Jean Biarez: His Life and Work - Multiscale Geomechanics: From Soil to Engineering Projects - page 4

calculation and laboratory experiments on 2D models made of aluminum rods (the
Taylor-Schneebelli model for granular materials), it was possible to progress
towards a better understanding of what caused retaining walls and hollow
foundations to break down when the soil was subjected to large rotational strain
fields.
At the same time, studies were carried out to test soil properties under low
stresses in order to understand soil behavior better by distinguishing cohesive and
non-cohesive soils. This was the subject of Biarez's PhD thesis in 1961. He was
among the first scientists who tried to explain the soil's mechanical properties by
examining the mechanisms in action at the grain scale. His work showed the
influence of both inherent and induced structural anisotropy on the stress−strain
relationship. The results he obtained were highly original at the time and remain a
topical subject. His innovative approach can be found in subsequent work
throughout his long career.
All the activities of the Grenoble laboratory, whether they were experimental or
computational, due to the development of computers, were oriented towards a close
contact with industry. The industrial needs of EDF were by far pre-dominant.
Studies of materials for the Notre-Dame de Commiers and Mount Cenis dams were
carried out for EDF. Studies for the Bas-Rhône Languedoc canal and the Gharraf
canal in Iraq were made for SOGREAH. Tests on local sandstone for the Chocon
dam in Argentina were instigated, as were tests on silicate injections to remedy the
fault in the tunnel at La Bathie, etc. Graduate students in those days were constantly
present at construction sites, in accordance with a well-established Grenoblese
policy of cooperation between university and industry.
1.2. From Grenoble to Paris
In the meantime, the Ecole Centrale in Paris only provided its students with a
course in geology. Such was the tradition ever since the founding of the institution
in 1829. Jean Crosnier-Leconte, a 1929 alumnus, became professor of geology in
1954. As creator of the geology department at EDF as well, Crosnier-Leconte
himself embodied and trained his students to be a new type of engineer who
combined work on the structure with work on the site. This philosophy was shared
by Jean Biarez, which may explain why several of his students oriented their studies
towards combining soil mechanics and geology .
It was Jean-Jacques Bordes, a 1928 alumnus and professor of civil engineering,
as well as director of the DUMEZ Company, who considered that a course in soil
mechanics at Ecole Centrale was necessary. He called upon Biarez to give the
course and DUMEZ funded the equipment for a small laboratory so that students