Engineering geology
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Engineering geology is the application of geology to engineering study for the purpose of assuring that the geological factors regarding the location, design, construction, operation and maintenance of engineering works are recognized and accounted for.[1] Engineering geologists provide geological and geotechnical recommendations, analysis, and design associated with human development and various types of structures.[2] The realm of the engineering geologist is essentially in the area of earth-structure interactions, or investigation of how the earth or earth processes impact human made structures and human activities.
Engineering geology studies may be performed during the planning, environmental impact analysis, civil or structural engineering design, value engineering and construction phases of public and private works projects, and during post-construction and forensic phases of projects. Works completed by engineering geologists include;
The practice of engineering geology is also very closely related to the practice of geological engineering and geotechnical engineering. If there is a difference in the content of the disciplines, it mainly lies in the training or experience of the practitioner.
History
Although the study of
The need for geologist on engineering works gained worldwide attention in 1928 with the failure of the St. Francis Dam in California and the death of 426 people. More engineering failures that occurred the following years also prompted the requirement for engineering geologists to work on large engineering projects.
In 1951, one of the earliest definitions of the "Engineering geologist" or "Professional Engineering Geologist" was provided by the Executive Committee of the Division on Engineering Geology of the Geological Society of America.
The practice
One of the most important roles of an engineering geologist is the interpretation of landforms and earth processes to identify potential geologic and related human-made hazards that may have a great impact on civil structures and human development. The background in geology provides the engineering geologist with an understanding of how the earth works, which is crucial minimizing earth related hazards. Most engineering geologists also have graduate degrees where they have gained specialized education and training in
Scope of studies
Engineering geology investigation and studies may be performed:
- for residential, commercial and industrial developments;
- for governmental and military installations;
- for public works such as a stormwater drainage system, and park;
- for mine and quarry developments, mine tailing dam, mine reclamation and mine tunneling;
- for habitat restorationprograms;
- for government, commercial, or industrial hazardous waste remediation sites;
- for and waterfront development;
- for offshore sub-sea pipeline, sub-sea cable; and
- for other types of facilities.
Geohazards and adverse geological conditions
Typical
- fault rupture on seismically active faults;
- seismic and earthquake hazards (ground shaking, liquefaction, lurching, lateral spreading, tsunami and seicheevents);
- landslide, mudflow, rockfall, debris flow, and avalanche hazards;
- unstable slopes and slope stability;
- erosion;
- slaking and heave of geologic formations, such as frost heaving;
- ground tectonicmovement);
- earthquakes);
- blasting;
- weak and collapsible soils, foundation bearing failures;
- shallow ground water/seepage; and
- other types of geologic constraints.
An engineering geologist or
Soil and rock mechanics
Soil mechanics is a discipline that applies principles of engineering mechanics, e.g. kinematics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, and mechanics of material, to predict the mechanical behaviour of soils. Rock mechanics is the theoretical and applied science of the mechanical behaviour of rock and rock masses; it is that branch of mechanics concerned with the response of rock and rock masses to the force-fields of their physical environment. The fundamental processes are all related to the behaviour of porous media. Together, soil and rock mechanics are the basis for solving many engineering geology problems.
Methods and reporting
The methods used by engineering geologists in their studies include
- geologic field mapping of geologic structures, geologic formations, soil units and hazards;
- the review of geologic literature, geologic maps, geotechnical reports, engineering plans, aerial photographs, remote sensing data, Global Positioning System (GPS) data, topographic maps and satelliteimagery;
- the excavation, sampling and logging of earth/rock materials in drilled borings, backhoe test pits and trenches, fault trenching, and bulldozer pits;
- ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys, magnetometer surveys, electromagneticsurveys, high-resolution sub-bottom profiling, and other geophysical methods);
- automatic deformation monitoring system; and
- other methods.
The fieldwork is typically culminated in analysis of the data and the preparation of an engineering geologic report, geotechnical report or design brief, fault hazard or seismic hazard report, geophysical report,
See also
- Earthquake engineering
- Geological engineering
- Geoprofessions
- Geotechnics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Geotechnical investigation
- Hydrogeology
- Important publications in engineering geology
- Mining engineering
- Petroleum engineering
References
Further reading
Engineering geology
- Brock, 1923, The Education of a Geologist: Economic Geology, v. 18, pp. 595–597.
- Bates and Jackson, 1980, Glossary of Geology: American Geological Institute.
- González de Vallejo, L. and Ferrer, M., 2011. "Geological Engineering". CRC Press, 678 pp.
- Kiersh, 1991, The Heritage of Engineering Geology: The First Hundred Years: Geological Society of America; Centennial Special Volume 3
- Legget, Robert F., editor, 1982, Geology under cities: Geological Society of America; Reviews in Engineering Geology, volume V, 131 pages; contains nine articles by separate authors for these cities: Washington, DC; Boston; Chicago; Edmonton; Kansas City; New Orleans; New York City; Toronto; and Twin Cities, Minnesota.
- Legget, Robert F., and Karrow, Paul F., 1983, Handbook of geology in civil engineering: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1,340 pages, 50 chapters, five appendices, 771 illustrations. ISBN 0-07-037061-3
- Price, David George, Engineering Geology: Principles and Practice, Springer, 2008 ISBN 3-540-29249-7
- Prof. D. Venkat Reddy, NIT-Karnataka, Engineering Geology, Vikas Publishers, 2010 ISBN 978-81259-19032
- Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment
Geological modelling
- Wang H. F., Theory of Linear Poroelasticity with Applications to Geomechanics and Hydrogeology, Princeton Press, (2000).
- Waltham T., Foundations of Engineering Geology, 2nd Edition, Taylor & Francis, (2001).
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