Contributions to Géotechnique 1948–2008: Laboratory and field testing

Abstract

A review is presented of the development of laboratory and field testing as viewed through the pages of Géotechnique, and from the personal standpoint of two authors whose careers started after many of the most important apparatus and techniques had already been invented. The review highlights the shifting tides of fashion to and fro, from laboratory to field tests, but emphasises the interdependence of the two. While the early years of Géotechnique witnessed the more obviously dramatic developments, more recent years have seen refinements in apparatus and techniques, particularly for small strains, and also analyses, in which the effects of more complex aspects of soil behaviour have been accounted for, such as structure, stress and strain history, and time-related effects. Although more subtle in nature, these developments have still had immense influence on engineering practice.