Geotechnical News - September 2011 - page 16

16 Geotechnical News September 2011
CGS NEWS
ceux qui les ont suivis. Ou peut-être
est-ce que la Société n’apparaît plus
aussi pertinente à la génération pré-
sente qu’elle ne l’a été pour les généra-
tions antérieures. Il ne fait aucun doute
que la génération présente d’ingénieurs
en géotechnique a hérité d’une société
savante qui a été bâtie par des individus
particulièrement dévoués et qui conti-
nue à prospérer.
Notre Vice-président aux finances,
M Peter Gaffran, me mentionnait que
pour chaque 200$ de frais d’adhésion
versé par les membres, la Société en
débourse 300$. La différence est com-
blée par les profits générés par les
conférences annuelles ainsi que par la
vente du Manuel canadien d’ingénierie
des fondations.
Alors, comment aborder la question
des adhésions? La SCG a constitué un
comité spécial, guidé par un ancien
Président, Dr Michel Aubertin et qui a
pour président Dr Richard Bathurst. Ce
comité essaiera d’identifier des incita-
tifs les jeunes ingénieurs en géotech-
nique à adhérer à la SCG. Entre-temps,
s’il vous plaît, encouragez les jeunes
ingénieurs en géotechnique à joindre
les rangs de la SCG en leur faisant va-
loir que la Société prendra part à leur
développement technique et profes-
sionnel. La participation à la SCG est
une fenêtre à la culture de l’ingénierie
qui est essentielle à la poursuite de
la prospérité du pays. Par leur travail
acharné, nos jeunes ingénieurs en géo-
technique pourront réaliser ce que nos
membres de la SCG, Dr Becker et Dr
Sego et bien d’autres avant eux ont réa-
lisé, c’est-à-dire obtenir une voix aux
niveaux les plus élevés de l’ingénierie
dans notre pays.
From the Society
Upcoming Conferences
65th Canadian Geotechnical
Conference
September 30 - October 3, 2012
Call for Abstracts
The Canadian Geotechnical Society
(CGS) and the Manitoba Section of the
Canadian Geotechnical Society invite
you to the 65th Canadian Geotechnical
Conference. The Conference will be
held at the Fairmont Hotel located
in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada from September 30 October
3, 2012. The “GeoManitoba 2012
Building On The Past” conference
reflects the heritage of geotechnical
engineering in Canada and how
our past will help us going forward
in new research, developments
and advancements in geotechnical
engineering. It also reflects the ever
increasing need to restore or upgrade
our country’s aging infrastructure. The
official languages for the conference
will be English and French.
Described as the “cultural cradle of
the nation” by one of Canada’s national
newspapers, Winnipeg has a long tradi-
tion of developing its arts community,
supporting countless galleries, muse-
ums, theatres, dance companies and
music organizations. Winnipeg also
has one of the highest number of res-
taurants per capita of any city in North
America. The Fairmont hotel is located
within walking distance of the historic
Exchange district and the Forks Mar-
ket, along with several museums and
galleries. Winnipeg’s downtown has
been experiencing a rejuvenation in
recent years with construction of MTS
Centre (the home of our newly returned
Winnipeg Jets), The Museum for Hu-
man Rights which is presently under
construction, and Manitoba Hydro
Place (which has won several interna-
tional awards for its innovative design).
Please join us to enjoy Winnipeg’s rich
culture and experience friendly Mani-
toba hospitality firsthand!
The organizing committee of the
conference invites members of the Ca-
nadian and International communities
to contribute recent research develop-
ments and advancements of geotechni-
cal engineering, cold regions engineer-
ing, geo-environmental engineering
and hydrogeology. The conference will
cover a wide range of topics, including
special sessions that are of local and
national relevance to the fields of geo-
engineering. In addition to the techni-
cal program and plenary sessions, the
conference will include a complement
Bank and its affiliates were original ad-
dressees thereof; provided, however,
that U. S. Bank and its affiliates shall be
deemed not to be subject to or bound by
any of the obligations of any original
addressee or owner of the Property in
any agreement related to the Report....”
In essence, this wording would require
environmental professionals to commit
risk management suicide. It gives the
Bank all the benefits of being able to
rely on the report (plus a potential es-
cape from the constraints of the eco-
nomic loss doctrine) with absolutely
none of the liabilities or responsibilities
that comprised the business context
through which the report was devel-
oped. In a best-practices scenario – the
type of scenario to which, I presume,
the Bank subscribes – the client selects
a particularly qualified consultant, dis-
cusses its needs with the consultant, and
then works with the consultant to mutu-
ally establish a scope of service for the
engagement. The consultant and client
then discuss the consideration the con-
sultant needs to fulfill the scope of ser-
vice and manage the risk associated
with potentially lifelong responsibility
for the deliverable. Such consideration
includes the fee and certain risk man-
agement provisions of the contract,
such as limitation of liability.
By requiring a consultant to prepare
and sign its form letter, the Bank is stat-
ing, in essence, “We want to be able to
rely on the report indefinitely (and even
if we do not issue the financing, by the
way) without having to accept any of
your contractual safeguards, without
having to compensate you for any of
your customary, anticipated risks, and
without having to compensate you for
your new, significantly expanded risks,
especially the new risk that arises be-
cause you designed your service for
some other party, and with no knowl-
edge of the Bank’s needs and prefer-
ences, and no knowledge of the service
scope the Bank believes is best-suited to
address those needs and preferences.”
To a very real extent, Mr. Grundhofer,
this is like requiring a physician to be li-
able for your health after you decide to
follow the course of treatment the phy-
sician prescribed for your friend whose
illness (in your opinion) was kind of
like your own.
Geotechnical News, September 2005 19
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