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General Report of TC 307
Sustainability in Geotechnical Engineering
Rapport général du TC 307
Durabilité en géotechnique
Basu D.
University of Waterloo, Canada
Puppala A.J., Chittoori B.
University of Texas at Arlington, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT: Sustainable geotechnics is an emerging sub-discipline within geotechnical engineering that covers a wide range of
topics related to the sustainable development of civil infrastructure and society. In this general report, a brief overview of this new
sub-discipline is provided with an aim to connect the broader scope of sustainability to geotechnical engineering research and
practice. In addition, the papers allocated to the sustainability session (TC 307) of 18th ICSMGE are reviewed in the context of the
big picture. Most of the papers deal with material recycling, reuse, and use of alternate materials in geotechnical engineering
constructions. These apart, the topics covered in the allocated papers include use of geosynthetics, sustainable foundation engineering,
subsurface remediation and site redevelopment, and sustainability assessment. Some of the important topics related to sustainable
geotechnics not covered by the allocated papers are also mentioned.
RÉSUMÉ: La géotechnique soutenable est une nouvelle sous-discipline de la géotechnique qui couvre un large éventail de sujets liés
au développement durable des infrastructures et de la société. On présente dans ce rapport général un bref aperçu de cette nouvelle
sous-discipline avec l’objectif de relier le champ plus large du développement durable avec la recherche et la pratique en
géotechnique. En outre, les articles de la session dédiée à la géotechnique soutenable (TC 307) de la 18e ICSMGE sont examinés dans
un contexte plus large. La plupart des articles traitent de recyclage de matériaux, de réutilisation, et de l'utilisation de matériaux
alternatifs dans les constructions géotechniques. En plus de cela, les sujets abordés dans les articles incluent l'utilisation des
géosynthétiques, les travaux de fondation durable, la décontamination et le réaménagement de sites et l’évaluation de la durabilité.
Certains sujets importants liés à la géotechnique soutenable non couverts par les articles considérés sont également mentionnés.
KEYWORDS: sustainable geotechnics, geosustainability, geohazard, resilience, life cycle assessment, recycling, reuse, remediation.
1 INTRODUCTION
Sustainability is a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary and multi-
dimensional paradigm that aims at ensuring the well being of
the world for the current and future generations. With its origin
in the environmentalism of the nineteenth and early twentieth
century, sustainability has come a long way since its inception
in the later half of the twentieth century and is now widely
recognized as a principle that advocates a balanced development
maintaining harmony between the three Es
environment,
economy and equity (Edwards 2005). The environmental aspect
has mostly been the driver of sustainability movement because
of global concerns regarding the rise in atmospheric carbon
dioxide and temperature, rapid depletion of natural resources,
and other similar environmental and ecological hazards. The
construction industry accounts for about 40% of the global
energy consumption, depletes large amounts of sand, gravel and
stone reserves every year, contributes to desertification,
deforestation and soil erosion, and causes land, water and air
pollution (Dixit et al. 2010, Kibert 2008, Puppala et al. 2012,
Saride et al. 2010). Therefore, green practices within the civil
engineering industry can reduce the impact of construction on
the environment. Geotechnical design and construction, being
placed early in a typical civil engineering project, can
significantly contribute to sustainable development by adopting
environment-friendly, cost-effective and socially-acceptable
choices and setting a precedent for the remainder of the project.
The role of geotechnical engineering in sustainable development
is being increasingly recognized, as evidenced by the formation
of the ISSMGE technical committee “Sustainability in
Geotechnical Engineering” (TC307) in 2012. In fact, the 18
th
ICSMGE has set a precedent by devoting a technical paper
discussion session to the sustainability theme.
The purpose of this general report is (i) to provide a
perspective on the new area of sustainable geotechnics, and (ii)
to review the papers allocated to the sustainability session of the
18
th
ICSMGE in the context of the big picture.
2 SUSTAINABILITY AND GEOTECHNOLOGY
Engineered systems serve human societies by developing cost-
effective products and, in the process, draw resources from
natural systems and generate emissions and wastes that nature
has to absorb. Thus, engineered systems are inextricably
connected to the social, environmental, and economic systems.
Because humankind is heavily dependent on engineered
systems, sustainability of the physical world cannot be achieved
without contributions from the engineered systems. This has
been summed up by Basu et al. as the four Es of sustainability
engineering design, economy, environment and equity, as
described in Figure 1.
Geo-structures and geo-operations often form important
interfaces between the built and natural environments, and
interact with and affect a wide variety of externalities. For
example, dams and levees buffer the fluctuations in hydrologic
cycles and affect water movement across regional and political
boundaries; extraction of petroleum resources from the
subsurface affects the natural environment and global economy;
and landfill systems prevent contaminants from reaching
groundwater across regional scales. Further, geotechnical
engineering has a very important role in mitigating and
containing disasters, and failure to do so is often catastrophic to
the society. Breach of a levee system during a hurricane or
tsunami, breakdown of underground water pipeline network
during an earthquake, landslides triggered by rainfall or
