Preface to the proceedings of the 2008 Sydney Symposium

This document contains the papers for the 12th annual symposium organised by the Sydney Chapter of the Australian Geomechanics Society. It is hoped the symposium will keep practising geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists and other engineering professionals informed of recent developments in this field. It also recognises the need to gather together the experience of those practising throughout Australia and to allow transfer of knowledge and sharing of their experiences.

These symposia continue to be one of the best forums for bringing together the key stakeholders of the Australian geotechnical community. The objectives of the symposium held in Sydney on 15 October 2008 have been to advance the knowledge of foundation engineering.

The symposium includes a number of themes including innovations in design and experience and advances in assessment and monitoring. Contributors are leading geotechnical consultants. The papers present foundations project challenges and solutions from throughout Australia and overseas.

This symposium is the cooperative effort of many authors, peer reviewers, employers and clients. The Editors and organising committee wish to thank the authors, who have so generously contributed their time to prepare the various papers, and the employers of the authors, who have assisted with time, secretarial, drafting and photocopying facilities. The Editors and organising committee also wish to thank the following peer reviewers of the papers, who have so generously contributed their time to edit the papers:

•  Paul Hewitt, Parsons Brinckerhoff
•  Prof John Small, University of Sydney
•  John Adamiec, Franki
•  Patrick Wong, Coffey Geotechnics
•  Dr Gary Chapman, Golder Associates
•  Dr J.R. Morgan, Golder Associates
•  Geoff Young, Douglas Partners