Minutes of Second Meeting of TC32of ISSMGE in Period 2001 ?2005

(TC32: “Technical Committee on Risk Assessment and Management?

ISSMGE: International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering)

 

Held Monday 07 July 2003 in San Francisco California in conjunction with Ninth International Conference on Applications of Statistics and Probability in Civil Engineering

 

Goals of TC32

 

As previously established, the goals of TC32 are to promote and enhance professional activities and education in geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering, in areas related to:

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Geostatistics and probabilistic site characterization

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Quantification of uncertainties in performance prediction

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Reliability-based design

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Risk-based decision analysis

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Calibration of LRFD-type geotechnical design codes

 

These goals are to be achieved through the following activities:

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Arrange special sessions and short courses in connection with relevant international conferences and seminars

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Create a Glossary of risk terms and definitions by December 2004

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Develop Guidelines for risk assessment and management in geotechnical engineering by December 2004

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Liaison and co-operation with other risk-related committees

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        Provide relevant information on the web (e.g., case studies and bibliography) to the geotechnical community

 

Meeting Agenda:

 

1.      Introduction and attendees

2.      Review of previous minutes

3.      Report on past year’s committee tasks

4.      Ongoing committee activities

5.      Future activities

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        sponsorship of sessions / short courses in international conferences

?span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>        collaboration with national committees

6.      Future initiatives / projects

7.      Web page developments / directions

8.      Future committee meetings

9.      Any other business

 

Item 1 ?Introduction and Attendees

 

Meeting convened at 7:00PM by TC32 Acting Chairman Gordon Fenton (in Farrokh Nadim’s absence), followed by introductions (with attendees signing in).?Attendees (including core members, members and observers) are listed below, as well as those who sent their regrets.?With TC32 Secretary G.Fenton taking over as Acting Chairman, Bill Roberds was selected as Acting Secretary to take minutes of the meeting.

 

List of attendees:

 

Name

Organization

Country

Status

E-mail

Fenton, Gordon

Dalhousie Univ

Canada

Acting Chair

Gordon.Fenton@dal.ca

Roberds, Bill

Golder Assoc

USA

Core Member

broberds@golder.com

Breysse, Denys

Univ of Bordeaux

France

Observer

denys.bresse@cdga.u-bordeaux.fr

Caldeira, Laura

Lab Natl E C

Portugal

Member

laurac@lnec.pt

Honjo, Yusuke

Gifu Univ

Japan

Observer

honjo@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp

Olsson, Lars

Geostatistik AB

Sweden

Member

lars.olsson@geostatistik.se

Phoon, Kok-Kwang

NatlUofSingapore

Singapore

Observer

cvepkk@nus.edu.sg

Tang, Wilson

HKUofSci&Tech

Hong Kong

Member

wtang@ust.hk

 

List of members sending regrets:

 

Name

Country

Status

E-mail

Nadim, Farrokh

Norway

Chair

fna@ngi.no

Bolle, Albert

Belgium

Core Member

Albert.Bolle@ulg.ac.be

Ho, Ken

Hong Kong

Core Member

cge_lid@ced.gov.hk

Pacheco, Marcus

Brazil

Core Member

mpacheco@netyet.com.br

Gilbert, Bob

USA

Member

Bob_Gilbert@mail.utexas.edu

Jaksa, Mark

Australia

Member

Mark.jaksa@adelaide.edu.au

Trak, Baris

Turkey

Member

Baris.TRAK@coebank.org

Stadler, Gert

Austria

Observer

stadler@bbw.tu-graz.ac.at

van der Berg, Pierre

South Africa

Observer

vdberg@jaws.co.za

Vanmarke, Erik

USA

Observer

evm@princeton.edu

 

 

Item 2 ?Review of Previous Minutes

 

The minutes of the previous meeting of TC32 (Sept 2002 in Graz Austria) have been available for review on the TC32 web site for the last year.?A copy of the minutes was passed out to the attendees.?There have been no comments on the minutes, and the minutes were approved.

