Documentation
The user guide, in full
A 226-page reference for the practising engineer: what the tool solves, how it was checked, how to drive it, what it hands you at the end, and what it cannot do. Free to download, no sign-up.
PDF · 12.9 MB · updated 28 October 2026 · sha256 762e5514cba29eb2…
- Introduction and tour · pp. 7–67
- What the tool is, and every screen, input and control walked through.
- Part One · Numerical Foundations · pp. 68–89
- The equation solved, the mesh, the time stepping, the convergence evidence, and the limits.
- Part Two · Design and Simulation · pp. 90–136
- Sizing a spacing, reading the probabilistic band, and what the sampling can and cannot tell you.
- Part Three · Back-Analysis and Forecasting · pp. 137–218
- Fitting a monitoring record, forecasting from it, and the cases where the answer should not be trusted.
Written for engineers who have to sign the drawing. It assumes consolidation, not numerical analysis.
In a hurry? Just the limitations chapters (19 pages, 0.3 MB) — the validity domain, what the model does not cover, and how far to trust a back-analysis.
Contents
What is inside
Every chapter of the published edition, with the page it starts on. Read from the book's own contents when the guide was published, so this list and the file cannot disagree.
Introduction and tour
pp. 7–67
- 1Introduction7
- 2A tour of the application21
Part One · Numerical Foundations
pp. 68–89
- 3What is being solved69
- 4The governing equation72
- 5The mesh77
- 6Boundary conditions81
- 7Convergence and accuracy (solution verification)84
- 8Verification against closed-form solutions86
- 9Limitations, and checking your own run88
Part Two · Design and Simulation
pp. 90–136
- 10The two questions91
- 11The soil model95
- 12Simulate — the forward question104
- 13Design — the inverse question106
- 14The probabilistic approach109
- 15Sensitivity — what actually moves the answer118
- 16Reading your results124
- 17Exporting the report125
- 18Caveats and good practice128
- 19Reference: parameter variability from the literature129
Part Three · Back-Analysis and Forecasting
pp. 137–218
- 20Back-calculation for the practitioner138
- 21Understanding the problem154
- 22The parameters, and your monitoring record163
- 23Reading your results like a professional172
- 24Common mistakes, and a self-test180
- 25How far to trust the answer182
- 26Sweep Search compared with Bayesian back-analysis196
- 27The validation campaign: 1080 sites against known truths204
- 28Quick reference217
Then references (p. 219), author index (p. 223), subject index (p. 225). Every work cited carries its role — where a reference underpins a specific piece of the tool, the entry says which piece.
Evidence, not assertion
Every number in the guide is produced by the shipping build and can be reproduced from the examples in the app.
The limits are stated
Assumptions, failure cases and the results that went against the tool are reported beside the ones that went for it.
Help inside the app
Every card carries its own explanation behind a question mark, so the guide is a reference rather than a prerequisite.
See what it hands you
The guide devotes a part to the exported report. Example reports, produced by the shipping build from the example projects published beside them, are on the worked example page.
Something missing or unclear? Tell us and it goes into the next edition.
Try it on your own profile.
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