CGS News

Call for Nominations – The 2016 Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium
The Canadian Geotechnical Colloquium is a commissioned work financially supported by the Canadian Foundation for Geotechnique. 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 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 (in two payments) and a framed certificate.

Each nomination letter must provide an introduction to the candidate and his/her main accomplishments. It must be accompanied by an abstract of about 2,000 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.

Nominations should be submitted prior to January 31, 2015 to Murray Grabinsky, P.Eng., Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 35 St. George Street, Toronto ON, M5S 1A4, or emailed to murray.grabinsky@utoronto.ca or in care of the CGS Executive Director at cgs@cgs.ca.

Engineering Institute of Canada

Seeking Executive Director - Applications due December 15, 2014
The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) is inviting applications for the position of Executive Director, to be filled by April 15, 2015, with the new incumbent taking up the position on June 15, 2015. The Executive Director is a paid, half-time position with the EIC, reporting to the President.

The Executive Director is responsible for the effective and efficient management of the Institute’s affairs. The EIC is seeking a person with the following attributes:

• Able to provide leadership in the ongoing development of the EIC in pursuit of its vision and objectives.
• Experienced in the management and governance of not-for-profit organizations such as the Engineering Institute of Canada and its member societies.
• Available to work half-time, possibly from his or her own office, using computer and internet communications.
• Able to oversee the work of an office administrator who may also be working from his or her own office.
• The ability to communicate in both English and French is desirable.

Vision of the EIC: “Engineering, for a prosperous, safe and sustainable Canada.”
Mission: Develop and promote continuing education; Initiate and facilitate interdisciplinary activities and services; Lead member societies in defining and building the future of engineering and Advocate the values and benefits of engineering
Objectives: Continuing Education, Awards, History and Archives, Conferences, Promote Engineering as a Career and Services to Member Societies.

Applicants are invited to submit a short resume of relevant experience, no later than December 15, 2014, to jplant1@cogeco.ca. For a complete job description, see link on www.eic-ici.ca.

Upcoming Conferences and Seminars
68th Canadian Geotechnical Conference and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference
September 20-23, 2015, Québec City, Quebec

Call for Abstracts
The Eastern Quebec Section of the Canadian Geotechnical Society and the Canadian National Committee for the International Permafrost Association (CNC-IPA), invite you to GéoQuébec 2015, for the joint 68th Canadian Geotechnical and 7th Canadian Permafrost Conference. The conference will be held from September 20 - 23, 2015 in the Convention Center in Québec City, Québec. It will cover a wide range of topics, including speciality sessions that are of local and national relevance to the fields of geo-engineering, permafrost and engineering geology. In addition to the technical program and plenary sessions, the conference will include a complement of workshops, short courses, technical excursions and local tours.

The official languages for the conference will be English and French. The Convention Center is located in the historic downtown area of Québec City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, facing onto Québec’s Parliament Hill. Old Québec City, which is the cradle of French civilization in North America, is best explored on foot and September is the best time of the year with a typically warm, dry weather and the maple trees just beginning to take on their colourful fall foliage.

The conference theme Challenges from North to South reflects the diverse and complex challenges that the geotechnical, cold regions engineering and permafrost communities will need to address in order to support sustainable economic development. The Local Organizing Committee invites members from the Canadian and international communities to contribute papers on their recent research and advancements in geotechnical, geo-environmental and cold regions engineering, as well as permafrost science.

Authors are invited to submit abstracts of a maximum 400 words through the conference web site, www.geoquebec2015.ca. The abstracts should generally fall within the following topics, but sessions will be added for groups of abstracts which share a common theme not listed below:

• Fundamentals - Soil and Rock Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, Groundwater Hydraulics, Physical and Numerical Modelling, Geocryology, and Periglacial Processes
• Soil and Terrain Characterization - Laboratory Testing, In Situ Testing, Instrumentation, GIS and Remote Sensing
• Geohazards - Climate Change, Permafrost Degradation, Earthquakes, Landslides
• Infrastructure Design and Operation - Transportation, Pipelines, Embankments and Dams, Harbour and Shoreline Geotechnique, Infrastructure performance in Cold Regions
• Problematic Soils - Permafrost Soils and Ground Ice, Collapsible Soils, Expansive Soils, Ground Improvement
• Mining Waste Management and Environmental Geotechnology - Mine Waste Disposal, Contaminated Soils, Landfills and Barriers, Restoration of Derelict Lands, Mining in Cold Regions
• Sustainable Development - Policy and Regulation, Risk and Reliability, Northern Communities
• Case Studies and Case Histories

The deadline for abstract submission is January 15, 2015. Authors whose abstracts are accepted by the conference’s Technical Committee will be notified by February 21, 2015 and invited to submit full papers. The submitted papers, which can be in either English or French, will be reviewed prior to final acceptance and inclusion in the conference proceedings. At least one author of an accepted paper must register for the conference for its inclusion in the proceedings.

