The Rise of Geotechnology and its Influence on Engineering Practice

Synopsis This Paper is concerned with the borderland of geology and civil engineering, which is treated historically. It is suggested that the subject is best described as ‘geotechnology,’ and that its basic discipline is soil mechanics. Three periods are distinguished in its development: an early period which starts in the 18th century with work on the lateral pressure of soils by engineers in France, and which culminates with the researches of Coulomb and Collin; Classical Soil Mechanics, which founded on the work of Terzaghi; and a new phase of the subject now developing, which is much influenced by geological thinking, but is still basically branch of applied mechanics. Consideration is given to a number of engineering problems such as those associated with site exploration, the design of earth dams, the stability of natural slopes, excavations, roads and geotechnical processes. In each case the history of the problem is discussed, and the degree to which it has been affected by soil mechanics is desc...