There have been many questions
and speculations around the Millennium Tower, a luxury residential skyscraper
opened in 2009, which is on its way to becoming the new US Tower of Pisa: What
allowed such a costly structure to sink about 40 centimeters? Was it the fault
of the professionals who built it on an inadequate basis?
The Millennium Tower owners'
association recently started an investigation to determine the cause. But,
faced with a case as delicate as this we pose: What is Geotechnical Engineering and why is so
crucial?
This science is a branch of the
civil engineering that is in charge of the study of the mechanical and
hydraulic properties of a land, being the geotechnical engineer the one in
charge of investigating the ground and the rocks of the subsoil for the later
design of the foundations of buildings, bridges, central or any infrastructure
that is built on the site.
According to the International
Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE),
"everything that soil or rock does not support, falls, flies or
floats." And as stated in the report of the National Office of Economic
Development: more than a third of overweight construction projects cite the
unexpected conditions of the subsoil as an essential factor contributing to
this reality. But with the analysis of soil mechanics and rock, geotechnical
engineers can avoid significant construction problems or worse catastrophes.
Geotechnical engineering in city
of Calgary is the branch of civil engineering that is in charge of the study of
the mechanical, hydraulic and engineering properties of the materials coming
from the Earth. This implies that the professional in the area or the
geotechnical engineer has a function to investigate the soil and rocks below
the surface determining their properties, designing the foundations for
structures such as buildings, bridges, hydroelectric power stations, and so on.
Karl Terzaghi is considered as the father of geotechnical engineering and Soil mechanics.
Geotechnical engineers as researchers
inquire about the risks that exist for man, properties, and characteristics,
investigate the risk to humans, natural environmental phenomena or propitiated
by human activity such as landslides, landslides, mudflows and rock fall.
Previously geotechnical
engineering in Calgary was known as, soil mechanics. But today it has acquired
broad terms that include seismic engineering, production of geotechnical
materials, improvement of soil characteristics, soil-structure interaction and
others. There are areas such as geotechnical-mechanical engineering of soil and
rocks that perform:
- Expertise
- Soil mechanics studies
- Rock Mechanics Studies
- Design anchors
- Foundation design
- Training in Mechanical Soils and Rocks
- Technical inspection of anchors
Geotechnical Engineering uses the
principles of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics to investigate subsoil
conditions and materials, determine the physical/chemical relevance and
mechanical properties of these materials, evaluate the stability of natural
slopes of the soil and built deposits by man; and assess the risks posed by
site conditions, land movement design and foundation structure, and monitor
site conditions, land movement and foundation construction.
