The 8th International Symposium for Geotechnical Safety & Risk will be held in hybrid mode, December 14-16, 2022 in the University of Newcastle’s landmark education precinct in the heart of Newcastle’s CBD.
The registration for ISGSR 2022 is now open at: isgsr2022.org
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The Western Australia Chapter of the AGS invites geotechnical professionals to submit abstracts for possible inclusion in the upcoming 2022 Symposium.
More information can be found on the event page.
The Western Australia (WA) Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is pleased to announce a one-day symposium titled “Engineering Geology and Geotechnics of Western Australia” which is to be held on 17 November 2022. The event will be held in Perth, forming a part of the continued program of events organised by the AGS WA Chapter. It aims to bring together geotechnical professionals to share and discuss their knowledge and experiences related to the engineering geology and geotechnical characteristics of the ground on which we build in Western Australia.
Abstracts must be submitted by 13 September 2022.
Abstracts will be selected based on their quality and relevance to the topics of the symposium, with the successful author(s) invited to give a presentation at the symposium.
Abstracts should be prepared in accordance with the abstract submission guidelines below. Successful submissions will be confirmed by the end of September 2022.
Final abstracts should be submitted to Harun Meer via email at [email protected] before 31 October 2022.
Submission of a paper is not required, however we encourage you to prepare a supporting paper that will be considered for publishing in our Australian Geomechanics journal.
One-page abstracts should be submitted in the following format:
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Fair Trading has recently had queries from industry regarding the treatment of geotechnical reports under the Design and Building Practitioners legislation.
This is to clarify that regardless of the fact that there is a design practitioner category for geotechnical engineering, only work which fits the definition of a “regulated design” – that is, a plan, a specification, or a report detailing a design relating to a ‘building element’ for ‘building work’ (as defined by the Design and Building Practitioners Act) — needs to be declared and lodged on the NSW Planning Portal.
Advice relied upon by a design practitioner but which is not itself a “regulated design” does not need to be declared as a regulated design; but should be acknowledged as “specialist advice” on the design declaration form.
A design from a registered design practitioner-geotechnical engineering generally becomes a regulated design if it is a design in an “area of geotechnical engineering” for a building element (i.e. a load-bearing component of a building that is essential to the stability of the building).
The dictionary to the DBP Regulation states:
“area of geotechnical engineering means an area of engineering that involves the mechanics of soil and rock and the application of the mechanics to the design and construction of foundations, retaining structures, shoring excavations and ground bearing structures for buildings and other systems constructed of, or supported by, soil or rock, but does not include activities involving only geology or earth science.”
In many cases the geotechnical engineer doesn’t design the load-bearing component of a building that is essential to the stability of the building and instead provides a report on the geology including the loadbearing capacity of the foundation material and the hydrology of the site.
If the geotechnical engineering report is limited to the geology or earth science and doesn’t include a design (eg.for the construction of footings, retaining structures, shoring excavations and ground bearing structures for buildings) the report isn’t a regulated design.
However, a structural engineer, when designing the construction of footings, retaining structures, shoring excavations and ground bearing structures for buildings, may rely on geotechnical engineering reports to ensure the foundation material (i.e. so the ground beneath the footings can withstand the loads of the footings, retaining structures etc). In this case the design of the footings or any of the named structures above, is a regulated design declared by the registered design practitioner-structural engineering. The geotechnical report relied on for these designs should be declared as specialist advice by the structural engineer.
A geotechnical engineering report would, for example, become a regulated design when the geotechnical engineer includes in their report information describing how to construct the footing or retaining walls or shoring that sits on top of the foundation material.
The full Cert Alert is available here: https://comms.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/link/id/zzzz6286f6d443c8f482Pzzzz6131c1a38bd77001/page.html
Extension of abstract submission deadline
The deadline for submitting an abstract to the 15th ISRM International Congress 2023 is
extended to June 30th, 2022 (23:59:59).
The congress will be held in Salzburg, Austria. On the congress homepage, you can find information on the preliminary session topics and more: www.isrm2023.com
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Please note, abstract submissions are due May 31, 2022.
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The South Australia and Northern Territory Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) is pleased to announce its 2022 Symposium entitled “Sustainability, Innovation and Risk Management in Geotechnical Engineering”, which is to be held in late October 2022.
The symposium forms part of the continuing programme of events organised by the SA-NT Chapter of the AGS and aims to provide the engineering profession with insights into the importance of addressing sustainability through innovation, accounting for contingent risks, in geotechnical engineering in current times, with definitions, commentary and examples for a range of projects and technologies.
This year, the Symposium will include a Workshop in the middle part of the day that will focus on practical aspects of sustainability in relation to geotechnical considerations associated with a major local South Australian project.
In recent years, attention to climate change and global warming have influenced public perception of all forms of development, from mining to infrastructure, housing to industry, and energy to agriculture. In geotechnical engineering, we continue to be influenced by risk factors associated with ground conditions, reliance on past experience and the desire to provide sound geotechnical assessments and designs.
We are, however, increasingly confronted with the need to address sustainability. This opens the opportunity for innovation, although geotechnical risk management remains a key focus. Already there has been an identifiable trend toward addressing these factors, but there is undoubtedly much more that can be achieved as we turn our minds to alternative options to address future needs in the face of the recognition that we, as geotechnical engineers, can contribute to sustainability issues.
The Symposium’s objective is to bring together practitioners, academics and researchers, students and industry leaders from a range of backgrounds, to share and discuss their experiences on the topic of Sustainability, Innovation and Risk Management in Geotechnical Engineering.
The following points are suggested topics for presentation to the Symposium, but all submissions will be given due consideration in view of the breadth of potential subject matter:
We invite those wishing to make a presentation at this symposium to submit an abstract to Richard Herraman by close of business Friday 17 June 2022.
Organisations wishing to sponsor this event are invited to contact Richard Herraman.
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