alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
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Special ReportEngineering geology in <strong>Australia</strong> —<strong>alive</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>well</strong>It was nice to see engineering geology get a mention in thelast issue <strong>of</strong> TAG (Engineering Geology: a loss <strong>of</strong> identity problem— by Greg McNally, TAG 163). But after reading the articlewe would, if we didn’t know any better, have come away thinkingthis was a discipline on its last legs, fixed in the past, about togo the same way as a house on quick clay. However, based onour recent experience, engineering geology is actually thriving in<strong>Australia</strong>, <strong>and</strong> contrary to Greg’s somewhat bleak assessment, thefuture <strong>of</strong> the practice looks exceedingly bright. The underlyingacademic training on the other h<strong>and</strong> is in dire straits.In his article, Greg raises many good points. In particular weagree that the recent tendency <strong>of</strong> some government agencies towithhold geological interpretation reports from contractors <strong>and</strong>tenderers out <strong>of</strong> fear <strong>of</strong> expensive legal claims needs someattention. <strong>Geological</strong> interpretation reports are a key output <strong>of</strong>any ground investigation, <strong>and</strong> provide the rationale for thedesign. But the inherent uncertainty in geology opens the doorto contractual claims.The advent <strong>of</strong> alliance-style contracts, which spread the risksbetween parties, provides an effective means <strong>of</strong> dealing with thisuncertainty. These contracts are increasingly used where thegeology is a major risk. What to do about the storage <strong>and</strong>dissemination <strong>of</strong> the large amount <strong>of</strong> geological information obtainedfor construction projects, currently held by consultancies<strong>and</strong> government departments, is also a significant issue. Of issuealso is the state <strong>of</strong> training <strong>of</strong> engineering geologists, <strong>and</strong> we saymore about these below.We found much <strong>of</strong> Greg’s article underplayed many positivedevelopments in engineering geology <strong>and</strong> did not gel with ourown experience; hence we felt an exp<strong>and</strong>ed point <strong>of</strong> view wouldbe worth the attention <strong>of</strong> TAG readers.<strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanics <strong>Society</strong>Greg suggests that there is no equivalent in <strong>Australia</strong> to theEngineering Group <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Geological</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>of</strong> London. However,since the early 1970s the <strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanics <strong>Society</strong> (AGS)has filled this niche.The following extract from the AGS web site helps to demonstratewhy it is relevant to engineering geologists in <strong>Australia</strong>.There is little mystery to us why it better represents our pr<strong>of</strong>essionalinterests, <strong>and</strong> when it comes to deciding where dollars arespent on pr<strong>of</strong>essional memberships, there is little wonder why,for some engineering geologists, the AGS wins out over the GSA.While the third author (PF) let his membership <strong>of</strong> the GSA lapseover 10 years ago, he has maintained his AGS membership.The <strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanics <strong>Society</strong> was founded in 1970.Its origins lie in the National Committee <strong>of</strong> Soil Mechanics <strong>of</strong> theInstitution <strong>of</strong> Engineers, <strong>Australia</strong> [established in 1953] <strong>and</strong> thecall for a corresponding society in rock mechanics. In 1973 thesociety was exp<strong>and</strong>ed to include the third discipline <strong>of</strong> engineeringgeology <strong>and</strong> has remained substantially unchanged since thatdate.The society is affiliated with:n the International <strong>Society</strong> for Soil Mechanics <strong>and</strong> GeotechnicalEngineering (ISSMGE)n the International <strong>Society</strong> for Rock Mechanics (ISRM)n the International Association <strong>of</strong> Engineering Geology <strong>and</strong>the Environment (IAEG).The AGS is jointly sponsored by the Institution <strong>of</strong> Engineers<strong>Australia</strong> <strong>and</strong> the Australasian Institute <strong>of</strong> Mining <strong>and</strong>Metallurgy. (From http://australiangeomechanics.org/overview/)Publications <strong>and</strong> dataGreg laments the lack <strong>of</strong> articles dealing with engineering geologyin AJES, stating that there has not been “more than a h<strong>and</strong>ful <strong>of</strong>papers”. Based on our experience, however, there are many morethan a h<strong>and</strong>ful that are <strong>of</strong> interest to engineering geologists —but perhaps our definition <strong>of</strong> engineering geology is a littlebroader, reflecting the increased diversity <strong>of</strong> tasks we do now,compared to 20 years ago. The main forum for pr<strong>of</strong>essional <strong>and</strong>academic papers dealing with Engineering Geology in <strong>Australia</strong>has for some time been the AGS journal <strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanics.Most engineering geologists in <strong>Australia</strong> publish their work here.Articles <strong>of</strong> international significance tend to be published inhigher pr<strong>of</strong>ile journals such as Engineering Geology, Bulletin <strong>of</strong>the International Association <strong>of</strong> Engineering Geology <strong>and</strong> EnvironmentalEarth Sciences. <strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanics regularlypublishes special interest issues with articles focusing onparticular regions or subjects. For example, the March 2012edition focused on the Illawarra region <strong>of</strong> NSW. These specialeditions have largely replaced books like the Engineering Geology<strong>of</strong> the Sydney Region (1985), which was also published by the AGS.Greg rightly indicates that there is no obligation on the part<strong>of</strong> consultancies to share clients’ borehole data. The notion, however,that the results <strong>of</strong> such investigations are not shared, issimply not true, as many papers in <strong>Australia</strong>n Geomechanicsdemonstrate. Another avenue for sharing information is themonthly AGS meetings held in all capital cities <strong>and</strong> the ANZGeomechanics Conferences held every four yearsTAG September 2012| 31