International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment

During the XXII International Geological Congress (IGS) in New Delhi, on 12 December 1964, the Israeli geologist Asher Shadmon remarked that "quarry materials and mineral products used in engineering" were not being discussed and proposed that the IUGS should create and fund an international permanent commission dedicated to that topic. Other geologists at the congress suggested that the commission should cover also the relationship between the materials in their natural place and the work of engineers.

On 17 December the assembly voted the following motion unanimously: "It is recommended that a distinct Commission of "Engineering Geology" should be established in the context of International Geological Congresses.[…] The objective of the Commission and its Sub-commissions would be to promote the knowledge and dissemination of appropriate information, gather ´case-histories´, prepare literature reviews and relevant catalogues, provide information on completed or ongoing research, gather statistical geological data on the industries and determine the list of further research required".[2][14][15]

On 19 December, although the interest in engineering geology was high, due to scarcity of resources that did not allow to support a new permanent commission, the executive committee of the IUGS proposed to create a small committee, headed by Shadmon, in charge of producing and presenting a report on the state of the situation by contacting the International Society for Soil Mechanics and the International Society for Rock Mechanics, as well as existing national societies of engineering geology.

However, on 21 December the delegates decided to immediately hold a new session during which the International Association for Engineering Geology (IAEG) was unanimously created. Besides Asher Shadmon, the founding members were Marcel Arnould (France), G. Bain (USA), M.S. Balasundaram (India), L.M.C. Calembert (Belgium), R.S. Chaturvedi (India), G.C. Chowdhary (India), E. Beneo (Italy), K. Erguvanli (Turkey), A. Hamza (India), M.S. Jain (India), L.E. Kent (South Africa), V.S. Krishnaswamy (India), J.D.S. Lakshmaman (France), A.R. Mahendra (India), M. Manfredi (Italy), V. Prasad (India), B. Ramchandran (India), J.Th. Rosenqvist (Norway), B. Sanatkumar (India), P.B. Srinivasan (India), L.S. Srivastava (India) and M. Zapata (Spain). They elected a provisional committee to steer the initial activity.[2][14][15]

At the beginning, the association worked on enhancing the provisional committee to gain full international representation. By the end of 1966, the committee was composed as follows: Asher Shadmon (Israel), as President; Marcel Arnould (France), as Secretary; E. Beneo (Italy); V.S. Krishnaswamy, R.S. Mithal and M.S. Balasundaram (India); K. Erguvanli (Turkey); A.M. Hull (USA), president of the American Association of Engineering Geologist; E.M. Sergeev and N.V. Kolomenskij (USSR); Quido Záruba (Czechoslovakia); M.D. Ruiz (Brazil); G. Champetier de Ribes (France), as Treasurer. Discussions to join the IAEG were still ongoing with representatives of Australia, Japan and Mexico.[14]

During the first two years the first statutes were established and a programme of the activities was defined. The purposes and goals of the association were defined as follows: "Article 1: The scope of engineering geology covers the applications of earth sciences to engineering, planning, construction, prospecting, testing and processing of related materials"; "Article 2: The aims of the IAEG are to encourage research, training and dissemination of knowledge by developing the international cooperation in its relation to engineering".[14]

At the 1967 meeting of the IUGS, a request of affiliation of the IAEG to the IUGS was presented and accepted by the executive committee. The decision was ratified unanimously by the general assembly of the IUGS on 23 August 1968 in Prague.[14]

The input from the Czechoslovakian engineering geologist has been noticeable in the first years, especially that of Quido Záruba and Jaroslav Pasek. They were together responsible for organizing a section on engineering geology at the XXIII International Geological Congress (IGC) in Prague in 1968, at which they shared the aims of the IAEG. They also organised the first scientific symposium of the IAEG in Brno (Czechoslovakia), from 26 to 27 April 1968 and a second symposium during the IGC on "Engineering geology and land planning".[14]

The first general assembly was held on 23 August 1968 in Prague during the XXIII IGC. At the time of the congress, the country was deeply affected by the movement of soviet troops. Nevertheless, the general assembly went ahead and the statutes were ratified and an executive committee was elected for a period of four years to replace the provisional committee.[14]

