Geotechnical News • December 2015
27
GEOTECHNICAL INSTRUMENTATION NEWS
Introduction by John Dunnicliff, Editor
This is the 84
th
episode of GIN.
Three articles this time.
Specifications for robotic total
station field work
I’ve written several of these, and now
realize how flawed they were. I see
similar wording being used in new
specs, and we need to do all that we
can to stop this practice.
The first article by Douglas Roy and
Jonathan Stuhl makes this clear, and
advises on contract specification
language (from a North American
perspective) for robotic total sta-
tion (RTS) field personnel. These
field personnel effectively run these
systems and manage the data they
create. The first author is a geotechni-
cal professional engineer, the second
a professional land surveyor, so we
must regard their recommendations as
from the two disciplines – i.e. don’t
regard this as a one-sided argument by
geotechs.
Although this article should be of
interest to professionals involved
in RTS technology and usage,
it
is particularly intended to guide
owners, engineers and specification
writers
tasked with the preparation of
specifications on projects where RTS
technology will be utilized. Those in
bold font will generally not be readers
of GIN, so the authors and I need your
help to pass the recommendations on
to the target audience. If you’re in
professional contact with any of those
in bold font, will you please ask the
Managing Editor of this magazine,
Lynn Pugh, (
gn@geotechnicalnews.
com)
, cc to me (
john@dunnicliff.
eclipse.co.uk)
to send you a pdf of the
article, and then share it. We need to
break the habit of copying and pasting
from the flawed specs.
Please share this article
with owners, engineers
and specification writers
involved with RTS
technology – we need to
break a habit
Knowns and unknowns
In my June 2012 introduction to GIN
I highlighted the concept of known
knowns, known unknowns, and
unknown unknowns, and attributed the
quote to ex-US Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld. Don Shields con-
tacted me to say that he was “ticked
off” by this, believing that the concept
of different degrees of unknowns
is original to Elio D’Appolonia
(“D’App”).
Don then sent me the following article,
entitled “Giving credit where credit
is due”. For those of you who don’t
know Don: a graduation thesis on the
swelling pressures of Saskatchewan
clays led him to a career in geotechni-
cal engineering. His career combined
consulting, teaching and research -
with a special interest in insitu testing
and foundations. He retired in 2000 as
Dean of Engineering at the University
of Manitoba.
General role of instrumentation,
and summaries of instruments
that can be considered for help-
ing to provide answers to pos-
sible geotechnical questions.
The last of the three articles is an
attempt identify:
• The general role of instrumentation
for internally and externally braced
excavations.
• The possible geotechnical questions
that may arise during design or
construction, and that lead to the
use of instrumentation
• Some instruments that can be
considered for helping to provide
answers to those questions.
Similar suggestions for other project
types will be in subsequent episodes
of GIN.
Third International Course on
Geotechnical and Structural
Monitoring - June 2016 - Italy
The third international course on
geotechnical and structural monitoring
will be held in Tuscany, Italy on June
7-9, 2016, followed by a field trip on
June 10 to the Poggio Baldi landslide
monitoring site
.
To enhance the content on recent
innovations, we’re going to have
three sessions in which registrants and
exhibitors make professional presen-
tations about new trends. In each of
these sessions, four invited speakers
will make brief presentations on new
trends on each of the following:
• Contact monitoring
• Remote monitoring
• Data acquisition and management
systems.
We also plan on two sessions in which
about ten users will make ten minute
presentations on case histories and les-
sons learned. Speakers will be selected
based on an open call.
If you’re
interested in presenting during these
sessions, please send an abstract of
your proposed topic to the course
organizer, Paolo Mazzanti,
paolo.
Correction methods for
inclinometer errors
This subject remains obscure to most
users. Manufacturers of inclinometers
