Dr Esdras Ngezahayo PhD, MSc, BSc, PGCHE, FHEA, MICE, MCIHT

Assistant Professor in Geotechnical Engineering
Deputy Head of Geotechnics Research Group

Contact details

Address
Department of Civil Engineering
School of Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Esdras is an Assistant Professor in Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. His research interest lies in geotechnical engineering, transportation geotechnics, underground engineering, geotechnical sustainability, infrastructure resilience and adaptability, geohazards, problematic soils, buried infrastructure and rural transport infrastructure.

Open all sections

Qualifications

  • PGCHE (FHEA), University of Birmingham, 2025
  • PhD in Civil Engineering (Geotechnical Engineering), University of Birmingham, 2020
  • MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and Management, University of Birmingham, 2014
  • BSc in Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology, KIST, 2012

Biography

Dr Esdras Ngezahayo is a holder of a BSc in Civil Engineering and Environmental Technology, an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and Management, and a PhD in Civil Engineering, specialising in Geotechnical Engineering. The last two degrees were obtained from the University of Birmingham, in the UK. Esdras has over a decade of experience in Higher Education, in overseas countries and in the UK. He is a Fellow of Higher Education and a registered External Examiner in the UK. Prior to his current position, he worked at the same School of Engineering as a Postgraduate Teaching Associate, Researcher, Research Fellow, and Teaching Fellow. Esdras published in peer reviewed journals, international conferences and contributed many technical reports and presentations.

Esdras is consistently an award-winning researcher. Recently, his paper on sediment transport and runoff coefficients in local roads was jointly awarded the best by the Department for Transport (DfT), CIHT and PIARC for great contribution to designing roads adapting to changes and was presented at the World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress. Another paper of his was also jointly awarded by the DfT, CIHT and PIARC for sustainable mobility, thanks to his work on social accessibility and social equity in transport systems.

He significantly contributed to the Climate Resilient Sustainable Road Pavement Surfacings (CRISPS) project led by the University of Birmingham and in partnership with the University of Auckland (New Zealand), the Universiti Putra Malaysia (Malaysia), the International Road Federation (IRF – Geneva, Switzerland) and the Ethiopia Roads Administration (ERA, Ethiopia). CRISPS project was commended by the ICE West Midland for studies and research award.

Teaching

Esdras teaches or has taught on the following undergraduate (UG) and MSc modules:

  • UG Level 2: Geotechnical Engineering 1 (Module Lead)
  • UG Level 3: Integrated Design Project 3
  • MSc Road Management and Engineering (RME): Road Asset Management
  • MSc Geotechnical Engineering (GE): Soil Mechanics
  • MSc Geotechnical Engineering (GE): Analytical Approaches in Geotechnical Engineering
  • Levels 2, 3, 4, and MSc/DA in GE: Geotechnical laboratories

Postgraduate supervision

Esdras is currently supervising 6 PhD students working on Electro-kinetic stabilisation (EKS) technology for problematic clay soils, rainfall induced slope instability and failures, geotechnical understanding of gully erosion mechanisms, and climate change effects on the geotechnical infrastructure. He is accepting applications for PhD studentships in civil engineering generally and preferably on topics related to geotechnical engineering. He is also accepting overseas joint PhD students, postdoctoral and visiting scholars’ applications.

Esdras has supervised +40 MSc thesis projects and is currently on an average of 10 MSc projects per year from students in geotechnical engineering, road management and engineering, civil engineering, railway integration and systems engineering, and advanced engineering management programmes. Supervisions include students on Degree Apprenticeships programmes in GE and RESI.

Research

Esdras research has recently focused on geotechnical engineering, transportation geotechnics, sustainable geotechnics, geohazards, slope and embankment stability, problematic soils, soils erodibility, infrastructure resilience and adaptability to climate changes, road and railway infrastructure, rural roads for development, and civil engineering in general. Most recent include:

  • Climate Resilient Sustainable Road Pavement Surfacings (CRISPS)
    The CRISPS project investigated the use of modified epoxy-bitumen (asphalt concrete & chip seal) and fibre mastic asphalt as long-life pavement options for LICs. During this project, Esdras used FTIR to develop robust quality control and anti-fraud systems for the modified bituminous binder. He then used HDM-4 model to perform lifecycle analysis of the proposed surfacing technologies to prove their engineering and economic viability over traditional asphalt surfacing types in Ethiopia. Esdras also supported the constructability of trial sections in Ethiopia.

Esdras has also completed or contributed significantly to the following research projects:

  • Investigation of geotextiles effects on sub-ballast flow in ballasted railways
  • Effects of geotextiles on mud pumping phenomenon in ballasted railways
  • Impact of shrink-swell soils on underground pipes
  • Social accessibility and social equity in transport systems
  • Challenge-based learning in engineering education

Other activities

Internal roles: School & College administration and student enrichment

  • Deputy Head of the Birmingham Geotechnics Research Group
  • Member of ECDN – University of Birmingham
  • University of Birmingham’s representative at the Midland Geotechnical Society (MGS) – Committee Member
  • Personal tutor in the School of Engineering including for Degree Apprenticeships students
  • Supporting students’ recruitment and admissions team – Open Days and Offer Holders Days involvement.

