Message to ISSMGE Members
Professor Michael C R Davies, Vice President for Australasia and First Vice President ISSMGE
t is a pleasure, through this article in the Bulletin, to be able to address members of the ISSMGE in order to provide some insight into the activities of the Australasia region of the ISSMGE. In terms of the number of member societies Australasia is the smallest of the six ISSMGE regions. However, if the numbers of individual members in the two societies that constitute the region are considered, the region is the fourth largest; with Australia and New Zealand having the fourth and eleventh largest number, respectively, of ISSMGE members of the 87 member societies. In his Message to ISSMGE Members, published in this bulletin last year1, Professor Roberto Terzariol, Vice President for South America, presented an analysis of the ratio of numbers of ISSMGE members in each society to the number of millions of inhabitants of each country. From this analysis he demonstrated that the median value of this ratio for the Australasia region – at 64 ISSMGE members per million inhabitants – was some three times greater than that of the region with the next highest ratio, which was Europe with a median of 20. This analysis indicates that, relative to the other ISSMGE regions, in terms of attracting members to the ISSMGE the two societies in the Australasia region have been highly successful. Whilst I am sure that the strength of the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) and the New Zealand Geotechnical Society (NZGS) has been the result of the hard work and enthusiasm of the officers and members of the two societies over many years, it is also a reflection of the importance for the society in Australia and New Zealand of there being good practice in geotechnical engineering.
To some extent the importance of geotechnical engineering in both Australia and New Zealand is for similar reasons but there are specific national conditions that prevail. For example, in both countries there is a requirement to deal with natural hazards that have large scale detrimental effects on society. However, whilst slope stability presents geotechnical challenges to engineers on both sides of the Tasman Sea – which separates the two countries – New Zealand is located at the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates and has, therefore, a much higher risk of major earthquake hazards than Australia, which is not located on any major tectonic plate boundaries. Australia has an extensive mining industry that requires the expertise of geotechnical engineers. This industry is contributing to a relatively strong economy in Australia and the growth in its population. This, in turn, has resulted in major opportunities for infrastructure development. There is a demand in both counties, therefore, for practitioners with a wide range of expertise across the range of geotechnical engineering; including engineering geology, rock mechanics and soil mechanics. It is not surprising, therefore, that both the AGS and the NZGS are the national societies for the IAEG and the ISRM as well as the ISSMGE, although in both cases ISSMGE members represent the largest group.
Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS)2
The AGS is the largest Technical Society within Engineer’s Australia. Its membership currently stands at 1381 and of these members 873 (63%) are affiliated to ISSMGE. In addition, the society currently has 45 corporate members that represent a wide range of consulting and contracting organisations3. The society is managed by a National Committee and Sam Mackenzie was elected recently as Chair of the AGS National Committee. Dr Mark Jaksa serves on the National Committee as AGS Liaison Officer for the ISSMGE.
The AGS is represented in the States and Territories of the Commonwealth of Australia by seven Chapters. Each of these Chapters has its own regional committee and organises a vibrant technical programme. A major feature of these programmes is a series of lecture tours by distinguished geotechnical engineers. In recent years these have included Rankine lecturers Professor Tom O’Rourke and Professor Chris Clayton, together with former president of the International Association of Engineering Geology, Professor Paul Marinos, and Serge Varaksin, Chair of ISSMGE TC211 on Ground Improvement.
Australian Geomechanics is the “official” journal of the AGS, which is published quarterly, in March, June, September and December, by the Institution of Engineers Australia. It is edited and produced by the Australian Geomechanics Society and is distributed to all members of the AGS. At the end of 2009 the AGS published a DVD which contains copies of all papers published in Australian Geomechanics from 1971 to the end of 2009. The Australian Geomechanics Society has also developed and published a series of benchmark guidelines on landslide risk management and slope management and maintenance. These were published in the Australian Geomechanics Journal in March 2007 and built on previous guidelines published in 2000. In the first half of 2011, through its network of local Chapters, the AGS supported a “National Landslide Risk Management Roadshow” to disseminate the new “Geoguides” to relevant end users. The roadshow (which became known as the “Risky Roadshow”) provided information to a large number of local government officers and practitioners about the Landslide Risk Management guidelines and geoguides.
2 http://australiangeomechanics.org
3 http://australiangeomechanics.org/corporate/
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