CGS NEWS

CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL SOCIETY - AWARDS AND HONOURS 2012

R.F. Legget Medal: Edward C. McRoberts

R.M. Quigley Award: Pete E. Quinn, Mark S. Diederichs, R. Kerry Rowe and D. Jean Hutchinson. “A new Model for Large Landslides in Sensitive Clay using a Facture Mechanics Approach” (Vol. 48: (8) pp.1151-1162)

Honourable Mentions: Xue-Yu Geng, Buddhima Indraratna, and Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn. “Effectiveness of Partially Penetrating Vertical Drains under a Combined Surcharge and Vacuum Preloading” (Vol. 48: (6) pp. 970-983)

Paul J. Vardanega and Malcolm D. Bolton. “Strength Mobilization in Clays and Silts” Vol. 48 (10) pp. 1485-1503)

G. Geoffrey Meyerhof Award: Delwyn G. Fredlund, Professor Emeritus, University of Saskatchewan

Thomas Roy Award: Oldrich Hungr, Professor, University of British Columbia

Roger J. E. Brown Award: James M. Oswell, Principal Consultant, Naviq Consulting Inc.  

Geoenvironmental Award: Shahid Azam, Associate Professor, University of Regina

Geosynthetics Award: Jonathan Fannin, Professor, University of British Columbia

Robert N. Farvolden Award: D. Allan Freeze, Président, R. Allan Freeze Engineering Inc. (Joint award with IAH-CNC)

Graduate Student Paper Award

1^st Prize: Fawzy M. Ezzein, “A Transparent Granular Sand for Geotechnical Modelling” Department of Civil Engineering, Royal Military College of Canada; Advisor, Dr. Richard Bathurst
2^nd Prize: Fady B. Abdelaal, “Cracking of HDPE Geomembranes” Department of Civil Engineering, Queen's University; Advisor, Dr. Kerry Rowe

Undergraduate Student Report (Individual)

1^st Prize: David Flynn, “Large Scale Interface Shear Testing ABC Twin WaterBloc Material Enhancing Flood Protection” Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba; Advisor, Dr. James Blatz
2^nd Prize: Lee-Ann Sills, “Use of transparent soil to investigate discontinuous gas flow in heterogeneous porous media” Department of Civil Engineering,Queen's University: Advisor, Dr. Kevin Munford

Undergraduate Student Report (Group)   

1^st Prize: Hubert Péloquin, Leila Pike, Adham Kalila and Mamoun Essakalli, “Europa Creek Hydroelectric Project: High Pressure Penstock Pipeline” Department Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics, McGill University:  Advisor, Dr. Mohamed Meguid
2^nd Prize: Jessy Counter, Dylan Conners, Brendan McAuley and Carl Mohammadi,“Foundation Design for Canadian Embassy Structures (Using the Mechanics of Saturated and Unsaturated Soils)” Department of Civil Engineering, University of Ottawa: Advisor, Dr. Sai Vanapalli

Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique National Graduate Scholarship: Michael Callaghan, University of Calgary

A.G. Stermac Awards

Andrew Drevininkas (Chief Geotechnical Engineer, Toronto Transit Commission)
Charles Kwok (Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Senior Principal, Stantec)
Dwayne D. Tannant (Professor, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus)
Stéphanie Perret (Lecturer, College (CEGEP de Sherbrooke)

CGS R.M. Hardy Keynote Address: R.M. (Rob) Kenyon, KGS Group, Manager
Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium: W. Andy Take, Associate Professor, Queen’s University.
Cross Canada Lecture Tours: Lee Barbour (Spring 2012), Mike Jefferies (Fall 2012) 

AWARDS FROM THE ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF CANADA (EIC)

Sir John Kennedy Medal: R. Kerry Rowe, Professor, Queen’s University,
Julian C. Smith Medal: M.A.J. (Fred) Matich, Consultant, Private Practice
John B. Stirling Medal: C. Derek Martin, Professor, University of Alberta 
EIC Fellowship (FEIC): Doug Stead, Professor, Simon Fraser University 
EIC Fellowship (FEIC): Hesham El Naggar, Professor, University of Western Ontario

CGS CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

The following were awarded Certificates of Appreciation for their individual valued contributions to the CGS during 2012:

