TC Activity
TC 39: Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation
Chairman: Prof. Jian Chu (Singapore) and Secretary: Dr. K. K. Phoon (Singapore)
TC39 meeting at the Conference GEDMAR08, Nanjing, China (Courtesy of Prof Hideki Ohta)
TC39 is a newly formed technical committee. It was set up in response to the increasing need to coordinate and promote activities related to coastal disaster mitigation and rehabilitation works within ISSMGE. The Chairman and Secretary of TC39 are Dr Jian Chu and Dr Kok Kwang Phoon respectively. It consists of 29 members from 20 countries. The names of the core members and members are listed on our website: http://reliability.geoengineer.org/TC39/.
The terms of references of TC39 include:
1) To conduct and coordinate research and development activities on coastal related disaster prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation works.
2) To work with local professional bodies and governments to provide technical supports and assistance to the planning, coordination and implementation of disaster rehabilitation and disaster mitigation works in the disaster affected regions, and to identify technical problems and potential topics that require more research and development efforts.
3) To develop pamphlets for public education and documents or design guides for geotechnical works related to coastal disaster prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation, such as pamphlets providing basic information on tsunami and earthquake in different languages, design guides for disaster rehabilitation and mitigation works, conducting hazard mapping, etc. and 4) To coordinate and provide trainings and promote international research collaborations and cooperation through conferences, workshops, short courses, special training sessions, and other activities conducted jointly with local and international communities.
Since 2006, the following major activities have been organized:
i) Held a Special Session on Geo-hazard Mitigation at the 13th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8-11 May 2007. The Special Session Speakers and their topics were:
Prof Susumu Iai (Kyoto Uni): Seismic performance and assessment of coastal geotechnical structures.
Prof Buddhima Indraratna (Wollongong Uni): Reconstruction methods for tsunami affected coastal soils with special reference to low-cost dwellings and rail tracks Prof Robert Lo (New South Wales Uni): Liquefaction of loose fill slopes – myth, possibility and risk mitigation. Dr Jack Pappin (Arup HK): Seismic hazard and site response evaluation in Hong Kong Prof H.D. Tjia (University of Malaya): Tsunamigenic areas in/for the Malaysian region.
ii) Supported the 4th International Conference on Disaster Prevention and Rehabilitation was held between 10 and 11 September 2007 in Diponegoro University, Semarang, Indonesia. The conference was chaired by Prof Ani Wardani and co- chaired by Profs. S-C R. Lo, J Chu, and K K Phoon. The conference also marked the official launching of the Research and Development Center for Disaster Prevention and Rehabilitation headed by Prof Ani Wardani. The keynote and invited speakers at this conference included Prof. M.R. Madhav (Vice President for Asia) on “Liquefaction Mitigation of Sand Deposits by Granular Piles”, J Chu on “Geotechnical Consideration of Access Road Construction for Disaster Rehabilitation”, Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov, President of Kazakhstan Geotechnical Society, on “Geotechnical and Geodisaster Problems in Kazakhstan”, K K Phoon on “Some Numerical Consideration in Unsaturated Soil Seepage Analysis”, Prof T.G. Sitharam from India on “Microzonzation Studies in India: Experiments and Experiences”, Mr H. R. Pamekas of Indonesia on “Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction in Aceh and Nias”, Dr A. S. Moerwanto of Indonesia on “Handling the Impact of Mud Flow Disaster in Sidoarjo”, and Dr A. M. Chaidir of Indonesia on “Anticipation of Disaster due to Sudden and Unpredicted Changes of Expensive Soil during Extreme Global Weather Change: Indonesia Case”.
iii) Organised a Special Session on Disaster Mitigation and Management at the 13th Asian Regional Conf on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, from 10-14 Dec 2007 at Kolkata, India. The Special Session speakers were: Prof. S.R.Gandhi (IIT Madras) on “Case study on tsunami damages along the coastal of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Tamilnadu Coast”; Dr Shri Pradip Dutta (Z-Tech India Ltd, Kolkata) on “Protection of coastal areas against Tsunami/cyclones”; Dr J Chu on “Coastal protection using geo-bag methods”; Prof Hideki Ohta (Tokyo Inst Tech) on “A trial of public education”.
iv) Organised the 2nd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering for Coastal Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (GEDMAR08), Nanjing, China, May 30- June2, 2008, jointly with TC4, Chinese Institution of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Chinese Society of Environmental Geotechnics, and Hohai University. The detail of this conference is reported separately in the same newsletter. The 3rd conference of this series will be held at Semarang, Indonesia in 2011.
Reported by Professor Jian Chu, Chair of ISSMGE TC39
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