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History of Canadian Geotechnique

The current holdings of this virtual library include:

(2020) The Many Sides of Robert F. Legget (text and annotations)
In 1983, Robert Legget, who is considered one of the Fathers of Canadian Geotechnique, wrote a draft personal memoir as part of the Canadian Geotechnical Heritage Project. His memoir summarized his career (1925-1969) and the early development of the geotechnical profession in Canada, however it was never published. In 2020, Doug VanDine wrote a 280-page biography of Legget, titled “The Many Sides of Robert F. Legget.” The biography covers Legget’s entire life (1904-1994) and includes an edited and annotated version of Legget’s 1983 memoir, along with approximately 175 photographs, some of them taken by Legget and published for the first time in this book. Many of the annotations provide little known facts about the history of Canadian Geotechnique.
For readers who wish to have the compiled annotations available in a separate document, see Annotations to accompany The Many Sides of Robert Legget.

(2015-2016) History of the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique
The Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique is a foundation at arm's length from the CGS. It was established (initially as Geo Contributions) in 1989 to recognize and foster excellence in the geotechnical field in Canada by funding the awards, prizes and distinguished lectures of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and by funding other opportunities for the benefit of the geotechnical profession. A brief history of the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique was originally prepared by Michael Bozozuk in 2007. This history was updated and edited by Heinrich Heinz and Dennis Becker, and published in two parts in the CGS News in Geotechnical News: Part 1 CGS News, December 2015, pages 21-23 and Part 2 CGS News, June 2016, pages 16-17.

(2007) History of Geotechnique in Canada
44-page power point presentation by Michael Bozozuk at the 60th CGS Annual Conference, Ottawa ON, October 2007. Contains brief profiles of "Pioneers": I.F. (Ibrahim) Morrison, R.M. (Bob) Hardy, Robert (Bob) Peterson, Norbert (Nordie) Morgenstern, Jack D. Mollard, Branko Ladanyi, Gordon C. McRostie, Hugh B. Sutherland, and G. Geoffrey Meyerhof; a brief history of the "Associate Committee on Geotechnical Research of the NRCC", and brief profiles of its chairmen Robert F. Legget, C.B. (Carl) Crawford, Lorne W. Gold, Victor Milligan, and Donald H. Shields, Technical Advisor William (Bill) J. Eden, Executive Secretary Michael Bozozuk, Chairman of the Geotechnical Research Board Jack I. Clark and Director General of the CGS Tony Stermac; brief descriptions of "Selected Projects" and brief profiles of some of the individuals involved: permafrost Roger J.E. Brown and George H. (Hank) Johnson, geotechnical problems in sensitive clays/landslides-St. Jean Vianney and a brief profile of K.Y. (Kwan Yee) Lo, bearing capacity failures of farm tower silos; and "Seven outstanding Canadian Engineering Achievements": 1. Artificial islands in Beaufort Sea, NWT, 2. Gardner Dam, SK, 3. Red River Floodway, MB, 4. CN Tower, ON, 5. St Lawrence Seaway, QC and ON, 6. Peribonka Dam, QC, and 7. Confederation Bridge, PEI and NB.

(1997) Geotechnical Engineering in Canada: an Historical Review
150-page document, which resulted from a series of taped interviews with early contributors to the geotechnical profession in Canada, was published by BiTech Publishers, as a Commemorative Edition of Geotechnical News at the time of the Golden Jubilee 50th CGS Annual Conference in Ottawa 1997. Texts were prepared and edited by Cyril E. Leonoff. Funding to permit publication and distribution to all members of the CGS was raised by the Vancouver Geotechnical Society and generous sponsors listed in the document. In 2009, BiTech Publishers provided funding for scanning this electronic version of the document.

The contents include short articles on: geotechnical engineering in Canada- an overview, I.F. (Ibrahim) Morrison, Bob Hardy, Robert Peterson, Robert F. Legget, G. Geoffrey Meyerhof, Karl Terzaghi, Ralph Peck, women in geotechnical engineering, embankment dams, tunnel engineering, permafrost, offshore development, oil sands, surface mining, tailings dams, airphoto interpretation, earthquake engineering, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and the James Bay Hydroelectric Development.

(1991) The Emergence of Engineering Geology in British Columbia
VanDine, D.F., Nasmith, H.W. and Ripley, C.F. 1991. Proceedings, ‘The Earth Before Us – Pioneering Geology in the Canadian Cordillera', Victoria, British Columbia, March 1991. B.C. Geological Survey Branch, Open File 1992-19, compiled by V. Levson.

(1987) Proceedings, Canadian Engineering Centennial Convention, Montreal 18-22 May, 1987.
Editors, R.P. (Robert) Chapuis and D.W. (Dave) Devenny, published by the Canadian Geotechnical Society. 159-page document includes historical and 1987 state-or-the-art papers by 23 authors related to: the Canadian geotechnical profession, early history (up to 1936), building construction, mining, hydroelectric project, highways, railroads, waste management, nuclear fuel waste, mine waste, petroleum resources development, northern development and the future of the profession.

(1986) Canadian Geotechnical Heritage Project
University of Alberta Archives, Accession No. 86-29 contains a listing of documents, tapes and transcripts of interviews carried out for the CGS's Canadian Geotechnical Heritage Project. This project extended from 1982 to 1986 and was chaired by Jack Clark, with the assistance of David Townsend, David Devenny, Doug VanDine, and Jean Crozier (University of Alberta). Some of this material formed the basis of the ‘Geotechnical Engineering in Canada: Historical Review' published by BiTech Publishers, as a Commemorative Edition of Geotechnical News at the time of the Golden Jubilee 50th CGS Annual Conference in Ottawa 1997.

(1983) Geotechnique in Canada, a personal memoir
Personal memoir by Robert Legget, written as part of the Canadian Geotechnical Heritage Project (see above). This 104-page manuscript, plus 3 appendices, is type-written and hand-edited by the author, however, was never submitted for publication, and remains unpublished. Contents include sections on Early Training (1922-1929); Canada: Pre-Conference (1929-1936); First International Conference (1936); Development in Eastern Canada (1936-1939); The War Years (1939-1945); the Post War Years (1945-1947); The Associate Committee; and L'Envoi.





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