Careers in Geotechnical Engineering

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Minnesota Minerals Education Workshop 2011

Career Opportunities in Geotechnical Engineering

Presented by
Carlos Carranza-Torres,
Associate Professor of
Geotechnical Engineering,
Department of Civil Engineering
University of Minnesota Duluth

June 21-23, 2011 - Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, Eveleth, MN

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Geotechnical engineering
Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering that deals with rocks,
soils and underground water, and their influences in the design, construction and
operation of engineering projects (e.g., civil and mining engineering projects).

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

The geotechnical engineer work
Typical work carried out by geotechnical engineers involves dealing with:
● Geotechnical aspects of structures.
● Geotechnical failures.
● Determination of physical and mechanical properties of rocks and soils.
● Geotechnical construction and soil remediation.

The geotechnical engineer work
Typical work carried out by geotechnical engineers involves dealing with:
● Geotechnical aspects of structures: for example, design and construction of
foundations for buildings, bridges and dams; design and construction of tunnels.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The Sears Tower in Chicago is one
of the tallest buildings in the
world. It needs massive
foundations to transmit the
structural loads into the ground.
The design of foundations for tall
buildings depends on the nature of
the underlying soils. Geotechnical
engineers are responsible for
assessing these soil conditions and
developing suitable foundation
designs.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The design and construction of foundation for large bridge, such as the Golden Gate Bridge in
San Francisco, is the task of the geotechnical engineer. The type of and size of foundations
needed in a large bridge depend very much on the conditions of soil and rock on which the
foundations are going to rest on. Assessing the characteristics of the soil and rock for
designing the foundations is also the task of a geotechnical engineer.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Oroville Dam in California is one of the largest earth dams in the world. It is made of
61,000,000 m3 (80,000,000 yd3) of compacted soil. The design and construction of large
dams like this require extensive geotechnical engineering studies.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The Ted Williams Tunnel is part of the
Central Artery Project in Boston (the `Big
Dig’). This prefabricated tunnel section
was floated to the job site, and then sunk
into a prepared trench in the bottom of
the bay (the tunnel resulting from sinking
and linking together prefabricated
sections like these is called a
prefabricated submerged tunnel).

Tunnel excavation and support

Excavation of tunnel top heading. Egnatia Odos Project. Greece

18

Tunnel excavation and support

Top heading and bench configuration. Egnatia Odos Project. Greece

Tunnel excavation and support

Tunnel wall collapse. Egnatia Odos Project. Greece

Final support design and construction

Construction of tunnel invert. Egnatia Odos Project. Greece

22

Final support design and construction

Impermeabilization of final support. Egnatia Odos Project. Greece

The geotechnical engineer work
Typical work carried out by geotechnical engineers involves dealing with:
● Geotechnical failures: although the purpose of sound geotechnical designs is to
avoid failures, when geotechnical failures have occurred, geotechnical engineers
have learnt from past mistakes, and have advanced developments in the field of
geotechnical engineering. Examples include development of proper draining
systems (including geo-membranes) to stabilize soils that are prone to develop
erosion and landslide problems; development of proper compaction techniques to
avoid failure of dams and road sub-grades; development of proper drainage
techniques to avoid liquefaction failures.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

This house was built near the top of a slope and had a beautiful view of the Pacific
Ocean. Unfortunately, a landslide occurred during a wet winter, undermining the house
and causing part of its floor to fall away.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Teton Dam (an earth-filled dam) in Idaho failed in 1976, only a few months after the
embankment had been completed and the reservoir began to be filled. This failure killed
14 people and caused about $400 million of property damage. The cause of the failure was
attributed to type of soil and compaction degrees of soil in the core of the dam and in the
foundation.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The fill in the approaching ramp to this bridge has settled because the underlying soils
are soft clays and silts. However, the bridge has not settled because it is supported on
piles. Although this ‘failure’ is not as dramatic as the previous ones, it is a source of
additional maintenance costs, and can be a safety hazard to motorists and pedestrians.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The 1964 Niigata Earthquake in Japan caused extensive liquefaction in this port city.
These apartment buildings rotated when the underlying soils liquefied.

