC Press/Balkema (Taylor & Francis).
  • Liong, S.Y., Phoon, K.K. & Toll, D.G. (2007). Climate Change: Modelling, Impacts and Adaptions. Singapore: Research Publishing Services.
  • Toll, D.G. & Chen, Z.Y. (2007). Rock Mechanics Data: Representation and Standardisation. Proc. Specialized Session S02 of 11th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics, Lisbon.
  • Toll, D.G. (2006). Proc. Geo-Singapore 2006: International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering. Singapore: Ci-Premier.
  • Toll, D.G. (2001). Unsaturated soil concepts and their application in geotechnical practice. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
  • Rahardjo, H., Toll, D.G. & Leong, E.C. (2000). Unsaturated Soils for Asia. Rotterdam: A A Balkema.

Edited Journal

  • Toll, D.G. & Caicedo, B. (2015). Special Issue on Lateritic and Tropical Geomaterials in Construction of Transportation Infrastructures. Transportation Geotechnics, 5 Elsevier.

Journal Article

Supervision students