The new committee was composed as follows: Quido Záruba (Czechoslovakia), President; Marcel Arnould (France), Secretary General; G. Champetier de Ribes (France), Treasurer; Asher Shadmon (Israel), Past President; L. Calembert (Belgium), Vice-president for Europe; L. Cluff (USA), Vice-president for North America; M.D. Ruiz (Brazil), Vice-president for South America; L. Oborn (New Zealand), vice president for Australasia; H. Tanaka (Japan), Vice-president for Asia; a representative from Ghana as Vice-president for Africa. Other members: N.V. Kolomenskij (USSR); A Nemock (Czechoslovakia); J. Janjic (Yugoslavia); R. Glossop (United Kingdom); A. Drucker (Federal Republic of Germany); J.M. Crepeau (Canada).[14]

In addition to the executive committee, three "working groups" were established:

1. Landslides, under the responsibility of J. Pasek (Czechoslovakia);
2. Soluble rocks, under the responsibility of F. Reuter (East Germany) and K. Erguvanli (Turkey);
3. Geotechnical mapping, under the responsibility of M. Matula (Czechoslovakia).

Finally, it was decided to organize future congresses specifically for the IAEG and to hold these alternately with the International Geological Congresses, which means that both events would take place every four years but the IAEG would have a congress with a general assembly every two years and scientific symposia in the years in between.[2]

The first congresses with general assemblies were as follows:

• New Delhi (India) XXII IGC in 1964
• Prague (Czechoslovakia) XXIII IGC in 1968;
• Paris (France) 1st IAEG congress in 1970.

The first elected executive committee decided in their second meeting at the UNESCO Palace in Paris (May 1969) to create a journal of the IAEG, to be edited and published by the Association and called the Bulletin of the IAEG (full name: "Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology - Bulletin de l'Association Internationale de Géologie de l'Ingénieur").

The first edition of the Bulletin was distributed during the first IAEG congress in September 1970 in Paris. This was possible thanks to the personal efforts of Quido Záruba, the IAEG president, J. Pasek, Marcel Arnould and several other staff from the Paris School of Mines. Starting as a simple artisanal publication, the Bulletin became a scientific reference among the most respected journals in the fields of engineering geology, the environment and other geosciences, and "the official journal of the IAEG". It is now published by Springer Science+Business Media and edited by the Association, and goes with the title Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment.[2]

As a result of the progressive involvement of engineering geologists in consulting, in the study, design, construction and supervision of large projects and in the assessment and remediation of environmental issues, an update of the first statutes of the association was deemed necessary. The second statutes were approved by the general assembly in Kyoto (Japan) in 1992.

A new definition of engineering geology was given, which reflected the experience collected during the previous 25 years and read as follows: "Engineering geology is a science devoted to the investigation, study and solution of engineering and environmental problems which may arise as the result of the interaction between geology and the works and activities of man as well as to the prediction of and the development of measures for prevention or remediation of geologic hazards. Engineering geology embraces: the definition of geomorphology, structure, stratigraphy, lithology and groundwater conditions of geological formations; the characterization of the mineralogical, physico-geomechanical, chemical and hydraulic properties of all earth materials involved in construction, resource recovery and environmental change; the assessment of the mechanical and hydrologic behaviour of soil and rock masses; the prediction of changes to the above properties with time; the determination of the parameters to be considered in the stability analysis of engineering works and of earth masses; and the improvement and maintenance of the environmental condition and of the properties of the terrain".[2]

• 2004 Liège, 1st European regional conference, "Professional practices and engineering geological methods"
• 2008 Madrid, 2nd European regional conference, "Cities and their underground environment"
• 2020 Athens, 3rd European regional conference, "Leading to Innovative Engineering Geology Practices"

• 1997 Tokyo, 1st Asian regional conference, "Dam geology"
• 1999 Bangi, 2nd Asian regional conference, "Engineering geology: Planning for sustainable development"
• 2001 Yogyakarta, 3rd Asian regional conference, "Natural resources management for regional development in tropical area"
• 2004 Hong Kong, 4th Asian regional conference, "Engineering geology for sustainable development in mountainous areas"
• 2005 Kathmandu,5th Asian regional conference, "Engineering geology, hydrology, and natural disasters"
• 2007 Seoul, 6th Asian regional conference, "Geohazard in engineering geology"
• 2009 Chengdu, 7th Asian regional conference, "Geological engineering problems in major construction projects"
• 2011 Bangalore, 8th Asian regional conference, "Underground space technology"
• 2013 Beijing, 9th Asian regional conference, "Global view of engineering geology and the environment"
• 2015 Kyoto, 10th Asian regional conference, "Geohazards and engineering geology"
• 2017 Kathmandu, 11th Asian regional conference, "Engineering geology for geodisaster management'
• 2019 Jeju, 12th Asian regional conference