Engineering geology - Practical Engineering Geology - page 5

however, many other tasks, such as design of ground investigations
and numerical modelling, that could be done by either an experienced
engineering geologist or a geotechnical engineer. Many professional
engineering geologists contribute in a major way to the detailed design
and construction of prestigious projects such as dams, bridges and
tunnels and have risen to positions of high responsibility within private
companies and government agencies.

1.4 The role of an engineering geologist in a project

1.4.1 General
As discussed and illustrated later, some sites pose major challenges
because of adverse and dif

cult geological conditions, but the majority
do not. This leads to a quandary. If a standardised

approach is taken to site characterisation and more particularly to
ground investigation ( Chapter 4), then much time and money will be
wasted on sites that do not need it but, where there are real hazards,
then the same routine approach might not allow the problems to be
identi

' one-size- ts-all '

ed and dealt with. This is when things can go seriously wrong.
Civil engineering projects sometimes fail physically (such as the col-
lapse of a dam, a landslide or unacceptable settlement of a building) or
cost far more than they should because of time over-runs or litigation.
Often, in hindsight, the root of the problem turns out to be essentially
geological. It is also commonly found that whilst the dif cult condi-

tions were not particularly obvious, they were not unforeseeable or
really unpredictable. It was the approach and management that was
wrong (Baynes, 2007).
Engineering geologists can often make important contributions at
the beginning of a project in outline planning and design of investiga-
tion for a site and in ensuring that contracts deal with the risks
properly, as outlined in Chapter 2.
A skilful and experienced engineering geologist should be able to
judge from early on what the crucial unknowns for a project are and
how they should be investigated. Typical examples of the contributions
that he might make are set out in Table 1.2.

1.4.2 Communication within the geotechnical team
The engineering geologist will almost always work in a team and needs
to take responsibility for his role within that team. If there are geolo-
gical unknowns and signi cant hazards, he needs to make himself

heard using terminology that is understood by his engineering collea-
gues; the danger of not doing so is illustrated by the case example of a
slope failure in Box 1-1.