14th Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering
From research to design in European practice
June 2nd-4th 2010, Bratislava, Slovakia
After thirty-three years the Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering had came back to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovak Republic. The 14th conference took place on June 2nd-4th 2010 in the premises of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of University of Technology, under the auspices of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. The main topic of the conference was “From Research to Design in European Practice”.
The topic was discussed in one keynote lecture session (Chairman Prof. J. Hulla from Slovakia) and seven sessions:
- Session 1: Ground characterization and new development in soil mechanics, (chairman Prof. I. Manoliu from Romania, discussion leader Dr. B. Schuppener from Germany),
- Session 2: Case studies using Eurocode 7, (chairman Prof. R. Szepeshazi from Hungary, discussion leader Prof. N. Vogt from Germany), • Session 3: Specific problems for environmental consideration, (chairman Dr. A. Petrovšek from Slovenia, discussion leader Prof. K.J. Witt from Germany),
- Session 4: Design methods for geotechnical structures, (chairman Prof. M. Fross from Austria, discussion leader Dr. B. Simpson from England),
- Session 5: Monitoring and supervision of geotechnical considerations, (chairman Prof. A.B. Ponomaryov from Russia, discussion leader Dr. M. Vaníček from Czech Republic),
- Session 6: Numerical and physical models in geotechnical design, (chairman Prof. Z. Lechowicz from Poland, discussion leader Prof. L. Martak from Austria), and
- Session 7: Interactive design and other problems in geotechnical practice, (chairman Prof. M. Nussbaumer from Germany, discussion leader Ing. J. Frankovská from Slovakia).
Despite to the world wide economical crises and thanks to prestigious reputation of the conference the conference, was again attended by many world leaders of the geotechnical engineering: Prof. J.L. Briaud from USA (President of ISSMGE), Prof. P. Pinto from Portugal (former President of ISSMGE), Prof. I. Vaníček from Czech Republic (Vice President of ISSMGE for Europe), Prof. R. Frank from France (former Vice President of ISSMGE for Europe), Prof. H. Brandl from Austria and many others.
The conference was attended by 245 participants from 38 countries of the world. Their papers were published in the proceedings of the main lectures and abstracts. The full papers were published in an electronic form on CD. The proceedings contain 175 papers of which 68 were presented orally in one of the conference sessions. The program of the sessions was organized in such a way that each session started with four lectures by invited guests who were respected professionals of their field, and then six lectures by selected authors followed. Those papers that were not presented orally were presented in the poster session. In total 35 posters were presented in the poster session.
Besides the professional program also social programs were prepared. In the first evening, a welcome party was organized in the concert hall and lobby of the Slovak National Radio. In the second evening the participants were invited for social evening in to a newly open restaurant located on the Danube river bank.
During the conference also meeting of the ISSMGE National Groups from the Danube River Region took place under the leadership of Prof. I. Vaníček. The main program of the meeting was official nomination of Austria as the host country of the next 15th Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering. The Austrian representative accepted the nomination.
The end of the Danube conference is traditionally dedicated to the technical excursions. The 14th conference succeeded this tradition. Two excursions were prepared for the participants. The first excursion visited construction sites with ongoing geotechnical constructions in the streets of the city, Bratislava. The second excursion went outside of Bratislava, to the nearby Čunovo and Gabčíkovo Dam, the largest dam on the Danube River.
According to the feed-back reactions from participants and ISSMGE representative, the conference was successful. The organizing committee (Prof. P Turček – chairman, Ing. J. Frankovská, Prof. J. Hulla and Dr. M. Ondrášik, all from Department of Geotechnics of Faculty of Civil Engineering of University of Technology in Bratislava) expresses their sincere thanks to all persons and sponsors who helped organize the conference.
Opening ceremony
Lecture by ISSMGE President Prof. Briaud
Download ISSMGE Bulletin – Volume 4 Issue 4 (pp. 33-35)
PDF format
