Geotechnical engineering: Past, present, and future
Andrew Shirley
This presentation discusses the evolution of Geotechnical Engineering as a separate engineering discipline in Australia since the inception of a separate soil mechanics course at The University of Sydney in the late 1950s, and the establishment of the AGS in 1970.
The presentation will also describe:
- the way in which geotechnical engineering has evolved from the limited ‘site drilling & testing’ mindset of the 1960s and 1970s, to the current ground engineering discipline practised by geotechnical engineers which now embraces the review of the site’s history as well as the adjoining land, analysis / prediction of the likely ground conditions for the proposed structures, and provision of specific geotechnical advice both during the design & construction stages;
- the impact of the ‘corporatisation’ on the way in which engineering services, including geotechnical engineering, are currently delivered to the community;
- several representative failures / poor structure performance with resultant significant economic impacts on the client and community from inadequate, and / or cost constrained, geotechnical engineering input;
- the necessity for the consideration of a site’s history and its previous use, in the overall
- geotechnical assessment and feasibility of a particular project;
- the ‘pivotal role’ that a geotechnical engineer should have in the in determination the feasibility of a particular project, as well as in the design and construction review stages.
The presentation will also comment on the need for the engineering profession ‘as a whole’ to recognise that geotechnical engineering is a distinctive, and probably the most complex, field of engineering.
About the speaker
Andrew Shirley Director, Shirley Consulting Engineers Pty Ltd
Andrew Shirley is a consulting forensic, civil & geotechnical engineer with over 60 years experience. He is an honours graduate in soils and structures from the University of Sydney, and has extensive experience in the Forensic, Civil, Mining & Geotechnical Engineering.
The first six years of Andrew’s professional experience was gained on various construction projects in the NSW Snowy Mountains region and in Western Australia. On return to Sydney, Andrew joined a Sydney consulting firm and was responsible for the development of the firm’s geotechnical section and materials testing laboratory.
Andrew established the practice of Shirley Consulting Engineers in 1974 to provide an integrated source of advice in the Civil Engineering and Geological disciplines, together with design and construction services for ground structures. Since the early 1990s, Andrew’s firm focused on the forensic investigation of many engineering failures, with the failures ranging from cracking and damage to buildings, both residential & commercial, occasioned by reactive soils, the excavation of basements on the adjoining land and mine subsidence. In addition, under Andrew’s direction his firm has investigated the causes of several large, open-cut pit flooding events and several small underground tunnel collapses.
Some of the more recent, well publicised projects have included the Thredbo landslide, where he was appointed by the NSW Government to act for the families of the victims, the cause of damage to Mascot Towers and the subsequent stabilisation of the ground supporting the building.
Andrew has also given evidence in over a hundred matters in the Supreme Courts of NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, the District Court of NSW and the Land & Environment Court of NSW. He has also authored of a number of technical publications in the geomechanics field and was part of the Standards Australia Committee on Earth Retaining Structures which was published in 2002 [AS 4678].
Andrew retired from consulting in late 2024 and closed his consulting practice after 50 years of service to the geotechnical engineering industry
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