2012 Retiring Canadian Geotechnical Society Directors and Chairs 

Bryan Watts: President
John Sobkowicz: Vice-President Technical
Peter Gaffran: Vice-President Finance
Jean-Marie Konrad: Vice-President Communications
Davide Elmo: Chair, Engineering Geology Division
Uthaya M. Uthayakumar: Section Director, Vancouver Geotechnical Society
Deyab Gamal El-Dean: Section Director, Vancouver Island Geotechnical Group
Doug Dewar: Section Director, Prince George Geotechnical Group
Baolin Wang: Section Director, Ottawa Geotechnical Group
Daniel R. Babcock: Section Director, London Group
Arash Zakeri: Section Director, Newfoundland Chapter
James Blatz: Chair, Geotechnical Research Board
Phil Bruch: Editor, CGS News
Peijun Guo: Chair, Computing Committee
Corey R. Froese: Chair, Landslides Committee

2012 Retiring Associate Editors – Canadian Geotechnical Journal

Hai-Sui Yu
Doug Stead
Kent Novakowski

2012 Annual Canadian Geotechnical Society Conference – Winnipeg Organizing Committee

Gil Robinson: Chair  
Kendall Thiessen: Co-chair  
Kent Bannister: Technical Program Chair
Anne-Marie Hamilton: Treasurer 
Neil Privat: Technical Tours      
Alexandria Beveridge: Short Courses        
Alena James: Social Activities and Partners Program  
Wing Keat Wong: Volunteer Coordinator

Organizing Committee – 11^th International Landslides Symposium and 2^nd North American Landslides Symposium 

Corey Froese: Chair 
Erik Eberhardt: Chair, Technical Committee
Réjean Couture: Field Trip Coordinator 
Serge Leroueil: Technical Committee 
A. Keith Turner: Technical Committee 
Roger Skirrow: Secretary/Member-at-Large
Michael Porter: Secretary/Member-at-Large
Oldrich Hungr: Technical Committee
Peter Bobrowsky: Chair, International Advisory Committee
Vernon Schaefer: Technical Committee

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS – THE 2014 CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL COLLOQUIUM

The Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium is a commissioned work financially supported by the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique (CFG).  It is awarded annually to a member of the Canadian Geotechnical community. The purpose of the Colloquium is to provide information of a particular interest to Canadian geotechnique and to provide encouragement to a younger member of the Society in pursuing studies in the Colloquium’s preparation. The Colloquium is presented at the CGS-SCG Annual Conference and must be suitable for publication in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal.  It must be prepared in the format established by the Journal; however, the decision to publish in the Journal is exclusively the responsibility of the Journal Editor. The choice of the individual and topic is made by the Society’s Selection Committee of the Geotechnical Research Board based on the nominations received. The successful candidate receives an honorarium of $5,000 and a framed certificate.

Each nomination letter must provide an introduction to the candidate and their main accomplishments. It must be accompanied by an abstract of about 2000 words of the proposed lecture, emphasizing the importance of the topic to the Canadian geotechnical community, a brief review of the state-of-the-art on that problem, an outline of the significance of the candidate’s contribution, and a curriculum vitae listing the nominee’s practical experience relevant to the topic and the nominee’s publication record.  Information on the nomination criteria can be obtained from Item C-2 of the “Awards and Honours Manual 2012, or the latest edition.  To find this Manual, CGS members can log-in at http://cgs.ca/login.php then proceed to Online Member Resources, and find the Awards and Honours Manual.

Nominations should be submitted prior to January 31, 2013 to Dieter F.E. Stolle, P.Eng., Past Chair, Geotechnical Research Board, at Civil Engineering Dept., McMaster University, 1280 Main Street W., Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, stolle@mcmaster.ca or in care of: Victor Sowa, Secretary General, at vsowacgs@dccnet.com.

CGS MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION FOR 2013

Visit the Canadian Geotechnical Website at www.cgs.ca to renew your membership.

