16th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference
8 – 11 May 2007, Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers, Subang Jaya, Malaysia
The 16th Southeast Asian Geotechnical Conference has just been concluded in Kuala Lumpur in a suburban township known as Subang Jaya. The Conference was attended by the President and the Vice President for Asia of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), Professor Pedro S. Sêco e Pinto and Professor M. R. Madhav. It was well attended by about 500 participants from 23 countries. The Honourable Minister of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia Dato’ Ong Ka Ting who was the guest of honour, declared opened the 3-day Conference with one day of site visits. Professor Pinto; Professor Madhav and Professor K. Y. Yong, the President of the Southeast Asian Geotechnical Society (SEAGS), Datuk Paduka Engr. Keizrul Abdullah, President of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, Dato’ Ir. Annies Bin Md Ariff, Deputy Director General of Public Works Department, Malaysia, gave their addresses at the conference.
This Conference has one Opening Keynote Address, one Chin Fung Kee Lecture, 8 Keynote Lectures, 4 Special Lectures, 5 Special Session Lectures and 11 technical sessions with about 130 papers. The theme of the Conference is “Geotechnical Innovations in Practice, Tsunami and Debris Flow”. A forum on the conference theme was held before closure of the conference technical sessions. There were active discussions from the floor. Post conference proceedings will be published in due course. All participants are encouraged to send in their discussions within 3 months from the date of the close of the conference. A farewell Banquet was held with cultural performances on 10th May 2007 to reward the Keynote Lecturers, Special lecturers, authors, participants and others who have in one way or another contributed towards the success of the conference. A cake cutting ceremony was also held at the banquet to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Society. The President and Vice President of Asia of the ISSMGE took active part in the conference sessions, meeting with SEAGS Council Members and participated in the ISSMGE Technical Committee meetings.
The celebration of the 40th anniversary of the SEAGS
A group photo taken during the farewell party
This Conference is jointly organized by the SEAGS, the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) and the Public Works Department of Malaysia and supported by Construction Industry Development Board of Malaysia, Nehemiah Reinforced Soil Sdn Bhd, Tourism Malaysia, Konsortium LPB Sdn Bhd, TenCarte (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Keller (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and many others including the Institution of Engineers, Hong Kong. The registration fee was kept at very affordable level so that all those who wish to attend the Conference could benefit. In recognition of the contribution from the authors of papers, very special rate has been accorded to them. The hard bound Conference proceedings containing about 1000 pages, the 40th Anniversary Commemorative Volume of the SEAGS and the bound volume of the Professor Chin Fung Kee Memorial Lecture Series 1991-2006 were given to all participants. The General Committee of the SEAGS decided at its meeting that the next SEAGS Conference will be held in Taipei City in 2010. The meeting also elected Dr. Chung-Tien Chin as the New President for session 2007/2010. Dr. Teik-Aun Ooi was elected as the Protem Chairman for the proposed formation of the Association of Geotechnical Societies of Southeast Asia.
A technical exhibition will be organized. Highlights of the activity will be on the project experiences, product solutions, new applications and state-of-the-art information on the themes mentioned. Abstracts on the fields of geotechnical engineering such as soil characterization, foundations, slopes, excavations, pavements, ground improvements, soil reinforcements, environmental geotechnics, engineering geology, tunneling are encouraged.
On the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of SEAGS, a special commemorative volume compiling the advancement, achievement and development of Geotechnical Engineering for various ASEAN member countries in the last 40 years will be published. This publication is in addition to the Conference Proceedings. The national geotechnical societies are encouraged to contribute to this volume.
The Opening Keynote Lecture entitled “Lessons Learned from recent MRT Construction Failures in Asia Pacific”, will be delivered by Dr. Za-Chieh Moh. Chin Fung Kee Lecture will be presented by Prof. K.Y. Yong. The following Keynote Lectures will also be delivered:
1. Treated and Untreated Behaviour of Soft Clays in Ground Improvement by Prof. A.S. Balasubramaniam
2. Geomaterial Characterization in Simulating the Performance of Large Dam under Construction by Prof. H. Ohta
3. Issues in Evaluating Rock Socket Foundations by Prof. F. H. Kulhawy
4. Effects of Aging and Viscous Behaviour on Strength and Deformation Characteristics of Very Soft Marine Bangkok Soft Clay by Dr. S. Sambhandharaksa
5. Thermo-Mechanical Behaviour and Stabilization of Soft Bangkok Clay by Prof. D.T. Bergado
6. Impacts of Some Major Geotechnical Disasters in Malaysia by Dr. W.H. Ting
7. Challenges in Slope Engineering in Hong Kong by Ir. R. Chan
8. Challenges in Ground Improvement Techniques for Extreme Conditions: Concept and Performance by Mr. S. Varaksin
The following topics are for Special Lectures :
1. Ground Improvement in Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation Works by Assoc. Prof. J. Chu
2. Establishment of Environmental Geology Database in Taiwan by Dr. C.T. Chin
3. Instrumentation Program and Ground movements in the Construction of the First Bangkok Subway MRT by Assoc. Prof. Dr. N. Phien-wej
4. Geotechnical Investigation and Remedial works Design of a Reinforced Soil Wall Failure by Ir. Y.C. Tan
