Soil and Rock Logging Course

Fred Baynes and Ian Shipway

Click here, for the current Soil & Rock Logging course information.

The Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is hosting a course on Soil and Rock Logging. The one day course will aim to educate geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, geo-technicians and other relevant professionals in logging and/or interpreting soil and rock logs in accordance with AS1726 – Geotechnical Site Investigations. In addition, the significant changes to AS1726 contained within the 2017 Revision will be discussed in detail.

The course includes some PowerPoint presentations to explain the basic principles but is mainly a hands-on practical session where course participants will work in small groups to log a variety of real soil and rock samples under the guidance and instruction of experienced industry professionals. Upon completion of the logging exercise, the features of the soils and rocks samples and how they should be described are discussed in an interactive session involving the participants and the teachers.

This course is aimed at educating the profession and is particularly relevant to geotechnical and mining consultants, geotechnical contractors and laboratory geo-technicians and other professionals (i.e. civil and structural engineers) that find themselves having to log and/or interpret soil and rock logs as part of their jobs. The course content assumes each participant has a basic understanding of logging and is likely to be most relevant to professionals just starting their careers through to senior level professionals wanting to brush up on their knowledge of AS1726.

To maintain and increase the effectiveness of the course, the total number of participants will be restricted to 40, on a ‘first-come’ basis. We encourage participants to register early to avoid disappointment.

Fred Baynes is a consultant engineering geologist who was educated in the UK, immigrated to Australia in 1980 and has worked for contractors, consultants and utilities. He is based in Central Victoria and is a general practitioner with a field bias who has been involved in the investigation, design, construction and operation of a wide range of major civil, mining and oil and gas projects around the world. Fred teaches the two AGS courses “Geology for Engineers” and “Engineering Geology”, and he is the Past President of the International Association of Engineering Geology and the Environment.

Ian Shipway is both a geologist and a Registered Professional Engineer in Queensland and is a Director at EDG Consulting. His geotechnical experience spans more than 30 years with consultancies. He was a Senior Principal at Coffey for his last seven years of service up to 2015. Ian was a member of the committee which revised AS1726-2017 and for the past three years has represented Australia on the ISO Geotechnical Committee and working groups responsible for revision of the international standards for identification and classification of soil and rock.

Photos from the Sydney course on 30 September 2016

Engineers Australia members participating in AGS technical sessions can record attendance on their personal CPD logs. Members should refer to Engineers Australia CPD policy for details on CPD types, requirements and auditing guidelines.