For more information regarding sessions, topics and the technical program, please contact:
Jean Côté (Conference Co-Chair - geotechnical) at jean.cote@geoquebec2015.ca
Michel Allard (Conference co-Chair - permafrost at michel.allard@geoquebec2015.ca

For geotechnical contributions:
Didier Perret (Technical Program co-Chair) at comtec_geot@geoquebec2015.ca

For permafrost and cold region engineering contributions:
Richard Fortier (Technical Program co-Chair) at comtec_perg@geoquebec2015.ca

CGS Membership Registration for 2015
Your Canadian Geotechnical Society membership is expiring! All members are encouraged to visit the Canadian Geotechnical Society website at www.cgs.ca, to renew their membership for 2015 as soon as possible.

Membership benefits include:

• Online access to the electronic version of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal (published monthly) including all past issues;
• Member pricing for print subscriptions to the Canadian Geotechnical Journal;
• A complementary print subscription to Geotechnical News (four issues annually);
• Online member access only to past CGS conference electronic proceedings;
• Member pricing for the CGS-sponsored professional development opportunities, including the Society’s popular Annual Conference, to be held in Quebec City in 2015;
• Preferred member information on CGS’s spring and fall Cross Country Lecture Tour featuring recognized National and International speakers;
• Membership in one of CGS’s technical divisions – Soil Mechanics and Foundations, Engineering Geology, Geoenvironmental, Rock Mechanics, Geosynthetics, Groundwater and Cold Regions;
• Complementary membership in the International Society related to your Division of choice, i.e., ISSMGE, IAEG, ISRM, IGS or IPA. Additional memberships at preferred second society member pricing (CSCE, IAH, NAGS, etc.);
• Access to information from CGS’s technical committees – Professional Practice, Education, Landslides, Transportation Geotechnique, Heritage and Mining Geotechnique.

We welcome all new and renewing members and look forward to your participation in 2015. We are planning several new programs this year and encourage you to recommend a friend or colleague to join the Canadian Geotechnical Society so that we can continue to improve upon the benefits the Society offers our profession.

Members in the News

2014 Legget Medal - Introduction of Dr. Peter Byrne, 2014 Legget Medal Award Recipient, delivered by Dr. Ernest Naesgaard
“It is a great honour to be invited to introduce Dr. Peter Michael Byrne for the Canadian Geotechnical Society Legget Medal. This is the most senior and prestigious award of the Society and Dr. Byrne is a much deserving recipient. Dr. Byrne has led a distinguished life on many fronts: academia, research, consulting, mentoring, sports, and family.

Dr. Byrne grew up in Ireland where, in 1959, he obtained a Bachelor of Engineering from University College Dublin and was awarded top student in structural analysis. He worked as a structural engineer for George Wimpy in London for a year before seeing his calling and moving to British Columbia to work as a “Soils Engineer”.

In Vancouver, Dr. Byrne met his wife, Jane, (a school psychologist, librarian, superb cook and maker of fabulous Welsh cakes), and raised their two sons, Craig and Sean. Like their parents, the boys desired to travel and now one is a lawyer living in Italy and the other an architect in Australia.

Dr. Byrne is an avid sailor. He competed in the Flying Dutchmen class for Canada in the 1967 Pan American Games (Bronze medal winner) and in the 1972 Olympics in Germany. He also, more than once, was a strategist on the grueling Victoria-Maui Swiftsure Yacht race. Many summers, Peter, Jane and the boys, and later Peter and Jane, could be found on their own sailboat “Excalibur” plying the coast of British Columbia. This was Peter’s summer office.

In 1965 Peter returned to school and obtained a M.A.Sc. and Ph.D. at University of British Columbia where he stayed on to become Professor and later Professor Emeritus. His research was primarily in numerical analysis but also in the fields of liquefaction, interpretation of laboratory and centrifuge testing, and soil-structure interaction. Dr. Byrne has made many significant contributions to engineering practice. He developed hyperbolic soil models with Prof. Duncan, programs for lateral pile analyses (LATPILE), several analysis programs and constitutive models (NLSSIP, SOILSTRESS, UBCTOT, UBCHYST and UBCSAND) and more. Probably the most important is the development of the effective stress constitutive model UBCSAND. Dr. Byrne’s incorporation of this model in the commercially available software FLAC, and his willingness to share this approach openly and freely, was instrumental to the current adoption of advanced, effective stress analyses in North America. These analyses have now become standard practice for dams and other critical public infrastructure.