 

Item 3 - Report on past year’s committee tasks

 

No activities were completed in the last year ?they are all ongoing (see Item 4 - Ongoing Committee Activities).

 

 

 

Item 4 - Ongoing committee activities

 

The following inter-related TC32 activities were discussed:

 

  • guidelines ?Develop a general framework for geotechnical risk assessment and management, several pages long, but expandable into sections on specific applications.?It will be aimed not at risk specialists, but at those who may be involved in such work without adequate training.? TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds <broberds@golder.com>, who is involved in a similar effort with ASCE GeoInstitute’s Risk Assessment and Management Committee, is leading this effort.?Interested parties were supposed to submit their ideas and existing guidelines (document, or ref and way to acquire) to him by 31/12/02; TC32 member Ed Calle < e.o.f.calle@geodelft.nl> sent the link to the 'Probabilistic Model Code' of the Joint Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS) < www.jcss.ethz.ch> (click button: JCSS Publications and then The JCSS Probabilistic Model Code), although Section 3.7: Soil Properties (part of part 3 of the PMC) had not yet been added to the public domain, so he sent it separately. Bill has developed a draft annotated outline, but it will not be ready for review by TC32 until fall of 2003. He will first circulate for comment among TC32 Core Members and then, after TC32 Core Member approval, to a wider audience. As pieces are approved by TC32, they will be posted on the TC32 web site.

 

  • glossary ?Develop a general glossary of terms for risk assessment and management, covering about 50 ?100 items, consistent with other glossaries and supportive of the above guidelines.?TC Member Lars Olsson <lars.olsson@geostatistik.se> is leading this effort.?Interested parties were supposed to submit their inputs to him by 31/12/02.?TC32 Core Member Ken Ho sent a draft IUGS glossary to Lars for consideration.?Doug VanDine (vandine@highspeedplus.com) is working on a glossary of risk terminology for geo-scientists in Canada; he is very much interested in cooperating with TC32 (Lars Olsson) on this subject and Lars will contact him. Robin Fell of JCT1 is finalizing a short glossary (about twenty items) for the Canadian Landslide Conference in Spring 2005, i.e., the IUGS glossary which was begun in 1997, and it was suggested that this glossary be used by TC32 (rather than developing a new one) although it may need to be expanded ?TC32 needs to comment on or endorse this glossary ASAP.?The UN organization ISDR in Geneva is also working on a related glossary, which Lars will coordinate with. Lars has compiled a preliminary glossary comprised of 160 items, with references and competing definitions, but it does not yet have examples ? he requests people to send him examples and references.?The glossary will not be ready for review by TC32 until fall of 2003 ?Lars will first circulate for comment among TC32 Core Members and then, after TC32 Core Member approval, to a wider audience.?Once approved by TC32, the glossary will be posted on the TC32 web site.

 

  • bibliography ?Develop a bibliography for risk assessment and management, in support of the guidelines and glossary.? To facilitate its use, it would be desirable that this bibliography be categorized in terms of type (e.g., web page, non-peer-reviewed paper, report, peer-reviewed paper, symposium, text book, etc.), and topic (e.g., see case studies below).?TC32 Core Member Ken Ho <cge_lid@ced.gov.hk> is leading this effort, coordinating with ASCE GeoInstitute’s Risk Assessment and Management Committee (chaired by G.Fenton) who are also developing such a bibliography ?indeed, the course notes presented on TC32’s web page has an extensive bibliography, although it would need to be updated and categorized.? Interested parties were supposed to submit their ideas and references to him by 31/12/02; however, no one did, although Denys Breysse (who attended the TC32 meeting) will send Ken a list of French references in the near future.?Ken developed a preliminary bibliography, which was handed out at the TC32 meeting.?However, the consensus of those at the TC32 meeting was that it needed categorization and evaluation to be useful.?A tentative categorization (e.g., keywords) and evaluation scheme / procedure, consistent with the guidelines and glossary, will be developed by TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds and circulated for comment by TC32 members this fall.?Once the categorization scheme / procedure has been approved by TC32, it will be applied to the reference list for review by TC32.?Once approved by TC32, the initial bibliography will be posted on the TC32 web site, where it would be periodically updated per the categorization scheme / procedure.

