Abstract
Geotechnical engineers working with forensic evaluations must apply science and engineering within the rules and practice of the legal system, in order to be effective in representing reality and resolving conflicts. Such rules and practice will vary from country to country. The geotechnical work required for the documentation of forensic cases, however, should observe the same standards of quality in all countries. To provide the required assistance in the settlement of disputes, the engineer needs to combine high quality forensic investigations consistent with good science and engineering with an ability to clearly present the matters being disputed. This keynote lecture reviews the basic requirements of forensic geotechnical engineering. The technical forensic investigation requires collection of data, problem characterization, development of failure hypotheses, a realistic back-analysis, observations in situ and in some cases performance monitoring, and most importantly quality control of not only the formal but also the technical aspects of the work. Two case histories of landslides are presented. The role of the geotechnical engineer as a forensic expert is highlighted, in particular in investigating damage and failure, evaluating the hazards and consequences, developing repair recommendations and preparing reports.
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Notes
- 1.
The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian law code dating back to about 1772 BC, and is one of the oldest writings in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code. The Code consists of 282 laws, with scaled punishments, adjusting “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” depending on social status (slave versus free man). Nearly one-half of the Code deals with matters of contract, establishing for example the wages to be paid to an ox driver or a surgeon. Other provisions set the terms of a transaction, for example, the liability of a builder for a house that collapses, or property that is damaged while left in the care of another.
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Acknowledgments
The author is thankful to her many colleagues at NGI and from our research partners for their contribution to the case studies. Part of the work was funded by the project SEABED through the Norwegian Deepwater Programme and by NGI’s Centre of Excellence “The International Centre for Geohazards”. The author acknowledges in particular the key contributions made by Maarten Vanneste, Jean Sébastien L’Heureux, Carl-Fredrik Forsberg and Tore Kvalstad from NGI, Mark E. Vardy from Southampton University, Oddvar Longva and Shyam Chand from the Geological Survey of Norway, Haflidi Haflidason and Jo Brendryen from the University of Bergen and Alois Steiner from MARUM, in Bremerhaven.
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Lacasse, S. (2016). Forensic Geotechnical Engineering Theory and Practice. In: Rao, V., Sivakumar Babu, G. (eds) Forensic Geotechnical Engineering. Developments in Geotechnical Engineering. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2377-1_2
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