Dr. Byrne has co-authored over 160 journal and conference papers, has made numerous invited presentations, served on international code committees, and chaired task forces. For several years he has held a NSERC Strategic Grant examining “Earthquake induced damage mitigation from soil liquefaction”. His work has been acknowledged: he is a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), has received the Vancouver Geotechnical Society Award, the Geoffery Meyerhoff Award, the Gzowski Medal for best paper (CSCE), the Julian C. Smith award (EIC) “for achievement in the development of Canada”, has given the R.M. Hardy Keynote Address and more.

As a mentor, Dr. Byrne was always approachable and freely shared his ideas and time, both with his students and practicing engineers. His enthusiasm for his work was obvious; he would gladly spend hours talking about his latest ideas and developments, and would openly share his latest programs.

As a consultant, Dr. Byrne has been in demand for many years as a specialist consultant and reviewer on major projects. These have included dams for BC Hydro, Hydro Quebec, US Corps of Engineers; seismic upgrades for major Bridges in Greater Vancouver, soil cover for oil-sands tailings, numerical modelling for seismic upgrade of the Bart Tunnel in San Francisco, and the design of numerous tailings dam facilities around the world.

I should acknowledge Dr. Michael Beaty, another of Peter’s former students, in helping to formulate this introduction. In closing I quote Michael; “One of Dr. Byrne’s great strengths is his ability to identify the key aspects of a problem, and develop engineering solutions that are practical and effective because they efficiently focus on the critical mechanisms. He has impressed many with this singular skill.” This skill and the willingness to share his ideas and work are key attributes that accentuate Dr. Byrne within our profession.

And again, I thank you for allowing me to introduce Dr. Peter Michael Byrne as the 2014 Legget medal recipient.”

Reply by Dr. Peter Byrne
“Thank you, Ernie for that introduction. Mr. President, fellow engineers, ladies and gentlemen.

I am profoundly humbled to have been recognized and nominated by my colleagues for the prestigious R.F. Legget Medal, and I am sincerely grateful to the Canadian Geotechnical Society for choosing me as its 2014 recipient. Considering the list of previous medal winners, it is truly an honour to be in the company of so many outstanding individuals, and to be considered worthy of such recognition.

Among previous winners of this medal is my friend and colleague, Dr. W.D. Liam Finn, who was instrumental in my decision to join the Faculty of Applied Science at the University of British Columbia. When I had completed my Ph.D. degree, he approached me to join the Department as an Assistant Professor. That decision very much shaped my career, and I remain forever grateful to him.

In 1959, after graduating in Civil Engineering from the University College Dublin, Ireland, I began my engineering career as a Structural Engineer for George Wimpey in London, UK. A year later, in 1960, I came to Canada and was hired as a Soils and Hydraulics Engineer for CBA Engineering, in Vancouver.

I worked for CBA for three years on two major projects: construction of the original Port Mann Bridge across the Fraser River, and the Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia River. From time to time when various problems arose, specialist consultants would arrive on site, such as Dr. Arthur Casagrande. I was so impressed by their contribution that it spurred my interest in obtaining a higher degree in geotechnical engineering. As such, I obtained a M.A.Sc. degree in 1965 and then a Ph.D degree in 1967, both from the University of British Columbia.

At this time, my interest became numerical modelling of soil liquefaction for the analysis and design of earth structures. The stress-strain and strength of the soil are a key aspect in such analyses.

In 1967, I joined the Department of Civil Engineering as Assistant Professor. At that time, my colleague Dr. Richard Campanella was in the process of developing a world class soils laboratory to test monotonic and cyclic loading of sands and clay. Drs. Yogi Vaid and Dharma Wijewickreme further developed the soils laboratory. The lab equipment in addition to the lab tests provided me with the stress-strain behaviour data which I used to produce my numerical model for analysis.

In 1976-1977 I spent a sabbatical year at the University of Berkeley, California, working with Dr. Mike Duncan on nonlinear analysis of long span soil metal arches. A number of these structures had failed during construction and there was a need to know the reason why these were failing.

In 1986, I spent three months at the University of Sydney, Australia, and learned much about plasticity from Dr. John Booker (who passed away unexpectedly in 1998). I came to realize that a simple plasticity model could capture much of the stress-strain response found in the laboratory monotonic and cyclic tests.