 

  • case studies ?Assemble an extensive set of case studies that demonstrate various approaches and the value or benefit of the results of risk assessment, for various types of applications.?To facilitate their use, it would be desirable that these case studies be categorized in terms of scope, approach and application, consistent with the above guidelines.?A potential problem may be the confidential nature of some projects, which would require specific measures to allow publication.?It will be the author’s responsibility to obtain client approval.?TC32 Core Member Ken Ho <cge_lid@ced.gov.hk> is leading this effort, coordinating with ASCE GeoInstitute’s Risk Assessment and Management Committee (chaired by G.Fenton) who are also developing a set of case studies.?Interested parties were supposed to submit their ideas to him by 31/12/02; however, no one did.? Ken developed an example case study, which was handed out at the TC32 meeting (see attachment).?TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds also handed out some example case studies, which are actually promotional materials but could be easily modified to be suitable (see attachment).?The consensus of those at the TC32 meeting was that Ken’s example needed more information (including author / contact, categorization / keywords, and discussion of value / benefit, which in turns needs definition of criteria) and more detail (similar to the discussion of approach, including graphics, in Bill’s examples), but each case study should be limited to 3 pages.?The categorization / keywords will be the same as being developed for the bibliography.?To ensure completeness and uniformity, Bill will develop a WORD template for case studies that can be downloaded off the web site and then submitted electronically when completed by the author.?T.H.Wu will be asked to be the “gate keeper?of case studies, checking them to ensure that they are complete and appropriate (e.g., there are no commercial messages and that author certifies that client approval has been obtained) before posting them on the web site.?Even so, the web site will need a disclaimer (especially with respect to client approval being the author’s responsibility, ala ASCE).?The template will be developed by TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds for review by TC32 this fall.?Once approved by TC32, the categorization scheme and template will be posted on the TC32 web site.

 

  • course notes ?Assemble a set of course notes, perhaps expanding on the guidelines and other materials, to facilitate undergraduate and graduate education in this area.?First, conduct a survey of universities world wide to determine what courses are offered and their content.?TC32 Member Mark Jaksa <mark.jaksa@adelaide.edu.au> will lead this effort, but has not yet started.?Note:? Notes from a short course presented by G.Fenton et al at GeoLogan in 1997 and at Madison Wisconsin in 1998 are the most current version, and are available on the TC32 web site.

 

  • prediction symposium ?Organize or sponsor a symposium in which various experts, using the same information base provided by the organizers, would present their risk assessment for a particular real-life project so that methods could be compared.?However, validation (in the form of comparing predictions to actual outcomes) may not be possible.?Although Hong Kong was considering organizing such a prediction symposium as part of its landslide conference in Dec 2003, a more likely venue would be the conference on Landslides to be held in Canada in Spring of 2005.?TC32 Core Member Ken Ho <cge_lid@ced.gov.hk>, who is on the steering committee for the Canadian conference, will lead this effort.?Interested parties should submit their ideas to him by 31/12/03, after which he will develop a proposal to organize or sponsor such a prediction symposium for review by TC32.? If approved by TC32, the proposal will be implemented and posted on the TC32 web site.

 

  • website ?A website currently exists for TC32 <http://www.engmath.dal.ca/tc32/index.html>, developed and maintained by TC32 Secretary G.Fenton <Gordon.Fenton@dal.ca>.?It is intended that this web site would be the primary method for disseminating information re TC32, such as the materials discussed above in addition to what is already contained there (roster, news, meeting minutes, links, etc.).?If members would like their home page to be linked to the TC32 website, send your URL to Gordon Fenton.?TC32 Secretary G.Fenton will continue to lead this effort; however, see item 7.

