Geotechnical engineering, also known as geotechnics, is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. It uses the principles of soil mechanics and rock mechanics to solve its engineering problems. It also relies on knowledge of geology, hydrology, geophysics, and other related sciences.
Karl von Terzaghi was an Austrian mechanical engineer, geotechnical engineer, and geologist known as the "father of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering".
Terzaghi Dam is the key diversion dam in BC Hydro's Bridge River Power Project. It forms the project's largest reservoir, Carpenter Lake west of Lillooet. Originally known as the Mission Dam, it was renamed Terzaghi Dam in 1965 to honor Karl von Terzaghi, the civil engineer who founded the science of soil mechanics. It is located about 30 km up the Bridge River from its confluence with the Fraser.
Shear strength is a term used in soil mechanics to describe the magnitude of the shear stress that a soil can sustain. The shear resistance of soil is a result of friction and interlocking of particles, and possibly cementation or bonding of particle contacts. Due to interlocking, particulate material may expand or contract in volume as it is subject to shear strains. If soil expands its volume, the density of particles will decrease and the strength will decrease; in this case, the peak strength would be followed by a reduction of shear stress. The stress-strain relationship levels off when the material stops expanding or contracting, and when interparticle bonds are broken. The theoretical state at which the shear stress and density remain constant while the shear strain increases may be called the critical state, steady state, or residual strength.
Cohesion is the component of shear strength of a rock or soil that is independent of interparticle friction.
Ralph Brazelton Peck was a civil engineer specializing in soil mechanics, the author and co-author of popular soil mechanics and foundation engineering text books, and Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 1948, together with Karl von Terzaghi, Peck published the book Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice, an influential geotechnical engineering text which continues to be regularly cited and is now in a third edition.
Peter Rolfe Vaughan ACGI, DIC, FREng, FICE, FCGI, MASCE, FGS, was Emeritus Professor of Ground Engineering in the Geotechnics department of Imperial College London.
The Rankine lecture is an annual lecture organised by the British Geotechnical Association named after William John Macquorn Rankine, an early contributor to the theory of soil mechanics.
John Boscawen Burland is a geotechnical engineer, Emeritus Professor and Senior Research Investigator at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Imperial College London, and a noted expert in the field of soil mechanics.
Rudolph "Silas"Glossop was a British geotechnical engineer and mining engineer notable for his contributions to the field of engineering geology and soil mechanics. He was instrumental in founding Soil Mechanics Ltd. and the establishment of the peer-reviewed journal, Géotechnique. The Glossop Lecture at the Geological Society is named after him.
Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is a technique for testing physical scale models of geotechnical engineering systems such as natural and man-made slopes and earth retaining structures and building or bridge foundations.
Harry George Poulos is an Australian of Greek descent civil engineer specialising in geotechnical engineering and soil mechanics, internationally known as an expert on soil behaviour and pile foundations.
David Malcolm Potts is a professor of Analytical Soil Mechanics at Imperial College London and the head of the Geotechnics Section at Imperial College. He has been a member of the academic staff at Imperial College since 1979, responsible for teaching the use of analytical methods in geomechanics and the design of slopes and earth retaining structures, both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Charles Peter Wroth (1929–1991) was a British civil engineer, a world pioneer in geotechnical engineering and soil mechanics. He led the design and construction of the Hammersmith flyover.
Kenneth Harry Roscoe was a British civil engineer who made tremendous contributions to the plasticity theories of soil mechanics.
Malcolm David Bolton is a British soil mechanics engineer and professor of geotechnical engineering at the University of Cambridge.
Nicholas Neocles Ambraseys FICE FREng was a Greek engineering seismologist. He was emeritus professor of engineering seismology and senior research fellow at Imperial College London. For many years Ambraseys was considered the leading figure and an authority in earthquake engineering and seismology in Europe.
David Muir Wood is an academic working in the field of geomechanics and soil mechanics, famous for having pioneered advances in mathematical modelling of soils, informed by experimental observation. The hallmark of his modelling efforts has been to formulate elegant models that capture the essence of the material response while being accessible to practitioners of Geotechnical engineering.
Emmericus Carel Willem Adriaan "Wim" Geuze was a Dutch civil engineer who contributed to the development of soil mechanics, and the founding of the geotechnical engineering journal, Géotechnique. He was head of research at the Laboratorium voor Grondmechanica in Delft, and professor of soil mechanics at Delft University of Technology and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Albert Sybrandus Keverling Buisman was a Dutch civil engineer and Professor of Applied Mechanics, who was instrumental in establishing the Laboratorium voor Grondmechanica in Delft. He made notable contributions to the development of soil mechanics in the Netherlands.
