Geoprofessions is a term coined by the Geoprofessional Business Association to connote various technical disciplines that involve engineering, earth and environmental services applied to below-ground ("subsurface"), ground-surface, and ground-surface-connected conditions, structures, or formations.
As such, geotechnical engineering is applicable to every existing or new structure on the planet; every building and every highway, bridge, tunnel, harbor, airport, water line, reservoir, or other public work.
They realize these preliminary recommendations are subject to change, however, because – as a matter of practical necessity related to the observational method inherent to geotechnical engineering – geotechnical engineers base their recommendations on the composition of samples taken from a tiny portion of a site whose actual subsurface conditions are unknowable before excavation, because they are hidden by earth and/or rock and/or water.
All civil-engineering specialties and projects – roads and highways, bridges, rail systems, ports and other waterfront structures, airport terminals, etc.
Relationships are interpreted between landform development, current and past geologic processes, ground and surface water, and the strength characteristics of soil and rock.
Proposed developmental modifications are evaluated and, where appropriate, analyzed to predict potential or likely changes in types and rates of surficial geologic processes.
Engineering geology is applied during all project phases, from conception through planning, design, construction, maintenance, and, in some cases, reclamation and closure.
Planning-level engineering geologic work is commonly conducted in response to forest practice regulations, critical areas ordinances, and the State Environmental Policy Act.
Typical planning-level engineering geologic applications include timber harvest planning, proposed location of residential and commercial developments and other buildings and facilities, and alternative route selection for roads, rail lines, trails, and utilities.
Site-specific engineering geologic applications include cuts, fills, and tunnels for roads, trails, railroads, and utility lines; foundations for bridges and other drainage structures, retaining walls and shoring, dams, buildings, water towers, slope, channel and shoreline stabilization facilities, fish ladders and hatcheries, ski lifts and other structures; landings for logging and other work platforms; airport landing strips; rock bolt systems; blasting; and other major earthwork projects such as for aggregate sources and landfills.
Geoengineers study the mechanics of rock, soil, and fluids to improve the sustainable use of earth's finite resources, where problems appear with competing interests, for example, groundwater and waste isolation, offshore oil drilling and risk of spills, natural gas production and induced seismicity.
These compounds are categorized as pollutants or contaminants when introduced into the environment by human factors (e.g., waste, mining processes, radioactive release) and are not of natural origin.
Hydrogeology applications range from securing safe, plentiful underground drinking-water sources to identifying the nature of groundwater contamination in order to facilitate remediation.
Environmental toxicology is a geoprofession when used to identify the source, fate, transformation, effects, and risks of pollutants on the environment, including soil, water, and air.
Numerous geoprofessional disciplines contribute to the redevelopment of brownfields, sites (typically urban) that are underused or abandoned because they are or are assumed to be contaminated by hazardous materials.
Karl von Terzaghi and Ralph B. Peck – the creators of modern geotechnical engineering – used the observational method and multiple working hypotheses to expedite and economize the subsurface-exploration process, by using sampling and testing to form a judgment about subsurface conditions, and then observing excavated conditions and materials to confirm or modify those judgments and related recommendations, and then finalize them.
Because many of the materials involved, such as concrete, are used in other elements of construction projects and structures, geoprofessional firms expanded their field representatives' skill sets still more, to encompass observation and testing of numerous additional materials (e.g., reinforced concrete, structural steel, masonry, wood, and fireproofing), processes (e.g., cutting and filling and rebar placement), and outcomes (e.g., the effectiveness of welds).
For purposes of short-term economy, however, some owners select a firm not associated with the geotechnical engineer of record to provide these and all other CoMET services.
In some cases, the field representatives in question lack the specific project background information and/or the education and training required to discern those differences.
Likewise, several organizations have developed programs to accredit CoMET field and laboratory services to perform certain types of testing and inspection.
Individuals typically are required to meet certain prerequisites for certification and must pass examinations, in some cases involving performance observation in the field.
Especially because CoMET consultants have more hands-on experience with construction activities than many other design-team members, many owners involve them (among other geoprofessionals) from the outset of a project, during the design phase, to help the owner and/or design team members develop technical specifications and establish testing and inspection requirements, instrumentation requirements and procedures, and observation programs.
Geotechnical engineers employ CoMET services during the earliest stages of a project, to oversee subsurface sampling procedures, such as drilling.
For example, individuals may perform federally mandated all-appropriate inquiries – typically a phase-one environmental site assessment – without a license of any kind.
Many geoprofessional-services firms offer these services to those of their clients that need to satisfy federal and/or state regulations that require paleontological and/or archeological inquiry before site development or redevelopment activities can proceed.