Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering - A Research Perspective

Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering - A Research Perspective

In this age of Anthropocene where human activities dominate the built and natural environments, geotechnical engineers have a strong role to play in mitigating the anthropogenic impacts on the environment because geotechnical engineering practice consumes close to 40% of the global energy consumption, depletes large amounts of sand, gravel, and stone reserves every year and adds to the problems of climate change and pollution. Sustainable practices in geotechnical engineering should take a 4-E’s approach in which sound Engineering practices uphold the principles of triple bottom line, namely, Environment, Economy, and Equity. Sound geotechnical engineering entails proper soil (material) characterization, thorough analysis and design, and careful monitoring. In addition, sustainability assessment and considerations for resilience must be considered in the contemporary practice of geotechnical engineering. In the first part of the presentation, a research philosophy is portrayed that upholds the 4-E’s approach in geotechnical engineering. Concepts from sustainability and resilience are presented and their connection with geotechnical engineering is established. In the second part of the presentation, a study on life cycle assessment of drilled shafts is presented. It is shown that the global warming impact and human toxicity of a typical drilled shaft is 39% and 486% of annual world impact per person, respectively. Based on the study, charts and tables are developed that may be used for quick estimation of global warming impact of drilled shafts without the use of specialised LCA software programs. It is expected that the presentation will encourage geotechnical engineers to consider sustainability seriously and meaningfully in their practices.

Dr. DIPANJAN BASU is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He was an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut before moving to Waterloo. Dr. Basu obtained his academic degrees from Purdue University, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and Jadavpur University. He is a Professional Engineer in the province of Ontario in Canada, and a Chartered Engineer and Professional Engineer in India. He is a member of several learned societies in the U.S.A., Canada, and India.

Dr. Basu has broad research and teaching interests that include Foundations and Soil Structure Interaction, Energy Geotechnics, Sustainability and Resilience Quantification, Soil Constitutive Modeling, Blast Analysis of Geo-structures, Probabilistic Analysis, Soil Dynamics, and Ground Improvement. He has over 150 peer reviewed publications with more than 65 refereed articles in reputed journals. Dr. Basu has delivered close to 50 keynotes and invited lectures in the U.S.A., Canada, South Africa, Argentina, India, China, and Kazakhstan. He has taught professional and university short courses in the U.S.A., South Africa, India, and Ethiopia.

Dr. Basu is a member of Tau Beta Pi, and a recipient of the Igor Ivkovic Teaching Excellence Award, 2022 (Canada), IGS-P.J. Rao-Y.R. Phill Biennial Award 2020 (India), Telford Premium Award 2011 (U.K.), Fugro Fellowship 2005 (U.S.A.), ExCEEd Teaching Fellowship 2009 (U.S.A.), and Prof. S. Neogi Award 1997 (India), among other accolades. He is a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Indian Geotechnical Society, and Institution of Engineers (India). He is a past chair of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations division of the Canadian Geotechnical Society (CGS). He is also a past chair of the ISSMGE and ASCE-GI technical committees on Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Basu served as an Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering and was in the editorial board of Proceedings of the ICE – Geotechnical Engineering.