The geotechnical engineer work
Typical work carried out by geotechnical engineers involves dealing with:
● Determination of physical and mechanical properties of rocks and soils: for
example, using field and laboratory testing.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Drilling exploratory borings to obtain soil and rock samples. This rig drills
holes up to 30 m (100 ft) deep.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Testing samples in a soil mechanics laboratory. These tests help geotechnical
engineers determine the mechanical properties of soils and rock.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Performing a field reconnaissance. This is
the top of a recent landslide, and the
man in the photograph is
examining the soil and rock exposed in
the scarp.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Monitoring geotechnical instruments.
These instruments measure groundwater
levels and water pressure, soil
movements, and other attributes of
water and soils below the ground
surface.

The geotechnical engineer work
Typical work carried out by geotechnical engineers involves dealing with:
● Geotechnical construction and soil remediation: when working for contractors,
geotechnical engineers can also become actively involved in construction projects.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The fill for this highway near Fort St. John, British Columbia is being reinforced with
geogrids, thus allowing the side slopes to be steeper than would be possible with an
unreinforced fill.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

This rig is drilling a hole in the ground that will be filled with reinforced concrete to
form a drilled shaft foundation.

From Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

This rig is installing a series of wick
drains, which help accelerate the
settlements that will occur as a
result of an earth fill.

Advertising brochure of
Keller Inc., a geotechnical
engineering
consulting/contractor
company
(downloaded from
Internet)

Advertising brochure of
Keller Inc., a geotechnical
engineering
consulting/contractor
company
(downloaded from
Internet)

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Geotechnical engineering, geology and mining
‘Geotechnics’ is the name commonly used to refer to the common field of civil
engineering and geolgy, or civil engineering and mining engineering, in which
geotechnical issues are addressed.

Geotechnical engineering
in civil engineering and its
relationship with Geology

Adapted from Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

Geotechnical engineering, geology and mining (Cont.)
There is a wide range of problems addressed jointly by engineering geologists
(who has a geology background) and geotechnical engineers (who has a civil
engineering background). Examples include site or ground investigations
(including field and lab testing of physical and mechanical properties of soil and
rock) in which geologists and engineers normally work together.

Geotechnical engineering
in civil engineering and its
relationship with
Mining Engineering

Based on a sketch from Coduto et al. (2011),
Geotechnical Engineering. Pearson.

The ‘mining’ geotechnical engineer
In mining industry a ‘mining’ geotechnical engineer can apply his/her skills and
get involved, for example, in:
-Design and construction of open pit and underground excavations.
-Design and construction of gravity earth-fill tail-dams.
-Site investigations and field and lab testing (normally in a team that includes
also engineering geologists).

The ‘mining’ geotechnical engineer (Cont.)
The ‘mining’ geotechnical engineer by himself/herself is not trained to solve all
aspects of mining (that is why ‘mining engineering’ as a career exists!).
Furthermore the mining industry is an industry that is very multidisciplinary in
nature.
But when the ‘mining’ geotechnical engineer teams up with mining engineers,
geologists, environmental engineers and others, a great spectrum of problems
related to mining can be addressed.
Clear examples of these are companies like SRK-Consulting and Golder which
were started by geotechnical engineers –Golder still being very much onto ‘Civil’
Geotechnical Engineering and SRK very much more focused onto mining, and
therefore very multidisciplinary.

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Minnesota-based geotechnical engineering companies
In alphabetical order:
● Barr Engineering (www.barr.com). Originally started as water engineering
company (designing reservoirs, pipelines, etc.) it provides very good geotechnical
engineering services.
● Broun Intertec (www.braunintertec.com). Although it has a current focus on
environmental engineering, it provides very good geotechnical engineering
services.

Minnesota-based geotechnical engineering companies
In alphabetical order:
● Barr Engineering (www.barr.com). Originally started as water engineering
company (designing reservoirs, pipelines, etc.) it provides very good geotechnical
engineering services.
● Broun Intertec (www.braunintertec.com). Although it has a focus on
environmental engineering, it provides very good geotechnical engineering
services.