 

As noted above, specific people and milestones have been designated for each activity to ensure progress.?These activities need to be completed by the end of TC32’s term, and reported at the ISSMGE conference in Osaka Japan in Spring 2005.

 

Item 5 ?Future Activities

 

Item 5a ?Collaboration with JTC1

 

JTC1 (Joint International Committee on Landslides -?ISSMGE/IAEG/ISRM) led by Prof. Robin Fell is planning a Conference on Landslide Risk Assessment in Canada in Spring 2005.?The steering committee for the conference includes TC32 Core Member Ken Ho and TC32 Member Leonardo Cascini.?TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds volunteered to help, if needed.?It was decided that TC32 endorses this conference.?[Note: This conference may conflict (in content) with the landslide conference in Rio the previous summer, as well as (in dates) with the ISSMGE conference in Japan.]

 

 

 

Item 5b ?Upcoming Conferences

 

Conferences of possible interest to TC32 (e.g., attending, for sponsoring special sessions, or coordinating future TC32 meetings) include:

  • 13th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 25-28 August 2003 in Prague, Czech Republic (Europe) <http://www.ECSMGE2003.cz>
  • 3rd International Conference on Debris Flow Hazards Mitigation: Mechanics, Prediction and Assessment, 10-12 September in Davos Switzerland (Europe)
  • Landslide Symposium, December 2003 in Hong Kong (Asia) ?[Note:?contact Ken Ho, TC32 Core Member, for information.]
  • 11th ICSDEE and 3rd ICEGE, Jan 7--9, 2004, UC Berkeley, California (USA)
  • 9th Australia--New Zealand Conf on Geomechanics, Feb 8--11, 2004, Auckland, New Zealand (Pacific)
  • International Conference on Cyclic Behavior of Soils, Mar 31--Apr 2, 2004, Bochum, Germany (Europe)
  • Fifth International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, 13-17 April 2004 in New York, NY (USA).
  • World Tunnel Congress, May 22--27, 2004, Singapore (Asia)
  • 4th BGA Geoenvironmental Engineering Conf, Jun 28--30, 2004, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK (Europe)
  • International Symposium on Landslides, June 28 ?July 2 2004, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (South America) ?abstracts due July 15, 2003 [Note: TC32 Core Members Ken Ho and Bill Roberds will teach a short course on risk assessment for slopes, sponsored / endorsed by TC32].?
  • Geo2004, Jul 12-15, 2004, Irbid, Jordan (Middle East).
  • GeoTrans, July 27-31, 2004, Los Angeles California (USA)
  • 2nd International Conference on Site Characterization, Sept 19-22, 2004, Porto Portugal (Europe) ?[Note: Laura Caldeira, who attended TC32 Meeting, will check on available space]
  • International Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, Oct 3-6, 2004, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Middle East)
  • GeoFrontiers, Jan 24-26, 2005, Austin, Texas (USA) ?[Note:?K.K.Phoon, who attended TC32 meeting and is new chairman of ASCE/GeoInstitute’s Committee on RAM, will consider joint sponsorship of session ?he will send out a list of topics when available]
  • ISSMGE, Spring 2005 in Osaka, Japan. (Asia)
  • Geotechnique's 2005 Symposium in Print: "Risk and Variability in Geotechnical Engineering." May 2005 in London UK (Europe) ?papers to be published in February 2005 issue of Geotechnique and presented at a one-day symposium; call for papers in April 2004 (with synopses due by Dec 15, 2003) on topics including Factors and Measurements, Stochastic vs. Deterministic, Case Studies, and Applications to Design Codes [Note: Denys Bresse who attended TC32 meeting sent information]
  • ITA Annual Conference, Apr 29, 2006, Korea (Asia)
  • XIIIth Danube-European Conference on Geotechnical Engineering, June 7-9, 2006, Ljubljana, Slovenia (Europe)
  • VIth European Conf on Numerical Methods in Geotechnical Engineering, Sept 6-8, 2006, Graz, Austria (Europe)

