Geological engineering
This ranges from manual ground-based methods to deep drilling, to geochemical sampling, to advanced geophysical techniques and satellite surveying.
[1] Some examples of projects include rock excavation, building foundation consolidation, pressure grouting, hydraulic channel erosion control, slope and fill stabilization, landslide risk assessment, groundwater monitoring, and assessment and remediation of contamination.
[2] This demand was created by issues encountered from development of increasingly large and ambitious structures, human-generated waste, scarcity of mineral and energy resources, and anthropogenic climate change – all of which created the need for a more specialized field of engineering with professional engineers who were also experts in geological or Earth sciences.
Notable disasters that are attributed to the formal creation of the geological engineering discipline include dam failures in the United States and western Europe in the 1950s and 1960s.
Post-secondary degrees in geological engineering are offered at various universities around the world but are concentrated primarily in North America.
To practice as a professional geological engineer, a bachelor's degree in a related discipline from an accredited institution is required.
The subdisciplines listed below are commonly taught at the undergraduate level, and each has overlap with disciplines external to geological engineering.
[13][14] It solves these issues via the development of processes and infrastructure for the supply of clean water, waste disposal, and control of pollution of all kinds.
[14] Typical work of a geoenvironmental engineer includes: Mineral and energy resource exploration (commonly known as MinEx for short) is the subdiscipline of geological engineering that applies modern tools and concepts to the discovery and sustainable extraction of natural mineral and energy resources.
[4] Geological engineers also perform a primary role in all forms of underground infrastructure including tunnelling, mining, hydropower projects, shafts, deep repositories and caverns for power, storage, industrial activities, and recreation.
[4] Moreover, geological engineers design monitoring systems, analyze natural and induced ground response, and prepare recommendations and reports on the settlement of buildings, stability of slopes and fills, and the probable effects of natural disasters to support construction and civil engineering projects.
[4] Additionally, they design means to manage and protect surface and groundwater resources and remediation solutions in the event of contamination.
[4] In a variety of projects, they may be expected to design and perform geophysical investigations from surface using boreholes or from space to analyze ground conditions, composition, and structure at all scales[4] Professional Engineering Licenses may be issued through a municipal, provincial/state, or federal/national government organization, depending on the jurisdiction.
All these titles have similar requirements for accreditation, including a recognized post-secondary degree and relevant work experience.
They are trained to be aware of potential problems like: They use a variety of field and laboratory testing techniques to characterize ground materials that might affect the construction, the long-term safety, or environmental footprint of a project.
