A HISTORY OF GEOTECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS - Introduction to Soft Soil Geotechnique: Content, Context and Application - page 18

further development of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation
Engineering, which had its origins in the 1 st ICSMFE, in 1936.
Until 1960 geotechnical investigation and consultancy was concentrated at
LGM, the Municipality Works Departments of Rotterdam and Amsterdam, and the
Dutch Railways. Thereafter, the profession had become more common and
commercially interesting, which gave rise to consultancy and research bureaus.
Small site investigation firms conquered the housing market. The field of LGM
moved from advice to applied research. Large contractors established soil
mechanics departments. In 1962 Fugro was founded. It specialised in off-shore
together with Heerema, and became a global player in size. In the eighties
automatisation commenced, which gave a boost to micro-electronics in devices and
numerical simulation.

Van de Boogaard Van de Boogaard

Mulder Mulder

Labrie Labrie

de Koster de Koster Boerkoel Boerkoel

Van de Beld Van de Beld

Mennema Mennema

Geuze Geuze

Huizinga Huizinga

Van Noppen Van Noppen

Van Mierlo Van Mierlo Nanninga Nanninga

Reynierse Reynierse

De Nie De Nie

de Koster de Koster

Figure 1.13 The staff of LGM in 1936

- 1934 LGM's first large project, the Maes tunnel.

- 1934 Oedometer.

- 1934 Cone penetration test (CPT).

- 1935 deep CPT.

- 1935 Shear apparatus.

- 1935 Keverling Buisman discovers that clay subjected to loading ever

compacts. He developed the creep law for soft soils, which he called secular
settlement that appears proportional to the logarithm of time.

1936 1 st Int Soil Mech Congress in Cambridge. Keverling Buisman presented
his creep law, which was received sceptically. Later Mitchell proved on purely
physical principles it was right.

-