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Geotechnical News • December 2018
Introduction
Halloween fast approaches as I write
these words and the leaves swirl in
crackling piles on the streets. I often
feel that fall is a good time to reflect
on where we are, where we’ve been
and where we are going. In this
case, that reflection manifests as a
brief summary of Geohazards 7 that
wrapped up in June of this year. Hope-
fully the update gives you a sense
of the progress we are making as a
discipline.
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Geology just released
Not long ago, I read an article on
LinkedIn that asked if Engineering
Geology, as a discipline, had become
irrelevant. The essence of the opinion
(written by an engineering geolo-
gist) seemed to say that the discipline
was too specialized in obscure aspects
of geological trivia like RQD, stratig-
raphy, and glacial epochs, to be practi-
cally useful.
I couldn’t disagree more.
Engineering geologists and geomor-
phologists spend their days trying to
understand the nature of earth materi-
als and the processes that drive the
physical landscape, thereby creating
the world to which we most readily
relate. We work with engineers, most
closely with geotechnical, but also
with civil and structural engineers,
to ensure that the designs on which
humans rely, account for the environ-
ment within which they are expected
to perform.
In my opinion, there has never
been a better time for the field of
engineering geology. Computa-
tional power, unprecedented views
of the world simultaneously at
both microscopic and macroscopic
scales, and the widespread distribu-
tion of knowledge, all mean that we
are able to characterize and quantify
design parameters that are genu-
inely useful. As the global popula-
tion approaches 8 billion and human
growth increasingly pushes develop-
mental boundaries, engineering geol-
ogy is fundamentally necessary if we
are to adequately manage that growth
and ensure our continued success.
As with all fields, new and updated
reference books are crucial. They help
explain the depth and breadth of our
scope, ensure a common language
and understanding of phenomena, and
provide resources to help answer new
problems we may encounter.
Peter Bobrowsky and Brian Marker
just released the “Encyclopedia of
Engineering Geology” with the intent
to provide just such a reference. While
an encyclopedia, by nature, doesn’t
provide a comprehensive treatment of
any one issue, at almost 1000 pages
covering nearly 300 entries, written by
noted experts in each field, it does aim
to be the final authority on the current
state of the art.
As with any major reference volume,
it comes with a hefty price tag, about
the same as my heavily tabbed Ency-
clopedia of Natural Hazards that Peter
edited and released in 2013. If, like
me, you’re inspired by the subject
material, the reference book deserves
a look.
Geohazards: The State of the Art in Canada
Richard Guthrie
A history since 1992
In 1992, the Canadian Geotechnical
Society (CGS) and the Vancouver
Geotechnical Society jointly spon-
sored the first Geohazards Conference.
Although CGS sponsored landslide-
themed conferences occurred decades
earlier, including Slope Stability
(Vancouver 1976), Soft Soils (Quebec,
1979), and Landslide Case Histories
(Toronto, 1984), the 1992 Geohaz-
ards conference really galvanized
the Canadian scientific and engineer-
ing community around this field that
grows more relevant with time. The
first Geohazards conference cov-
ered, among other things, large and
small landslides, risk assessment and
Figure 1. Cover of the new
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Geology.
GEOHAZARDS