 

Item 5c ?Collaborations with National Committees

 

Liaisons with other organizations include:

  • ASCE GeoInstitute’s Risk Assessment and Management Committee, which has been chaired by TC32 Secretary G.Fenton and will be chaired starting this coming year by K.K.Phoon, who attended the TC32 meeting as an observer; TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds and TC32 Members Wilson Tang, Erik Vanmarcke, Bob Gilbert, Vaughan Griffiths, and T.H. Wu are also long standing members of this committee.
  • ASCE Pipeline Division’s Committee on Risk Assessment, which has TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds as a member
  • US Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Risk and Reliability, which is chaired by TC32 Member Bob Gilbert
  • Joint Committee JTC1 of ISSMGE ?IAEG ?ISRM on Landslides (chaired by Prof. Robin Fell)
  • International Committee on Large Dams (ICOLD)
  • National Soil and Risk Working Committee is being formed in France (consisting of Denys Breysse ?Univ of Bordeaux, who attended TC32 meeting as an observer, Theirry Verdel ?School of Mines, and Jean-Louis Favre)

[Note:?After the meeting was adjourned, another collaborative organization was identified.?The US National Academy of Sciences is proposing a workshop on Probabilistic Risk Assessment.?TC32 Core Member Bill Roberds authored the draft proposal with NAS member Tom Doe, suggesting close cooperation with TC32 and ASCE/GeoInstitute’s Committee on RAM.]

 

Item 6 ?Future Initiatives / Projects

 

It was felt that ongoing TC32 activities (e.g., developing guidance, glossary / bibliography and case studies) were significant and will entail as much effort as TC32 members will have available - see Item 4 - Ongoing Committee Activities.?Hence, no other future initiatives / projects were identified at this time.

 

Item 7 ?Web Page Development / Directions

 

As noted in Item 4 - Ongoing Committee Activities, TC32 has a web page that is currently maintained by Gordon Fenton on his computer.?He is willing to continue to maintain the web page.?However, as the web page expands to include the results of TC32 activities (e.g., guidance, glossary / bibliography, and especially case studies), he may need assistance, for example some small funds to pay a graduate student to maintain the site.?This was endorsed by the attending TC32 members, subject to available funds.

 

Item 8 ?Future Committee Meetings

 

The final meeting of TC32 will most likely be in Osaka Japan in the spring of 2005 at the ISSMGE Conference (date to be decided in August 2003).?Y.Honjo of TC23, who attended TC32 meeting as an observer, has offered to jointly sponsor a session.?TC32 could present the results of committee activities, i.e., guidance, glossary / bibliography and case studies.?This proposal will be discussed with the TC32 Chairman and then with TC32 Core Members.

 

The location and date of the next meeting of TC32 have not been established.?Considerations include: 1) the 2002 meeting was in Europe in the fall, the 2003 meeting was in USA in the summer, and the 2005 meeting will be in Japan in the spring, so that the next meeting should be elsewhere and probably in spring or summer 2004; and 2) it may be possible to do the meeting via videoconference.?One possibility would be at the International Landslide Symposium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 28-July 2, 2004; two TC32 Core Members (Ken Ho and Bill Roberds) will be offering a short course on risk assessment at this venue.?TC32 Chairman F. Nadim will email TC32 members and observers to let them know where and when the next meeting will be.

 

Item 9 ?Other Business

 

There was no other business.

 

Closure

 

Meeting was adjourned at 9:30PM by TC32 Acting Chairman Gordon Fenton.

 

Signed by Bill Roberds, TC32 Core Member and Acting Secretary (while G.Fenton was Acting Chairman).