Twenty-fifth anniversary special paper: Marine geotechnical engineering in Canada

Abstract

Marine geotechnical engineering in Canada is over one hundred years old, having started with overwater drilling and testing for bridges and nearshore structures. Its growth has been sporadic, with not much attention being directed to the geotechnical properties of marine soils until the late 1970's when design of artificial islands made up of large caissons started to develop. For about the last 15 years, marine geotechnical engineering has been driven by the oil and gas industry. Most of the action has been in the Beaufort Sea, where complex site conditions have necessitated detailed geotechnical field drilling, sampling programs, and in situ testing. Very little geotechnical engineering research work or site investigation has been carried out off the east coast except for the Hibernia site on the Grand Banks. In the coming years we can expect to see dramatic changes in site investigation methods. The use of robotics and expert systems coupled with innovative geophysical techniques could dramatically change our methods of site characterization and measurement of geotechnical properties. Key words: marine geotechnical engineering, Beaufort Sea, Grand Banks, Scotian Shelf, in situ testing, geophysical – geotechnical relationship, future trends.