External roles

  • Registered External Examiner (UK, Advance HE)
  • Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (MICE)
  • Member of the British Geotechnical Association (BGA)
  • Member of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) – UK Corresponding Member at the TC 202 on “Transportation Geotechnics”.
  • Member of the Chattered Institution of Highways and Transportation (MCIHT)
  • Member of the Midland Geotechnical Society (MGS) – Committee Member
  • Member of Editorial Board & Assistant Editor – Geomechanics and Geoengineering: An International Journal, Tylor & Francis
  • Guest Editor: MDPI Sustainability Special Issue on Sustainable Road Pavements
  • Peer reviewer: IJCI Journal, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Transportation Geotechnics, and MDPI’s Applied Sciences, Processes, and Sustainability Journals.
  • Invited International Research Collaborator: Geotechnics and Geoenvironmental Group, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia
  • Volunteer: British Red Cross:
  • School Governor: FCPS

Publications

Recent publications

Book chapter

  1. Ngezahayo E, Burrow M.P.N., and Ghataora G.S. (2019), Rainfall Induced Erosion of Soils Used in Earth Roads. In Tarantino, A & Ibraim, E (Eds), Proceedings of the 7th Int. Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, Glasgow, June 26-28, ISBN 978-2-7598-9064-4, Vol. 92 (17006), EDP Sc. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20199217006.

Articles

  1. Ngezahayo E., Torbaghan M.E., Metje N., Burrow M., Ghataora G.S., Desalegn Y. (2023). Investigating the Effectiveness of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) as an Antifraud Approach for Modified Epoxy Asphalt Mixes in Developing Countries. Sustainability, 15(23), 16332; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316332.
  2. Ngezahayo E., Burrow M.P.N., and Ghataora G.S. (2021), Calibration of the simple rainfall simulator for investigating soil erodibility in unpaved roads, IJCI, 4: 144-156. doi: 10.11159/ijci.2021.018. https://ijci.avestia.com/2021/018.html
  3. Ngezahayo E., Ghataora G., and Burrow M. (2021), Modelling the Effects of Soil Properties, Rainfall and Road Geometry to Erosion in Unpaved Roads, IJCI, 4: 116-127. doi: 10.11159/ijci.2021.015. https://ijci.avestia.com/2021/015.html
  4. Ngezahayo E., Burrow M.P.N., and Ghataora G.S. (2019), The Advances in Understanding Erodibility of Soils in Unpaved Roads. IJCI, 2: 18-29. doi: 10.11159/ijci.2019.002. https://ijci.avestia.com/2019/002.html.

Conferences

  1. Ngezahayo E., Torbaghan E.M., Luiu C., Avis W., and Obuolloh O.E. Assessing social equity and accessibility of transport systems for people with disability in Kenya. The 27th World Road Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, 2 to 6 October 2023.
  2. Burrow M., Ghataora G.S., Desalegn Y., Tse H., Muniandy R., Metje N., Torbaghan M. E., Ngezahayo E., and Henning T. (2022), Constructability of Epoxy Asphalt and Fibre Mastic Asphalt Surfacings in Ethiopia. Connecting Africa through smart, safe, and resilient roads. The 7th Regional Conference for Africa & PIARC International Seminar on Rural Roads and Road Safety. October 18-20, Cape Town, SA.
  3. Ngezahayo E, Ghataora G., and Burrow M. (2022), Dynamics of sediment delivery and runoff coefficients as determinants of unpaved roads deterioration by rainfall erosion. The XVI World Winter Service and Road Resilience Congress, February 07-11, Canada.
  4. Ngezahayo E, Burrow M.P.N., and Ghataora G.S. (2019), Rainfall Induced Erosion of Soils Used in Earth Roads. The 7th Int. Symposium on Deformation Characteristics of Geomaterials, June 26-28, Glasgow, Scotland.
  5. Ngezahayo E, Ghataora G.S., and Burrow M.P.N. (2019), Factors Affecting Erosion in Unpaved Roads. Proc. of the 4th World Congress on Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering (CSEE), April 7–9, Rome, Italy. doi: 10.11159/icgre19.108, 2019.
  6. Ngezahayo E, Ghataora G., and Burrow M., (2018), Rural Roads Place for Africa’s Sustainable Development. ASAUK18, Sept. 11-13, Birmingham, UK.

Commissioned reports

  1. Torbaghan E.M., Ngezahayo E., Luiu C., & Avis W. (2024). Social Equity and Social Accessibility. PIARC Special Project. World Road Association. https://www.piarc.org/en/order-library/44918-en-Social%20Equity%20and%20Social%20Accessibility
  2. Burrow M, Ghataora GS, Ngezahayo E, Metje N, Muniandy R., Desalegn Y., & Tsegaye H. (2023). Climate resilient sustainable road pavement. Trials Constructability Report. https://transport-links.com/download?download_id=6150.
  3. Burrow M., Ngezahayo E., Ghataora G.S., Metje N., Torbaghan E.M., Muniandy R., Henning T., Wheldon C., Avis W., Zamataro S., & Packham K. (2023). Climate resilient sustainable road pavement. Final Report. https://transport-links.com/download?download_id=6152.
  4. Burrow M., Ghataora G., Hughes D., Turner M., Wells I., Bollins J., and Ngezahayo E., (2020), Development and pilot-implementation of distance learning modules on rural road infrastructure and transport services related topics, London: Research for Community Access Partnership & DFID.
  5. Sasidharan M., Usman K., Ngezahayo E., and Burrow M.P.N., (2019), Evidence on impact evaluation of transport networks using network theory,” Knowledge for Development (K4D) Helpdesk Report. Institute of Development Studies, Brighton, United Kingdom.

View all publications in research portal