In early 2000, Dr. Ryan Phillips and I held an NSERC Strategic Grant with industry partners. We were to examine seismic liquefaction response of Fraser River sand from cyclic direct simple shear (DSS) tests conducted in the UBC Soils Laboratory. Centrifuge tests that were conducted on the same sand were carried out at C-Core, Newfoundland. Fraser River sand was trucked from Vancouver to C-Core. Numerical models were first calibrated from the DSS tests and used to predict the response of the dynamic centrifuge tests. The predicted responses from the numerical analyses were generally in good agreement with the measured responses from the dynamic centrifuge tests.

In addition to being a faculty member at the University of British Columbia for many years, I have had the opportunity to be involved on a wide range of projects, including bridges, tunnels, dams, including mine-waste dams both in Canada and many others parts of the world. All these projects involved the stress-strain and strength relations of the soil under monotonic and cyclic loading.

During my tenure as Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at UBC I had the privilege of supervising many exceptional graduate students who pursued research in state-of-the-art numerical analyses and modelling liquefaction effects on soil structures against seismic loading. Two of these outstanding students, Drs. Ernie Naesgaard and Mike Beaty continued in this area after graduation and further developed the model (UBCSAND). This model continues to evolve and is recognized and used world-wide.

Canada has a combination of challenging soil and seismic conditions which has required great expertise from our area of geotechnical engineering. I have worked with engineers from many countries, but in my view our group in Canada is among the very best. It is a pleasure to work with such high quality professionals, and to have been selected from this group for this medal is truly an honour.

I also want to thank my wife, Jane, whose love and support have sustained me over the years.In conclusion, I want to again say how grateful I am to receive this award. Thank you very much.”

Dr Victor Sowa, PEng, PGeo, FEIC
Canadian Geotechnical Society Secretary General, 2007 to 2014
The Secretary General of the Canadian Geotechnical Society is the individual responsible for the effective and efficient management of the Society’s affairs. Since 2007, that individual has been Dr. Victor Sowa, the third Secretary General of the Society. During his tenure he has provided long-term knowledge and guidance in his characteristic behind-the-scenes and thorough manner to four Presidents, Vice Presidents, Executives Committees, Boards of Directors, and conference organizing committees. Victor has kept the Society on an even keel and moving forward. The Society is where it is today, in part, due to Dr. Sowa’s hard work and dedication. Victor is retiring as Secretary General at the end of 2014 and, at GeoRegina 2014, was recognized and presented with a CGS A.G. Stermac Award. The following is a little background about our soon-to-be-retired Secretary General.

Professionally, Victor received his BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Alberta and then, as an Athlone Fellow, went on to graduate studies at Imperial College of Science and Technology in 1959 obtaining a DIC, and then continued his studies at the University of London receiving his PhD in Soil Mechanics in 1963. His thesis was “A Comparison of the Effect of Isotropic and Anisotropic Consolidation on the Shear Behaviour of a Clay”, supervised by Dr. Skempton.

During his professional career, Victor worked as a geotechnical consultant with Acres International in Niagara Falls, Hardy Associates and AMEC in Edmonton, and with Klohn Crippen, SRK-Robertson and Jacques Whitford in Vancouver. He worked as a Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Principal Geotechnical Engineer, Corporate Geotechnical Engineer and Manager of Engineering for these consulting firms. He consulted on numerous projects associated with oil refineries and petrochemical plants, pipelines, dams and tailings impoundments and industrial plants and a number of geoenvironmental projects. In addition to Canada, Victor also worked in the US, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and St. Kitts.

He is the author or co-author of over 30 professional papers and presentations.

Victor joined the CGS in 1965. His position of Secretary General is just the culmination of a long list of CGS professional service work that Victor has been involved with over the years:

• Executive Member of both the Geotechnical Society of Edmonton (1975-1982) and the Vancouver Geotechnical Society (1993-1996). Victor served as President and is a Life Member of both of these regional societies.
• CGS Directorship for Northern Alberta (1983-1985) and for British Columbia (1997-1999).
• Member of seven conference organizing committees between 1965 and 2005.
• Author of Chapter 4 “Site Investigation” of the Canadian Foundation Engineering Manual (3rd Edition, 1992).

Victor was elected a Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada in 1999, received the A.G. Stermac Award in 2000 and was awarded the EIC’s Canadian Pacific Railway Engineering Medal in 2006 for his leadership and service to the CGS.

