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
(see http://anz2012.com.au/), which feature many papers byengineering geologists. The recent IGC in Brisbane also featureda specific theme on engineering geology with many invitedpapers, not to mention many associated themes.Where have the engineeringgeologists gone?McNally rightly points out that in <strong>Australia</strong> there was a migration<strong>of</strong> engineering geologists from government geological surveys<strong>and</strong> public works authorities into private consultancies throughthe 1980s. There is a growing potential for State governmentsurveys to re-engage with the discipline, especially in the area<strong>of</strong> overseeing the collation <strong>of</strong> the vast collection <strong>of</strong> privateindustry <strong>and</strong> government borehole data mentioned above. Thiscould be accounted for in the same way as mineral explorationdata, with data passed on to Surveys for collation <strong>and</strong> archiving,perhaps as a condition <strong>of</strong> development. Surveys could also havea major role in the development <strong>of</strong> detailed (3D) engineeringgeology maps for our major cities that could be derived fromthose data. For example, look out for the br<strong>and</strong> new ViewingVictoria’s Groundwater web site (http://www.vvg.org.au/), amost recent product <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong> Ballarat <strong>and</strong> the StateGovernment <strong>of</strong> Victoria.These days most engineering geologists in <strong>Australia</strong> areemployed by major consulting firms such as C<strong>of</strong>fey Geotechnics,Golder, PSM, GHD, ARUP, Parsons Brinkerh<strong>of</strong>f, Worley Parsons,SMEC <strong>and</strong> SKM to name a few. These firms include both specialistgeotechnical consultancies that are large employers <strong>of</strong> engineeringgeologists <strong>and</strong> geotechnical engineers (eg, C<strong>of</strong>fey, Golder)<strong>and</strong> multidisciplinary firms that typically have smallergeo-technical groups principally to support their otherdisciplines. All these companies advertise their prowess in thefield <strong>and</strong> there is high competition in the industry for work. Thenotion that engineering geologists in these firms would identifythemselves as ‘engineers’, as Greg suggests, does not match withour experience. Most would rather cut <strong>of</strong>f an arm than remove‘geologist’ from their titles. Indeed such a situation would likelylead to legal action unless appropriate engineering qualificationswere actually held.Wombarra rockfall (occurred 22:30 hrs, 14 September 2010) in the Hawkesbury S<strong>and</strong>stone, northern suburbs <strong>of</strong> Wollongong. Photo taken from Lawrence HargraveDrive. Image courtesy Sarath Fern<strong>and</strong>o.32 |TAG September 2012
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