Dr Phil Paige-Green, engineering geologist and a Fellow at CSIR Built Environment, became the recipient of the ABA Brink Award in March for a paper on aggregate durability. 
(Also see SpringerLink)

The ABA Brink award is made annually by the South African Institute for Engineering and Environmental Geologists (SAIEG) in remembrance of the outstanding role played by Dr Tony Brink in the development of engineering geology in South Africa.

The award is presented to a SAIEG member who is the primary author of a meritorious publication related to engineering and/or environmental geology in South Africa or elsewhere. The originality of the publication and its contribution to the advancement of engineering geology in South Africa are taken into account.

Phil, the current President of SAIEG and Vice-President (Africa) of the International Association of Engineering Geology, has received international acclaim for his research. He is seen as a world authority on tillites (a type of rock) and has carried out extensive work on durability problems associated with basic crystalline materials. He also did research on materials for the construction of unsealed roads, culminating in the development of innovative specifications, deterioration models and construction requirements. These specifications have been implemented internationally. His work on unsealed roads evolved into the upgrading of such roads to low-cost sealed ones, for which he also received international recognition.

Some of Phil's current work includes the development of a cost-effective way of using renewable sources, specifically waste materials, in road-binding materials. He has won a number of awards for best papers at conferences and has published more than 100 papers and contributed two chapters to Engineering Geology of South Africa Vol 3, the authoritative work on the engineering properties of South African natural materials.