As Secretary General he worked closely with CGS Presidents Peter Wu, Michel Aubertin, Bryan Watts and Richard Bathurst, and closely with CGS Administrators Sarah Watson, Wayne Gibson and Lisa McJunkin.

When asked for a few thoughts about Victor, Michel Aubertin responded: “I am pleased to acknowledge the important role that Victor Sowa has played in the Canadian Geotechnical Society since he became Secretary General. Vic started in that position shortly before I became President-Elect in 2008 and made a tremendous effort to master the various tasks and responsibilities of the Secretary General in a short period of time. With me as the new President in 2009, and with many new members on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors, Vic worked very hard to make sure that everything ran smoothly. I personally benefitted from his dedication, support and collaboration. Over the years, Vic has continued to help all volunteers that devote their time and energy for the benefit of the CGS. I have also gotten to know Vic better over the years and found him to be a nice man to work with. I would like to thank Vic and wish him the best of success with his upcoming projects.”

Bryan Watts responded: “My association with Vic started with Hardy and Associates in 1975 when Vic was my supervisor for the construction of the starter dams at Syncrude. To this day, his paper on the foundation conditions at a portion of the starter dam over highly compressible peat and silty clay is one of the best technical papers ever written on foundation soils in the oil sands. My next encounter with Vic was during his tenure at Klohn Crippen in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I sought his advice many times because of his experience on a wide variety of projects in our industry.

During my tenure as President, Vic worked tirelessly…at first to educate me about the workings of the CGS, then to coach me on the manuals, procedures, and all of the other stuff that Presidents don’t really grasp. Without Vic, many of us would have had a much more difficult time performing our duties in the CGS. He has always worked behind the scenes to improve our profession. So, to Vic, many thanks, and enjoy your retirement, finally!”

Richard Bathurst responded: “Vic has been the ‘Wizard of Oz’ behind the CGS stage for the last eight years. As Secretary General, he has provided four Presidents and Boards of Directors with outstanding guidance on the day-to-day affairs of the Society, and wisdom on matters of policy. The volume of CGS business that passes through the office of the Secretary General is difficult to appreciate unless one has had the experience of being President. Vic has performed each task with the welfare of our Society and each CGS member in mind. For this dedication we can all be grateful. I wish Vic the best for the future and salute him for a job well done.”

Lisa McJunkin responded: “Having worked closely with Vic since 2009, I have come to appreciate his keen eye for detail. This has helped keep the CGS on track during his term as Secretary General. He leaves the Society in good shape to take on new challenges in the ever-changing and evolving engineering community. Victor, you will be missed! Victor, all of us in the CGS family thank you for your efforts and wish you all the best in your retirement.”

CGS Heritage Committee

New Publication
The CGS Heritage Committee would like to inform CGS members about the Edmonton Geological Society’s newest publication John Allan: The Founding of Alberta’s Energy Industries by Willem Langenberg and Dave Cruden.

This book of photographs shows us the beginning of Alberta’s energy industries through the eyes of Dr John Andrew Allan, Professor of the University of Alberta, first Chairman of the Department of Geology, first Director of the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), founding member of technical organizations and societies, such as the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta (now Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures), the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), and the Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG). John Allan played a founding role in the development of the mineral resources of Alberta.

The views presented in this book follow John Allan’s fieldwork throughout the province and beyond. They show us what he and his contemporaries saw with their own eyes in times past. They document how he saw the development potential of Alberta’s mineral resources, as do his numerous reports and papers, a selection of which is listed at the end of this book. In a talk on CKUA radio in 1927, he predicted the oil boom, which began in 1947 with the discovery of the Leduc oil field. John Allan’s leadership and foresight greatly contributed to the success of the energy industries in Alberta, which changed the fortunes of the Province of Alberta and its citizens.

The Edmonton Geological Society offers the book for $20/copy (retail). Bulk order discounts and wholesale pricing available upon request. To order, or for more information, contact the EGS publications manager.

Matthias Grobe, Publications Manager
Edmonton Geological Society
Ph. (780) 427-2843
Email: matt.grobe@aer.ca

History of Local Chapters of the Canadian Geotechnical Society
The Heritage Committee believes that the history of the local chapters of the Canadian Geotechnical Society to be valuable part of the Society and its members. The CGS Heritage Committee would like to assemble if at all possible, a collection of historical summaries of all the chapters.

If you have any questions or have other historical information that you wish to share or know of any opportunities to acquire material that is at risk of being lost, please contact the Chair of the CGS Heritage Committee, Dr Suzanne Powell, at spowell@thurber.ca.