The 2nd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (GEDMAR08), May 30 to June 2 2008, Nanjing, China
The 2nd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (GEDMAR08) was held under the auspices of TC39 and TC4 of ISSMGE and the Joint Working Group on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (JWG-DMR). GEDMAR08 was jointly organized by Hohai University (China), Chinese Institute of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (CISMGE, CCES), and Chinese Society of Environmental Geotechnics (CSEG, CSRME).
One Qian Jia-Huan Lecture, 9 keynote lectures, 4 special sessions, 5 parallel sessions, 1 practitioners’ forum, 1 poster session and 1 technical tour were scheduled in the 4-day conference. Over 70 oral and poster presentations were delivered or exhibited. One hundred and forty-four papers in English were published in the Proceedings, which were prepared reflecting the most advanced scientific and technological developments in the fields of mitigation and rehabilitation for various geo-disasters, e.g., earthquakes, tsunami, landslides, flooding and debris flows, etc.
Qian Jia-Huan Lecture and keynote lectures were delivered in sequences:
1. “Flow slides of underwater sand deposits in Jamuna river bed”, Qian Jia-Huan Lecture by Prof. K. Ishihara (Japan)
2. “Geohazards in China and its mitigations” by Prof. CHEN Zu-Yu (China)
3. “Liquefaction mitigation of sand deposits by granular piles- an overview” by Prof. M.R. Madhav (India)
4. “Interaction between Eurocode 7 – Geotechnical Design and Eurocode 8– Design for Earthquake Resistance of Foundations” by Prof. P. S. Pinto (Portugal)
5. “Seismic performance evaluation of geotechnical structures” by Prof. S. Iai (Japan)
6. “Strategies for tsunami risk assessment and mitigation” by Director K. Karlsrud (Norway)
7. “Some aspects of the mitigations and rehabilitations of natural disasters in Malaysia” by Dr. T.A. Ooi (Malaysia)
8. “Mitigation of seismic damage of river dikes” by Prof. Y. Sasaki (Japan)
9. “Estimation of liquefaction-induced settlement of river dikes and their effect in lowland area during earthquakes” by Prof. S.Yasuda (Japan)
10. “Advances in field measurements of nonlinear dynamic soil properties” by Prof. K.H. Stokoe, II (USA).
Besides the many impressive presentations on principles and practices of geo-disaster mitigation and rehabilitation, a special session on “Sichuan Earthquake in China”, plus a gallery on this Earthquake, brought forth attendants a comprehensive perspective on the generation, demolishment, loss, and aftershock rescuing efforts with respects to the disaster.
In day 4, a technical tour to the Grand Canal at Yangzhou City of China was scheduled, where global scholars and practitioners witnessed the world’s oldest and longest canal. For near 2,500 years, the 1,795 km (1,114 miles) long hydraulic works has been servicing, with great success, transportations, irrigations, and drought preventions, etc.
In the closing ceremony, it was decided that the venue of the 3rd International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering for Disaster Mitigation and Rehabilitation (May 2011), would be in Semarang of Central Java, Indonesia. Also, during the closing ceremony, Prof. H. Ohta (Japan) made a summarization about the conference activities.
The conference was initiated by Prof. CHU Jian (Chair of TC39) and Prof. LIU Han-Long (Chair of GEDMAR08), and was powered diligently and efficiently by staffs of GeoHohai, in particular, Dr. DENG An. (Secretary General of GEDMAR08). Supports from National Natural Science Foundation of China and Hohai University are appreciated, which makes the conference easier to go. Members of TC39 and TC4, in particular, Prof. T. Kokusho (Chair of TC4), and members of JWG-DMR are sincerely thanked for their support to the organization of this conference. Many more people should be credited, in particular, Prof. P. S. Pinto (President of ISSMGE), Prof. M. R. Madhav (Vice-President for Asia, ISSMGE), for their support and advice, and Dr. HAN Jie of The University of Kansas, USA, for his advice and help on conference organization.
Sciencemeeting Online of China, an official organization collecting and presenting academic conference events online, recorded the conference activities throughout, and produced video playbacks of all oral presentations, which are located on the organization’s web domain, (http://www.meeting.edu.cn/webmedia/jingpin/gedmar2008/yicheng.htm). Online playbacks are available via internet. Chinese fonts and playing programs may be required.
Reported by Dr. DENG An, Secretary General of GEDMAR08
Download ISSMGE Bulletin – Volume 2 Issue 3 (p. 19)
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