Welcome to International Webinar on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering (IWFGE)

The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) constituted a Technical Committee (TC) on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering (FGE) in 2005. During the first four years it was designated as TC40 and is now designated as TC302. This committee has conducted four international seminars on FGE and is now organizing IWFGE 2020 during December 10-13, 2020 through webinars. The theme of the event is “Forensic Geotechnical Engineering”.  Lessons learned from failures of different types of   geotechnical structures that can be attributed to any one or more of the topics below can be highlighted. Manuscripts highlighting the failures due natural hazards, lack of codal provisions, challenges in geo-environmental engineering and rock engineering are welcome.  During the conference, the following ten topics and their role in Forensic Geotechnical Engineering will be discussed.

Forensic geotechnical engineering (FGE) involves scientific, legalistic investigations and deductions to detect the causes as well as the process of distress in a structure, which are attributed to geotechnical origin. Such a critical analysis will provide answers to “what went wrong, when, where, why, how, and by whom”. Cases of remedied installations, particularly those which fall under public or government category, where the analysis and evaluation of adopted remedial measures with regard to their effectiveness and economy fall under this purview. FGE also gives strong inputs to improve analysis and design processes. This conference aims to develop a comprehensive framework for forensic engineering procedures and post-failure reconnaissance studies of disaster management.

The International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) constituted a Technical Committee (TC) on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering (FGE) in 2005. During the first four years it was designated as TC40 and is now designated as TC302. This committee conducted five international seminars on FGE and is now organizing the sixth one in the form of webinars during December 10-13, 2020.

Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Bombay, and Indian Geotechnical Society Delhi Chapter together with TC 302 of ISSMGE are organizing the event. The theme of the event is “Forensic Geotechnical Engineering & Geo-Disaster Documentation”. The conference is supported by SPARC (Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration) of Government of India on the project “Advanced Technologies for Post-Disasters Reconnaissance, Forensic and Environmental Impact Studies - Geotechnical” which is a collaborative project among IIT Delhi, IISc, Bengaluru, Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, University of California, Davis and University of Cambridge. This conference runs concurrently with the multidisciplinary mega event: 5th World Congress on Disaster Management (5WCDM).

The webinar will develop mechanisms for strengthening collaboration between research and knowledge-based institutions as well as practitioners in the regions. It will evolve strategies for training, capacity development on the importance of disaster countermeasures and response preparedness in the regions by using advanced technologies for risk analysis mapping to a greater extent and to help address the deployment of research and analytical tools that leads to effective understanding of the data and its management. Understanding failures and natural disasters is one of the aspects of Forensic Geotechnical Engineering (FGE) and consists of following steps.

* Collection of Data

* Distress Characterization

* Development of Failure Hypothesis

* Diagnostic Tests

* Back Analysis

* Technical Shortcomings

* Legal Issues

* Use of Observation Methods

* Risk and Reliability Analysis

* Case Histories

Indian Geotechnical Society

The Indian National Society of Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering was established in the year 1948, soon after the second International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering held at Rotterdam. The Society was affiliated to the International Society in the same year and since then it has strived to fulfil and promote the objectives of the International Society. In December 1970, the name, Indian Geotechnical Society (IGS) was adopted. In January 1994, it hosted XIII International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering. Various Local Chapters of the IGS organise annual conferences of the Society.

Indian Geotechnical Society Delhi Chapter

Indian Geotechnical Society, Delhi Chapter was established with the purpose of advancement and dissemination of knowledge in different fields of Geotechnical Engineering. Since then the chapter has been involved in promoting the activities of Geotechnical Engineering and disseminating in and around Delhi.

 IIT Delhi

Established in 1961, was formally inaugurated August 1961 by Prof. Humayun Kabir, Minister of Scientific Research & Cultural Affairs. First admissions were made in 1961.  The current campus has an area of 320 acres (or 1.3 km²) and is bounded by the Sri Aurobindo Marg on the east, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Complex on the west, the National Council of Educational Research and Training on the south, and the New Ring Road on the north, and flanked by Qutub Minar and the Hauz Khas monuments.

TC 302: Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

Please click on the following links for more information for Terms of Reference, Membership List and Additional Information on Forensic Geotechnical Engineering

International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE)

Download Conference Brochure here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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