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Geotechnical News • December 2012
www.geotechnicalnews.com
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
2012 Legget Medal Award
Introduction for 2012 Legget
Medal Recipient: Dr. E.C.
McRoberts, AMEC
Introduction by: Dr. Angela
Kupper, AMEC
Dr. Edward McRoberts is a geotechni-
cal engineer with a razor-sharp mind
who has covered a broad range of geo-
technical engineering aspects during a
career that has involved an impressive
list of projects. Throughout his 40
year career, Dr. McRoberts has played
a key role in Western and Northern
Canada’s resource development.
Ed McRoberts graduated in Civil
Engineering from the University of
Alberta in 1967, and was commis-
sioned as a Lieutenant in the Corps of
Royal Canadian Engineers. He was
awarded an Athlone-Vanier Engineer-
ing Fellowship by the
which allowed
him to go to the Imperial College of
Science and Technology in London
where he obtained an M.Sc. in Geo-
technical Engineering in 1968. Return-
ing from the UK, Ed served in two
engineering units at Canadian Forces
Base in Winnipeg, and as an Assistant
Professor at the Royal Military Col-
lege in Kingston, Ontario.
He retired from the Army as a Captain
and started a Ph.D. at the University of
Alberta in September 1971 where he
worked on slope stability in perma-
frost under Professor Morgenstern.
Dr. McRoberts joined R.M. Hardy and
Associates (one of AMEC’s predeces-
sor companies) in December 1973 in
Calgary working on arctic pipelines.
He made significant contributions in
this area. Quoting Dr. Morgenstern
“While Dr. McRoberts has not been
particularly active in this area of late,
the geotechnical skills that he brought
to bear on this class of problems has
stood the test of time and both the
geotechnical profession in Canada and
the nation as a whole, in developing
its technological capacity, have and
continue to benefit from his contribu-
tions”.
In 1978 Ed moved to the Edmonton
office to focus on oilsands, initially
assisting Dr. R.M. Hardy, who was
the engineer of record for all the first
tailings containment structures at
Suncor and Syncrude. Ed’s work in
the oilsands eventually encompassed
essentially the full range of activi-
ties and in one capacity or another
for all the active mines and current
lease holders. His focus has been on
the design and construction of tail-
ings dams and the associated tailings
management issues. In the late eighties
he was Chief Geotechnical Engineer
for Western Canada. As the company
grew, he became the Chief Technical
Officer and a Senior Vice President.
Ed has an uncanny ability to see
through complex problems and
achieve creative, innovative solu-
tions that reflect his solid technical
basis. His love of the subject and his
intellectual curiosity can’t be missed
by those working with him. His
leadership, mentorship and guidance
have had a profound impact on the
careers of numerous engineers, who
have benefitted from his sharp critical
thinking process and technical insight.
This is demonstrated by many of the
best geotechnical engineers practic-
ing today, who at some point in their
career worked under Dr. McRoberts’
direct supervision.
In December 2009 Ed transferred
from Edmonton to AMEC’s Burnaby
BC office where he still maintains a
full workload, primarily on oil sands
projects, as well as technical review of
a variety of other projects.
He is a Fellow of the Canadian
Academy of Engineering and of the
Engineering Institute of Canada. In
2004 he was awarded the Engineering
Institute of Canada’s Julian C. Smith
Medal.
I again quote Dr. Morgenstern “The
contributions of Geotechnical Engi-
neering to the successful development
of the Alberta Oil Sands are enormous
and it is most appropriate that the
Canadian Geotechnical Society recog-
nizes our leading practitioner in this
area with the R.F. Legget Medal.”
L to R. - Doug VanDine, Ed McRoberts, Angela Kupper, Bryan Watts