Membership Benefits include:

·         Keep up with local, national and international developments

·         Share insights, visions and experience

·         Present projects and research to peers

·         Record Continued Education Unit (CEU) and Professional Development Activities (PDAs)

·         Attend lectures, Cross Canada Lectures, short courses, workshops, seminars and conferences etc. organized locally or nationally at membership rates

·         Eligible to participate as Executives in local or national committees and boards

·         Meet, socialize and know colleagues with common interests, potential employers or employees

·         Develop contacts with colleagues across Canada

·         Sponsorship and mentorship initiatives

·         Membership fee includes free internet access to all early Canadian Geotechnical Journal plus 12 new issues per year

·         Geotechnical News - 4 issues per year

·         Website www.cgs.ca, CGS News, CGS e-News

We look forward to your membership renewal or joining as a new member soon. We also ask that all current members to invite a friend or colleague to join the Canadian Geotechnical Society. With your help, we can continue to provide the benefits the society brings to our profession.

CONFERENCE SUMMARY: 65^TH CANADIAN GEOTECHNICAL CONFERENCE

The 65^th Canadian Geotechnical Conference was hosted by the Manitoba Region at the Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg from September 30 to October 3, 2012.  The conference was very successful thanks to the efforts of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), under the leadership of the Chair, Gil Robinson and the Conference Managers, Wayne Gibson and Lisa McJunkin of Gibson Group Association Management.  The conference was well attended by about 400 delegates and featured the Hardy Lecture given by Dr. Robert Kenyon of the KGS Group, the Geotechnical Colloquium by Dr. Andy Take of Queen’s University and a plenary session on Professional Practice with presentations by Fred Matich of MAJM Corporation and John Seychuk of Golder Associates.  All lectures were well attended as well as the 2012 GEOpardy Student Competition and the Trade Show.  The conference also included two well attended short courses and technical tours.

2012 LEGGET MEDAL AWARD

Introduction of the 2012 Legget MedalRecipient: Dr. E.C. McRoberts, AMEC

Introduction by: Dr. Angela Kupper, AMEC

Dr. Edward McRoberts is a geotechnical engineer with a razor-sharp mind who has covered a broad range of geotechnical engineering aspects during a career that has involved an impressive list of projects.  Throughout his 40 year career, Dr. McRoberts has played a key role in Western and Northern Canada’s resource development. 

Ed McRoberts graduated in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta in 1967, and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers.  He was awarded an Athlone-Vanier Engineering Fellowship by the Engineering Institute of Canada, which allowed him to go to the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London where he obtained an M.Sc. in Geotechnical Engineering in 1968.  Returning from the UK, Ed served in two engineering units at Canadian Forces Base in Winnipeg, and as an Assistant Professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario.

He retired from the Army as a Captain and started a Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in September 1971 where he worked on slope stability in permafrost under Professor Morgenstern.  Dr. McRoberts joined R.M. Hardy and Associates (one of AMEC’s predecessor companies) in December 1973 in Calgary working on arctic pipelines.  He made significant contributions in this area. Quoting Dr. Morgenstern “While Dr. McRoberts has not been particularly active in this area of late, the geotechnical skills that he brought to bear on this class of problems has stood the test of time and both the geotechnical profession in Canada and the nation as a whole, in developing its technological capacity, have and continue to benefit from his contributions.”

In 1978 Ed moved to the Edmonton office to focus on oilsands, initially assisting Dr. R.M. Hardy, who was the engineer of record for all the first tailings containment structures at Suncor and Syncrude.  Ed’s work in the oilsands eventually encompassed essentially the full range of activities and in one capacity or another for all the active mines and current lease holders. His focus has been on the design and construction of tailings dams and the associated tailings management issues.  In the late eighties he was Chief Geotechnical Engineer for Western Canada.  As the company grew, he became the Chief Technical Officer and a Senior Vice President.

Ed has an uncanny ability to see through complex problems and achieve creative, innovative solutions that reflect his solid technical basis.  His love of the subject and his intellectual curiosity can’t be missed by those working with him.  His leadership, mentorship and guidance have had a profound impact on the careers of numerous engineers, who have benefitted from his sharp critical thinking process and technical insight. This is demonstrated by many of the best geotechnical engineers practicing today, who at some point in their career worked under Dr. McRoberts’ direct supervision. 

In December 2009 Ed transferred from Edmonton to AMEC’s Burnaby BC office where he still maintains a full workload, primarily on oil sands projects, as well as technical review of a variety of other projects. 

He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and of the Engineering Institute of Canada. In 2004 he was awarded the Engineering Institute of Canada’s Julian C. Smith Medal.

I again quote Dr. Morgenstern “The contributions of Geotechnical Engineering to the successful development of the Alberta Oil Sands are enormous and it is most appropriate that the Canadian Geotechnical Society recognizes our leading practitioner in this area with the R.F. Legget Medal.”

