Transportation Geotechnique Committee
Report of Activities –July 1, 2012to March 31, 2013Prepared by Roger Skirrow, Chair

Introduction

The Transportation Geotechnique Committee (TGC) was given status as a specialty committee under the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division in September 2005. The proposal for the committee was submitted to the CGS by Keith Kosar and Roger Skirrow in 2003 but not formed until August 2005.

The TGC’s mandate covers the broad areas of transportation-related geotechnique, including:

  • Geotechnical design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructures
  • Earthworks for transportation facilities
  • Geomaterials and recycled materials
  • Geotechnics for pavements, rail track and airfield
  • Geosynthetics and applications
  • Sustainability, performance evaluation, and rehabilitation
  • Risk management and environmental issues

Executive Committee

The 2012-2013 Executive Committee of the TGC consists of the following members:

Chair:Roger Skirrrow

Vice-Chair:Mario Ruel

Secretary:Don Lewycky

Past-Chair:Tim Keegan

Members:Paul Lach, Anne Poschman,Heinrich Heinz, Sean MacEoin, Mario Ruel, MaximeParadis, Serge Bourque, Marolo Alfaro, Serge Bourque, Jean Hutchinson, Dave Cruden, Derek Martin, Mark Pritchard, Rod Ramage, James Hoyt, K Johnston, Heidi Evensen, Guy Dore, Tom Edwards, Victor Cui

Affiliations with Other Organizations

Representatives on the TGC include regional representatives, geotechnical practitioners, government representatives and University researchers across the transportation community.

Members of the TGC are active within the Railway Ground Hazard Research and Development Program(RGHRP) Committee.Members of TGC are involved with drafting chapters of a RGHRP document entitled Guidelinesfor Geohazard Risk Assessment along Canadian Railways, and the TGC Chair is the Managing Editor of this document. TGC members are active on the CGS Landslide Committee, Professional Practice Committee and Soil Mechanics and Foundation Divisions. Several TGC members are also members of the Transportation Association of Canada, Soils and Materials Standing Committee. These members are pushing to have awareness and appreciations of geotechnique issues elevated within the broader transportation community.

List of Activities

CGS 2012 Conference, Winnipeg – There wasone technical session for Transportation Geotechnique. Tim Keegan chaired the sessions. A committee meeting was during the conference.

Roger Skirrowis the Transportation Geotechnique stream coordinator for the 2013Montreal CGS conference. It is anticipated there will be atleast one TG theme session at the conference. TGC members will participate in the technical review of the submitted papers.

The Railway Ground Hazard Program Technical Committee, chaired by Tom Edwards, continues to offer full support in the form of abstracts and collaborative initiatives.

The future activities and initiatives of the committee will be discussed in September at the CGS Conference.

Financial Status

The committee has no operating budget of its own.

Additional Information

None.

Roger Skirrow, M.Sc., P.Eng.

Chair, Transportation Geotechnical Committee, CGS

Dated:March 21, 2013