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The Role of Geotechnics in Addressing New World Problems

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Geotechnical Fundamentals for Addressing New World Challenges

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering ((SSGG))

Abstract

There are many “new world”, or recently emergent, global challenges whose solutions require geotechnical inputs. Included among these challenges are climate change, enhancement of urban sustainability and resilience, energy and materials resource management, and management of water resources. Fundamental advances in the understanding of soil and rock properties and behavior, coupled with advances in sensing, monitoring and modeling of geo-systems, are needed for solutions to be found or implemented satisfactorily in each of these four areas. In addition, there is need for fundamental research that can improve the subsurface characterization and monitoring of complex geo-material behavior, the handling of multi-faceted, multi-scale geotechnical and geo-environmental processes, the integration of “big-data” and data-science methods into geotechnical engineering research and practice, and the management of uncertainty and risk. In addition to advancing fundamental research in geotechnics, geotechnical engineers also need to lend expertise and leadership to the interdisciplinary research and development efforts that are essential to ensuring our sustainable future.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Here, geotechnical is broadly defined to include applications involving all engineering aspects of soil and rock properties, behavior and mechanics, as well as geo-environmental engineering.

  2. 2.

    Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5 assumes CO2—equivalent emissions continue to rise throughout the 21st Century.

  3. 3.

    MIT [21] estimate the potential for generating more than 100 GWe by 2050 in the US alone.

  4. 4.

    North Sea installations benefit from much shorter transmission distances to major population centers and possible power interconnects between the National Grids of countries that have substantial pumped storage capacity (such as Norway).

  5. 5.

    E.g., proposed use of an abandoned mine cavity as the lower reservoir for a pumped storage project in Virginia http://www.enr.com/articles/42729-dominion-energy-eyes-2b-hydroelelctric-storage-project-in-va (September 13, 2017).

  6. 6.

    At the time of writing (September 2017), Texas and Louisiana have just experienced record rainfalls associated with Hurricane Harvey, and massive flood and wind damage from hurricanes Irma and Maria has occurred in Florida and across the Caribbean islands.

  7. 7.

    E.g., http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/about_dep/climate_resiliency.shtml.

  8. 8.

    http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/andres-oppenheimer/article166217947.html.

  9. 9.

    http://www.crossrail.co.uk.

  10. 10.

    http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/experts-warn-of-hefty-price-tag-for-singapores-underground-ambitions.

  11. 11.

    Wade Shepard, City Metric, August 25th, 2015.

  12. 12.

    United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2012. World Urbanization Prospects The 2011 Revision, New York.

  13. 13.

    Exemplified by typhoon Morakot (2009 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Morakot).

  14. 14.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/japan-methane-hydrate/japan-reports-successful-gas-output-test-from-methane-hydrate-idUSL4N1IA35A.

  15. 15.

    https://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/World-Statistics/World-Nuclear-Generation-and-Capacity.

  16. 16.

    http://prod.sandia.gov/techlib/access-control.cgi/2009/094401.pdf.

  17. 17.

    Embodied energy of a material is defined as the sum total of all the energy required to produce that material.

  18. 18.

    Ecological footprint of a project is the area of productive land required for executing different activities and for assimilating the emissions from such activities. Carbon footprint is an accounting tool that calculates the total emissions from different activities that lead to global climate change.

  19. 19.

    http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/waterresourcesmanagement.

  20. 20.

    Opti is an internet of things approach to manage distributed stormwater infrastructure—see: https://optirtc.com/products. It is part of an emerging suite of geoenvironmental approaches to “smart” water management.

  21. 21.

    http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diarrhoeal-disease.

  22. 22.

    Water for thermoelectric power is used in generating electricity with steam-driven turbine generators.

  23. 23.

    https://water.usgs.gov/edu/wusw.html.

  24. 24.

    https://www.nap.edu/read/13393/chapter/5#59.

  25. 25.

    I.e., Interparticle forces and fabric (particle orientation and distribution).

  26. 26.

    Often used in combination (e.g., seismic cone penetrometers).

  27. 27.

    InSAR mainly uses spaceborne antennae, while LIDAR and GPR can be measured from airborne or ground stations.

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Acknowledgements

This Book Chapter evolved from contributions made to a workshop entitled “Geotechnical Fundamentals in the Face of New World Challenges”, held at the National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, July 17th–19th, 2016. Funding for the workshop was provided by the National Science Foundation grant CMMI-1536733. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any supporting institution. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ning Lu for his constructive review comments and feedback on the contents of this Book Chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Robert A.W. and Christine S., Carleton Professor of Civil Engineering, Columbia University, 626 SW Mudd Building, 500 West 120th Street, New York, NY, 10027, US

    Patricia J. Culligan

  2. Edmund K. Turner Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, MIT, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Andrew J. Whittle

  3. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Virginia Tech, Patton Hall 120-D, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA

    James K. Mitchell

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  1. Patricia J. Culligan
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Correspondence to Patricia J. Culligan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Ning Lu

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    James K. Mitchell

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Culligan, P.J., Whittle, A.J., Mitchell, J.K. (2019). The Role of Geotechnics in Addressing New World Problems. In: Lu, N., Mitchell, J. (eds) Geotechnical Fundamentals for Addressing New World Challenges. Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06249-1_1

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