Global geotechnical engineering companies
In alphabetical order:
● Golder Associates (www.golder.com). Originally started in Canada, it has ~160
offices around the world.
● SRK Consulting (www.srk.com). Started in South Africa, it has ~40 offices
around the world. In contrast with Golder Associates, SRK specializes in
geotechnical engineering applied to mining.

Both Golder Associates and SRK were started by geotechnical (civil) engineers as
mainly geotechnical engineering companies; nowadays the companies are highly
multidisciplinary in scope, employ not only geotechnical engineers but also a
large number of professionals in other areas like environmental sciences, geology,
biology, social sciences, natural resources sciences, etc.

Global geotechnical engineering companies
In alphabetical order:
● Golder Associates (www.golder.com). Originally started in Canada, it has ~160
offices around the world.
● SRK Consulting (www.srk.com). Started in South Africa, it has ~40 offices
around the world. In contrast with Golder Associates, SRK specializes in
geotechnical engineering applied to mining.

Global geotechnical engineering companies
In alphabetical order:
● Golder Associates (www.golder.com). Originally started in Canada, it has ~160
offices around the world.
● SRK Consulting (www.srk.com). Started in South Africa, it has ~40 offices
around the world. In contrast with Golder Associates, SRK specializes in
geotechnical engineering applied to mining.

Slope stability problems. Open pit (copper) mining

Chuquicamata Mine. Calama, Chile

Slope stability problems. Open pit (copper) mining

Radomiro Tomic Mine. Calama, Chile

Wall stability problem. Open pit diamond mining

Koidu ‘K1’ Diamond Mine. Sierra Leone, Africa

Wall stability problem. Open pit diamond mining

Koidu ‘K1’ Diamond Mine. Sierra Leone, Africa

Project ‘Rajo Sur’ (Southern Open Pit)
at ‘El Teniente’ mine crater, Chile

1,000 m
(~3,281 ft)

111

Project ‘Rajo Sur’ (Southern Open Pit)
at ‘El Teniente’ mine crater, Chile

112

Project ‘Rajo Sur’ (Southern Open Pit)
at ‘El Teniente’ mine crater, Chile

113

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Soil and Rock Mechanics
Soil mechanics and rock mechanics are two important components of the
geotechnical engineering field (i.e., core courses in any geotechnical educational
programs). Soil mechanics and rock mechanics deal with the study of the physical
and mechanical properties of soil and rock, respectively, and the behavior of soil
and rock masses when subjected to various mechanical loading/unloading
conditions.

Geotechnical engineering courses at University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD)
The new civil Engineering program at UMD offers the following geotechnical
engineering courses:
-CE3425 Engineering Geology (required) –taught by C. Carranza-Torres
-CE3426 Soil Mechanics (required) – taught (temporarily) by C. Carranza-Torres
-CE4415 Geotechnical Design (elective) – to be taught by D. Saftner
-CE4426 Rock Mechanics (elective) – to be taught by C. Carranza-Torres
-CE4436 Design of excavations in rock (elective) – to be taught by C. Carranza-Torres

Geotechnical engineering courses at University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD)
David Saftner is a PhD from University of Michigan and a West Point graduate (David is
a veteran of Irak war) and has background and experience in soil mechanics. Besides
taking over (and teaching) Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Design, David will be
teaching the following new courses (still to be outlined and accepted by UMD):
-CExxx Advanced Soil Mechanics (elective).
-CExxx Field investigations (elective).

David Saftner, the new geotechnical (`soils’
faculty) at UMD - From Google Images
(searching for David Saftner)

Topics to de discussed
-Introduction.
-What is geotechnical engineering?
-What type of work does a geotechnical engineer do? (the ‘book’ description)
-How does geotechnical engineering relate with other common disciplines, like
geology and mining engineering?
-What geotechnical engineering companies do? (the `real life’ description)
-What is a typical undergraduate study plan to focus on geotechnical engineering?
-Time for questions.

Thank you for your attention...

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