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Proceedings of the 18
th
International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Paris 2013
APPENDIX
RECENT REPORTS SUBMITTED BY INDIVIDUAL
MEMBER SOCIETIES IN AFRICA REGION
1.
SUDAN
NEWS ON RECENT CONFERENCE:
THE INTENATIONAL SEMINAR ON CONSTRUCTION
ON WEAK ROCKS
By:
Dr. Hussein Elarabi – Secretary of SSSMGE
Eng. Mohamed A. Bagi Mahmoud Taha – Member of SSSMGE
The Sudanese Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical
Engineering (SSSMGE) was established in Sudan in 1986 to
promote cooperation among engineers and scientists for the
advancement of Knowledge in the field of soil mechanics and
its practical applications.
Sudan has experienced considerable development during the
last two decades and several large civil engineering projects
have been executed in the country. The projects included dams
on the River Nile and its tributaries, thousands of kilometres of
highways, bridges across the Niles and industrial projects
including oil exploration and export facilities. All these projects
required intensive geotechnical investigations, material searches
and evaluation and consultancy in the related fields. Local
experts were involved in most of these projects and a great deal
of experience was gained from these projects. It is interesting to
mention that most of the challenges regarding compliance with
scheduled construction time, performance and cost were related
to the geotechnics of the mentioned projects. Many of these
projects were founded on weak rocks (sandstone, mudstone and
calcareous deposits). The challenges of design and construction
on these formations is known and realized worldwide.
The idea of organizing this seminar was initiated during the
17th ICSMGE2009 in Alexandria by Prof Pedro Pinto. Then,
the idea was given the utmost attention by the Geotechnical
Department of Building and Road Research Institute, University
of Khartoum and the members of SSSMGE for the sake of
resurrecting the SSSMGE and spotlights the importance of the
society in solving the major geotechnical problems in Sudan
among which is the construction on weak rocks. This seminar is
intended to improve our understanding on this topic.
The International Seminar on Construction on Weak Rocks
took place in the city of Khartoum from July 29th to July 1st.
This event was organized under the auspices of the Soil
Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (SSSMGE) in
conjunction with ISSMGE in which Prof. Pedro S. Pinto played
major roles. It was intended to resurrect the Sudanese Society
and to spotlight the importance of the society in solving the
major geotechnical problems in Sudan. This seminar attracted
184 participants. The event was organized and advised by the
following committees:
The ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
Chairman:
Dr. El Fatih M. Ali, President of SSSMGE,
General Manager of Engineering Service and Design,
Khartoum, Sudan
Secretary:
Dr. Hussein Elarabi, Secretary of SSSMGE,
Head of Geotechnical Engineering Department, BRRI,
University of Khartoum, Sudan.
Members:
Dr. Ahmed M. Elsharief, Dr. Mohamed A.
Osman, Dr. Abdel Kareem M. Zein, Eng. Omer Gurham, Eng.
Adil Abdalla, Eng. Rasha Abu Elgasim, Eng. Bashir Osman,
and Eng. Moh. ElBaiyhagi Elgizoli.
The ADVISORY COUNCIL
Prof. J.L. Briaud, ISSMGE President
Prof. Pedro S. Pinto, ISSMGE Past President
Prof Samuel Ejezie, ISSMGE Vice President for Africa
Prof Fatma Baligh ISSMGE incoming Vice President for Africa
The opening ceremony commenced with recitation of few
versus from Holly Quran. Afterwards, a speech was given by
President Jean. L. Briaud, followed by Prof. Pedro S. Pinto
(ISSMGE Immediate Past President) and Prof. Samuel Ejezie
(ISSMGE Vice President for Africa). Then a welcoming speech
was given by the President of the Sudanese Society, Dr. Eng.
Elfatih Mohamed Ali. Also, a speech was given by the
representative of the Governor of State of Khartoum – Minister
of Physical Planning and Infrastructure Eng., Alrasheed Osman
Fageery. Later, his Excellency the Vice – President of Sudan
Dr. Eng. Elhaj Adam Yousif gave his speech, in which he
mentioned the vital role of soil mechanics and geotechnical
engineering in the construction industry. At the end, a speech
was given by Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov and his Excellency the
Vice – President of Sudan Dr. Eng. Elhaj Adam Yousif
exchanged gifts with the foreign experts and posed with them
for group photo.
The invited lectures were delivered as what follows;
1. Prof. Jean-Louis Briaud (President of ISSMGE) “Unsaturated
soil behaviour for the practicing engineer” and “Shrink –
swell soils and the design of foundation for light building”
2. Prof. Pedro S. Pinto (Past President of ISSMGE) “Railway
old station building: enlargement and underpinning” and
“Lessons learned from two landslide case histories”
3. Prof. Samuel Ejezie (Vice President of ISSMGE for Africa)
“Behaviour of lateritic soils in engineering construction
tropical Africa” and “Vibration transmission in lateritic soils
of the tropical region of Africa”
4. Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov (ISSMGE Vice President for
Asia) “Geotechnical construction on weak rock ground of
new capital Astana Kazakhstan” and “Analyses of the
settlement of pile foundations under weak rock conditions
of Astana”
5. Prof. Antonio Bobet (Purdue University, USA) “Deformation
and failure of soft rocks: a model for shales” and
“Propagation and coalescence of frictional discontinuities”
6. Prof. Fatima Baligh (ISSMGE forthcoming Vice President
for Africa) "Deep vibratory compaction method "
7. Dr. Mohamed A. Osman (Past Director of the Building and
Road Research Institute, University of Khartoum, Sudan)
“Weak rocks in Sudan origin, distribution and some
geotechnical properties”
8. Dr. Ahmed M. Elsharief (Treasurer of SSSMGE, Director of
Building and Road Research Institute, University of
Khartoum) “Design and construction practices of piers in
Nubian Sandstone Formation”
A round-table discussion took place on the second day on
“Construction on Weak Rocks – Challenges and solutions.” The
third day offered the guests a field visit sponsored by the Dams
Implementation Unit (DIU) to the Dam Complex of Upper
Atbara and Setit which is currently under construction. All site
visitors assembled at Khartoum International Airport where a
twin engine Foker plane was ready to departure. The plane took
off from Khartoum with 50 Passengers on board at 7:00am and
the flight took about 50 minutes to reach Alshowak airstrip.
Many presentations were given to the visitors at site. These
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