Geotechnical News • March 2012
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CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
The Victor Milligan Award
The Victor Milligan Award is pre-
sented annually to an employee of
Golder Associates who has published
a conference or journal research paper
that best exemplifies the innovative
and research efforts internal to the
company. This year’s winning paper
was titled, “Influence of exsolved
gases on slope performance at the Sar-
nia approach to the St. Clair tunnel”.
The paper was authored by J. Paul
Dittrich, R. Kerry Rowe, Dennis E.
Becker, and K.Y. Lo.
The paper presented the use of a
numerical model that incorporated the
physical effects associated with the
presence of natural gas (methane) in
the pore space of a fine-grained soil
(subjected to unloading) in conjunc-
tion with coupled stress and water
flow. The numerical model was used
to analyse the history of excavation(s)
at the Sarnia approach cut and was
successful in capturing the deep-seated
slope deformations associated with
the construction of the approach to the
tunnel.
While the paper was authored by
several persons, Paul Dittrich was
selected to have played a major role in
the project and will be presenting the
paper at several universities and geo-
technical societies around the world
over the next year. Please contact Paul
Dittrich at
if
you desire to have the 2011 Victor
Milligan Award paper presented in
your area.
Victor Milligan is one of the found-
ing fathers of Golder Associates and
served as President from the early
1960s to the 1980s. Victor was rec-
ognized worldwide for his expertise
in geotechnical engineering, particu-
larly in the fields of dams and earth
embankments, and soft-ground tun-
nels. In 2004, the Ground Engineering
Group of Golder Associates honoured
Victor with the creation of the Vic-
tor Milligan Award. Victor Milligan
passed away in 2009 and the award is
presented annually to the authors of
the best paper published each year on
a ground engineering topic.
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