2012 Legget Medal Award Acceptance Speech: Dr. E.C. McRoberts

I am honored to have been selected by the Canadian Geotechnical Society to receive their most prestigious reward, the R.F. Legget Medal.  This measure of professional recognition by one’s colleagues is indeed a great and heart-felt pleasure.  My thanks are also due to the awards committee, and to those who nominated and supported my award.  My colleagues past and present in one way or the other have contributed to my being here today.  And most important of all, I must acknowledge the many clients who have entrusted me with responsible charge on their projects. 

It is customary at the Legget award to also pass on some thoughts. Let us follow up on the issue of “judgment” most appropriately put forward by Legget (1979) who in the 13^th Terzaghi Lecture expressed the view:

“No computer is ever going to decide when a suitable foundation bed is reached, or when tunnel supports are necessary.  In the final analysis it is human judgment that makes possible the safe uses of the earth.  And judgment is based on sound experience that, whether recognized or not, includes an instinctive appreciation of all geological factors”.

This is echoed by Peck (1980) in the 5^th Bjerrum Memorial Lecture who asks “Where has all the judgment gone?” and comments:

“as long as the myth persists that only what can be calculated constitutes engineering, engineers will lack incentive or opportunity to apply the best judgment to the crucial problems that cannot be solved by calculation”

Both Legget and Peck were warning against too much emphasis on analysis.  Today these cautions are as sound as they were more than three decades ago.  Even more so, given the increasing and often illusory sophistication of models.  So what is judgment?  In his paper Peck tended to define judgment by what it is not.  And to paraphrase Vick (2002), judgment is not the last refuge of the analytically inept, nor some geotechnical metaphysics necessarily only possessed by senior citizens.  Vick has an interesting quote apparently attributable to Mark Twain:

“Good judgment comes from experience.  And where does experience come from?  Experience comes from bad judgment.”

This sounds just about right, and the ability to learn from mistakes is vital, but even better to learn from the mistakes of others so as to limit your own. For this, reading of case records is so important but it is a challenge for our profession to get these lessons published in the face of legal constraints and secrecy limitations that constrain discourse.

Vick (2002) refers to judgment as “good thinking”.  More recently Marr (2006) emphasizes that judgment equates to “critical thinking”.  Marr observes:

It is fascinating that the definition of critical thinking by prestigious intellects of our time equates critical thinking to judgment.  Is critical thinking the same as that elusive term we all draw upon and call “engineering judgment”?  Is critical thinking what Peck was questioning in his 1980 paper on where has the judgment gone?

So today we arrive at a clear answer; judgment is “critical thinking”. Marr cites education studies that define the elements of critical thinking as: interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation, and self regulation.   On first reading, I found many of the points made by Marr lining up well with all my hard earned perspectives, and learned more besides.  Marr also takes an appropriately less nihilistic line than Peck as to the inter-relationship and importance of analysis in arriving at judgment.  So if you are currently a sorcerer’s apprentice in a consulting organization, read the references appended, take what you find to heart and practice what is preached.

As explained by Marr, this educational research has found critical thinking to be an essential skill and one that can be developed in the education process.  This is a very important point; elements of judgment can be taught.  But I think to nurture judgment in others you have to be able to exercise it.  Therefore it will largely remain, with notable exceptions, up to consultant groups to continue to run our “finishing schools”.  And by consultants I mean both the independent firms as well as the “in-house” geotechnical teams found in a few large organizations.

Reflecting on what I have been doing for the past four decades or more – and how I got here today – I must conclude that as a consultant, geotechnical engineering is as much an avocation as it is a vocation.  For me the vocation part was and remains the business side and what we consultants call fully chargeable.  To a consultant, profit is not a four letter word, but loss is.  Contributing to keeping a large and growing consultancy profitable year after year is no easy matter.  The avocation part describes all the effort required to stay technically current in an exponentially growing literature, apart from pleasure to be gained in finding a mystery resolved.  What has changed for me is in the beginning I needed to haunt the library, now it is mostly the internet. Of course the vocation part has always adamantly resisted doing anything that was obviously going to be boring so one must keep current. But there was a synergy to this as one enables the other.  But the bottom line for those interested in advice is that it was never a 40 hours a week effort.

