Environmental geotechnics, the art of crossing boundaries

Abstract

Geotechnical engineering has traditionally focused on the physical aspects of the subsurface. Over the last decades, the chemical condition of the geoenvironment has gained increasing attention. Problems like soil contamination, dredged material handling, landfill and mine tailing stability have been the focus in environmental geotechnics. Over the last 25 years, the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute has developed into a multidisciplinary group of engineers and scientists that address complex environmental problems of brownfield redevelopment, contaminated sediment remediation and waste disposal and re-use. The key to success has been the willingness to cross traditional disciplinary boundaries, gather specialists with a highly diverging background and get them to cooperate with untraditional research groups like economists and sociologist both national and international.