Contact
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.