Finally, I must reflect on what we call the observational method as this was a lodestone to my career.  Proposed by Terzaghi and formalized by Peck (1969) it fully clarified for me how to proceed in the face of the many uncertainties and risk that characterizes projects in our geotechnical world. It provides a vital vehicle by which predictions embracing the range of possibilities can be organized, and judgment exercised.  I would say that arguably another definition of judgment is managing uncertainty and the observational method gives us the framework for doing just that.  And to be clear, the root cause origin of this uncertainty is the variability of the geology at each and every project site we work on, as was so well described in Legget’s 1979 lecture.

The observational method is far from just collating observations, and it is not “learn as you go” either, as some think.   If you have not read and comprehended this basis for the observational method I can only say that your geotechnical education has been deficient.   It is all about getting to an optimum solution, not the most conservative one, unless the client has a schedule or other constraints that demand a high degree of conservatism.  Basically, expect the likely as you have established it to be, but plan for the worst by knowing beforehand what contingency measures could be taken.  Observe critical elements of performance, being prepared to execute fall-backs in a timely manner – having predetermined that there will be the resources and schedule to do so.  If these conditions cannot be met, then one must revert to a design based on the least-favorable conditions.  Now there are a few “potential” clients out there that really only want you on their project to use your liability insurance to underwrite their risks.  Avoid them like the plague, but if you cannot, the observational method properly deployed is a greater shield than all the boiler plate and exculpatory clauses the lawyers can dream up in both your contracts and reports; and such clients will not like it. But the well-informed client will understand and appreciate what you are doing.  

To conclude: to the next generation of aspiring practicing geotechnical engineers and consultants here today at the 65^th Canadian Geotechnical Conference  – study and apply the elements of critical thinking, and good fortune in your careers should follow.

References:

Legget R.F. 1979 Geology and geotechnical engineering. ASCE JGED 105(GT3)
Marr W.A.  2006 “Geotechnical Engineering and Judgment in the Information Age”  Keynote address GeoCongress 2006, Atlanta
Peck R .B. 1969  Advantages and limitations of the observational method in applied soil mechanics. Geotechnique , 19(2).
Peck R.B. 1980  Where has all the judgment gone? CGJ 17, pp584-590
Vick S.G. 2002  Degrees of belief subjective probability and engineering judgment. Reston VA. ASCE Press, 978-0-7844-0598-7

UPCOMING CONFERENCES

Visit the CGS website www.cgs.ca for information on a variety of local, regional, national and international conferences.

66^th Canadian Geotechnical Conference - GeoMontreal 2013 - Call for Abstracts

The Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS) in collaboration with the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH-CNC) and the North American Geosynthetics Society (NAGS) invites you to the joint annual conference “GéoMontréal 2013” at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure Hotel, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from Sunday, September 29th to Thursday, October 3rd, 2013.

The conference organizing committee calls for members of the Canadian and international geotechnical, hydrogeological and geosynthetics communities to contribute recent research developments and advancements in their respective fields of interest and practice. Case studies and papers dealing with risk management and revitalization of aging infrastructures and with regional aquifer characterization studies are especially sought. Presentations illustrating analysis, techniques and innovative solutions as well as research on recent trends or future prospects, are highly encouraged.

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of a maximum of 400 words through the Online Submission page of the conference web site www.geomontreal2013.ca. Abstracts can be written either in French or English. The deadline for abstract submission will be January 14, 2013.

Invitations for submission of full papers will be sent to authors whose abstracts are accepted by the conference’s Technical Committee by March 1, 2013. The submitted papers will be reviewed prior to final acceptance for inclusion in the conference proceedings. At least one author of an accepted paper must register for the conference in order to be invited to make a presentation in a technical session.

NEW CGS NEWS EDITOR IN 2013

This column marks my completion of 6 years as the editor of CGS News. This has been a very enjoyable experience, and I would like to thank all of the contributors to this column over the years. I would also like to acknowledge the excellent support that I have received from the various members of the CGS Board of Directors over the years.

Starting in 2013, Don Lewycky will be taking over for me as editor. I wish Don the best of luck in this position, and I hope that you will give him the same level of support that I have received over the years.

Editor - CGS News

Phil Bruch, P.Eng.
Golder Associates Ltd.
Phil_Bruch@golder.com