Mohammad Pournaghiazar

Mohammad Pournaghiazar (Mohi) is a Principal Geotechnical Engineer at PSM with over 20 years of experience in research and consulting engineering. His experience spans dams, major civil infrastructure and tunnelling projects, including Sydney Metro and WestConnex. 

Mohi specialises in geotechnical site investigations, provision of geotechnical advice, earthworks design and supervision, ground-structure interaction analysis and the design of retaining structures.

Mohi has a strong technical focus on ground movement analysis and assessing the associated impacts of major developments and tunnelling works on existing infrastructure. He has also contributed to development of risk mitigation measures in collaboration with the designers, construction team and asset owners to minimise the potential impacts.

He is highly experienced in Specialist Engineering Assessments (SEAs) for major Sydney Water assets incorporating geotechnical interpretation, numerical modelling, and the development of monitoring and contingency plans.

Mohi also has a keen interest in embankment dam engineering across the full lifecycle, from concept design through to construction and into operations. He is also experienced in geotechnical studies, design and construction of tailings storage facilities (TSFs) and undertaking dam safety reviews (DSRs).

Mohi completed his PhD at the University of New South Wales in 2012. His research focused on the design and development of a suction-controlled large-scale calibration chamber for laboratory testing of CPTs in unsaturated soils and development of an advanced analytical solution for cavity expansion problems incorporating a hardening / softening elastic-plastic constitutive model. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Australian Geomechanics Society Research Award.

He has published technical papers in international journals and conferences on interpretation of the CPT in unsaturated soils and ground movement impact assessments.  

Mohi is a member of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS), is registered on the National Engineering Register (NER), and accredited as a Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) in Civil and Geotechnical Engineering.

Mohammad's fields of special competence include:

• Laboratory and in situ geotechnical testing
• Geotechnical characterisation and interpretation
• Unsaturated soil mechanics
• Slope stability and seepage analysis
• Finite element modelling
• Ground movement analysis and impact assessment
• Tailings dam studies and design
• Earthworks specifications
• Dam safety reviews
• Geotechnical construction-phase services