Geological and Geotechnical Engineering in the New Millennium Opportunities for Research and Technological Innovation (2006) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 15-26
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From page 15... ...
Imagine a world where advanced warning of impending natural hazards allows for sufficient time to prevent loss of life and to mitigate direct and indirect economic and social impacts. Imagine a world where toxic and other harmful discharges to the environment have ceased and where all past environmental impacts have been remediated.
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From page 16... ...
The analysis conducted after the disaster found that the massive slide occurred along an unrecognized clay layer in the limestone bedrock. The lack of knowledge of the geology and a misunderstanding of the FIGURE 1.1 The Vajont landslide looking from upstream (image courtesy of Professor E
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From page 17... ...
These walls facilitated successful completion of deep excavations adjacent to fragile historic structures with few adverse effects. The soil freezing and tunnel jacking at Fort Point Channel allowed a tunnel to be constructed under active railroad tracks with no disruption in service.
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In addition to the initial cost overrun, breaches in the panels and leaks in the overhead connections have developed and are currently subjects of intense study and ongoing repair efforts. Thus, although the project dealt effectively with many complex issues, community mitigation and geoengineering issues combined to create major delays and cost overruns.
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From page 19... ...
The ability to see into Earth with high resolution, at low cost, with minimum disruption, and with results in real time requires new types of sensors at the microscale, new deployment strategies of sensors to monitor pore spaces and rock fractures from within the soil or rock mass rather than from surface or boreholes, and the ability for small, distributed sensors to communicate with each other and to a central computer. The large data streams made possible by improved sensing capabilities will require new approaches to management of data, database structures, computer models for understanding and prediction of geomechanical behavior, and multispatial, temporal modeling, and visualization of the geosystem.
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From page 20... ...
Environmental, economic, social and technological development must be seen as interdependent and complementary concepts, where economic competitiveness and ecological sustainability are complementary aspects of the common goal of improving the quality of life. Sustainable development requires strengthening and broadening the education of engineers and finding innovative ways to achieve needed development while conserving and preserving natural resources.
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From page 21... ...
This expanded scope will require new types and quantities of data, benchmarking, and new efforts in modeling. Some of the critical problems addressed by GES will include dealing with the legacy and future of energy use; developing geotechnology that is environmentally responsible and economically beneficial, especially for the developing world; holistic infrastructure solutions for urban environments; and perhaps most importantly, managing the emerging critical issues of global change.
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From page 22... ...
In virtually every case of building on, in, or with Earth materials, geoengineers need to know about the following: · Volume change properties; · Stress deformation and strength properties; · Fluid and gas conductivity through the soils and rocks; · How will what we do change what we have; and · Interactions that modify material properties. (Such interactions are particularly important for some problems, such as waste containment and storage, resource development and recovery, and environmental protection, restoration, and enhancement.)
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From page 23... ...
to conduct a study to provide advice on future research directions and opportunities in geological and geotechnical engineering, concentrating on techniques for characterizing, stabilizing, and monitoring the subsurface. Initially the committee was asked to identify research priorities, potential interdisciplinary collaborations, and applications of technological advances to geological and geotechnical engineering.
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. The committee met five times to gather and evaluate information and to prepare its consensus report.
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From page 25... ...
This report provides advice for NSF program managers, but it also contains advice for the geological and geotechnical engineering community as a whole, and for other interested parties, including Congress, federal and state agencies, industry, academia, and the general public. The report recommends research directions, but as it is not a program review, it does not include specific budgetary recommendations.
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