Geotechnical News • September 2016
9
CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY NEWS
draughting department that reminded
us - “A lack of planning on your part
doesn’t constitute an emergency on
my part.”
Today, you finish the technical aspects
of a project one day and for a small
project at least, just you on your trusty
computer write the report, prepare the
drawings and email the final report to
your client either later that day or the
next. Efficient, yes; a better geotechni-
cal report, I’m not sure. I’ve read lots
of geotechnical reports in the last few
years that were prepared this way.
Many of them read as if more thought
and review should have been put into
them, both technically and with more
regard to good, clear, presentation and
communication.
Therefore, the take away thought
before you sit in front of your com-
puter to start preparing a report (or
a paper, email or any other form of
communication), take a little more
time to think about the findings, your
analyses, conclusions and recommen-
dations. Then consider what is the best
way to clearly communicate those to
your client (or readers).
What’s coming up this fall? If you
aren’t already registered, remember
the
69th CGS Annual Conference
is
being held in Vancouver from October
2 to 5 (GeoVancouver 2016)
. The
local organizing committee (LOC), led
by co-chairs
Mustapha Zergoun
and
Andrea Lougheed,
have put together
a superb conference this year includ-
ing workshops, field trips, keynote
speakers, the technical program, a
social program including the Awards
Banquet and a partner’s program. I
look forward to seeing colleagues
from all across the country.
This conference is immediately
preceded by the
CGS’s 5th Cana-
dian Young Geotechnical Engi-
neer and Geoscience Conference
(cYGEGC 2016) in Whistler, BC,
from September 29 to October 1
. I know co-chairs
Julian
McGreevy
and
Maraika De Groot,
along with their LOC, have also
organized great field trips, keynote
speakers and a technical and social
program for the members under 35
years of age.
Later this fall,
Dr. Ross Boulanger
,
Director of the Center for Geotechni-
cal Modeling in the Department of
Civil and Environmental Engineer-
ing at the University of California,
Davis Campus will be criss-crossing
the country presenting the
98th CGS
Cross Canada Lecture
. This will be
a homecoming for Ross, who received
his B.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering from
the University of British Columbia.
As was done for
Dr. Antonio Gens’
Cross Canada lecture in the Spring of
2016, it is hoped that a webinar can be
arranged for those CGS Sections that
will not host Dr. Boulanger in person.
On a personal note, in late Spring I
had the privilege to represent the CGS
at the
17th Nordic Geotechnical
Meeting
in Reykjavik, Iceland. There
I met approximately 300 geotechni-
cal professionals mainly from the
northern European countries (but a
few CGS members as well). I am very
proud and pleased to tell you that the
Canadian Geotechnical Society, the
Canadian Geotechnical Journal
and
the
Canadian Foundation Engineer-
ing Manual
are well known and held
in very high regard by many, many
geotechnical professionals in that part
of the world.
Once again, I would like to thank the
CGS staff and all the volunteers who
work so hard behind the scenes to
keep your CGS running smoothly and
keep its reputation so high. A particu-
lar thanks to
Don Lewycky
, Editor
of the
CGS News
in
Geotechnical
News
for the past three years. Don has
just agreed to continue as editor for
another three years.
If you wish to contact me about this
message, or anything related to the
CGS, please email me at
Provided by Doug VanDine
CGS President – 2015/2016
Message du président
J’espère que vous avez tous passé un
bel été et que vous avez pu prendre
des vacances et les passer avec la
famille et les amis.
Dans les derniers messages du prési-
dent, j’ai évoqué quelques souvenirs.
J’ai été surpris des rétroactions posi-
tives de la part des jeunes membres
de la SCG ainsi que des membres plus
âgés. Permettez-moi de partager un
autre souvenir.
Lorsque j’ai commencé ma carrière
d’expert-conseil en géotechnique au
début des années soixante-dix, les
rapports étaient rédigés à la main
et envoyés par la suite à un service
de dactylographie. Plus tard, vous
receviez une ébauche dactylographiée
à examiner. De même, les ébauches
des dessins qui accompagnaient ces
rapports étaient esquissées et ensuite
envoyées à un service de dessin et,
plusieurs jours après, vos dessins faits
à la main vous revenaient pour que
vous puissiez les examiner. Après
l’examen approprié, les changements
étaient envoyés à la secrétaire (dacty-
lographe) et au dessinateur. Quelques
jours plus tard, et peut-être après une
autre ronde de changements, vous
finalisiez votre rapport et l’envoyiez
par la poste (par les soins de Postes
Canada!) à votre client.
Certains pourraient dire que ce proces-
sus, qui pouvait exiger jusqu’à une
semaine pour un petit projet, était
inefficace. Toutefois, il ne l’était pas
à bien des égards. Tout d’abord, avant
de commencer à préparer votre rap-
port, il exigeait d’avoir une bonne idée
de son contenu et de sa formulation.
La période qui s’écoulait entre la pre-
mière ébauche et le rapport final vous
permettait de continuer à réfléchir
au projet, et raffiner les résultats
ainsi que vos analyses, conclusions
et recommandations. Ceci donnait
