42
Geotechnical News September 2011
BOOK REVIEWS
Hendron and Patton note: “The pe-
riod from 1959 to 1985 when we com-
pleted our report (The Vaiont Slide, a
geotechnical analysis based on new
geological observations of the failure
surface, Technical report GL-85-5, De-
partment of Army, US Army Corps of
Engineers, Washington D.C. 2 Vols),
was one of significant changes in the
fields of geotechnical engineering,
rock mechanics and hydrogeology. In
particular the tools for investigation,
testing and analysis of landslides were
changing rapidly”.
The saga of events during filling of
the reservoir, which included the trans-
fer of ownership from SADE to ENEL,
death of the Carlo Semenza (October
1961) and Dal Piaz as a result of an
automobile accident (April 1962), em-
phasize the challenges the management
of large projects, the importance of
communications, detailed recording of
events and probably “project politics”.
The index to this book is on the last
two pages. I found it useful to read both
the index and Appendix 2, “Summary
Succession of Events with Special At-
tention to Geological Considerations”
before working my way through the
story. (To me this is akin to reading the
programme notes for the Opera before
it begins – I do not understand the lan-
guage, but I can follow the story).
The Vaiont Slide in 1963 is the
classic case in recognizing the need in
advance, by regulators, designers and
owners, the geological difficulties in
constructing and managing new water
reservoirs and very large mine-waste
management storage systems.
The Vaiont Story case should be
included in all courses of geotechni-
cal/geological engineering and related
fields.
John Gadsby – July 2011
Rudolph Glossop and the Rise of Geotechnology
Most North American geotechnical
engineers will ask “who was Rudolph
Glossop and what did he do for
geotechnology?”
My personal contact with Rudolph
Glossop was in 1949/50, midway in the
last century, when I was employed as an
“engineer in training” in Soil Mechan-
ics Ltd. in London U.K. Soil Mechan-
ics was a subsidiary to the prestigious
UK contractor Mowlem. The directors
of Soil Mechanics were: H.J.B. Hard-
ing, H.Q. Golder and R. Glossop. I was
assigned to be Golder’s E in T and had
little contact with Harding and Glos-
sop, apart from taking them a cup of
tea at exactly 10.00 am when their E in
T was away.
Glossop’s entire career (1924 to
1961) was essentially with contracting
aspects of geotechnology.
