Contributions to Géotechnique 1948–2008: Slope stability and embankment dams

Abstract

The paper reviews the main contributions to geotechnical engineering in the allied fields of slope stability and embankment dams over the past sixty years of Géotechnique. Skempton's Rankine Lecture is probably the most important single contribution to the science of slope stability engineering, through the initial enunciation of the linked ideas of slip surfaces and residual strength. Embankment dam engineering papers do not have such a single identifiable seminal publication, but the contribution of Rankine Lecturers to the science of embankment dams is equally evident.