Geotechnical Engineering

According to FIDIC £7.1 trillion is going to be spent on global infrastructure by 2011. Geotechnical Engineering is a niche sector which is vital in order for this projected amount of infrastructure to be built. Geotechnical Engineering is required in all Civil and Infrastructure projects as the majority of buildings and structures are supported by the ground and all construction is built on or in the ground. In addition, geotechnical engineering also forms an important part of extractive industries, such as open cast and underground mining and hydrocarbon extraction and is essential in evaluating natural hazards such as earthquakes and landslides. Any type of engineering which deals with rocks, soils, metals, minerals and fuels is a type of geotechnical engineering. Thus, areas as wide spread as Gas, Geological, Geomatics, Mettallurgical, Mineral, Mining, Oil and Petroleum are all encompassed by the geotechnical banner.

Major, global Infrastructure projects are all reliant on the skills of geotechnical engineers to prepare the ground in order for buildings and structures to be constructed. Without this skill set multi-billion pound schemes such as Crossrail, the Olympics, Mazdar City to mention just a few, would not be able to be constructed safely. Geotechnical expertise is critical in the construction of high speed rail projects, if the ground is not compacted in the right way the consequences could prove fatal.

Urban Regeneration and major developments are reliant upon the reclamation of derelict and contaminated land. Political pressure is mounting for this development to happen on Greenfield sites, which without the knowledge of these specialist engineers again would be near impossible.

In 2000, it was estimated that the UK geotechnical industry employed over 8,000 people and the industry generated a turnover of £1bn, 400m of which was generated through piling and foundations. In 2008, it was estimated that in the UK alone there is a shortage of 153,000 engineers and that this is only going to worsen unless significant money is invested into this sector and rates of pay are increased. The importance of this sector is all too often overlooked, hence the level of remuneration that it offers is inadequate for the skill sets which are demanded. The proper training in areas such as bioremediation and geochemistry can take as long as training to be a doctor or a lawyer, so it is evident that there is certainly a war for talent in this area.

One thing is for certain, although it is hard to put an exact figure on the worth of the geotechnical industry globally, it is certainly a multi-billion pound industry. Without this niche skill set neither contractors, consultancies or clients would be able to construct and complete major global projects and the projected 7.1 trillion pound expenditure which has been targeted at the building of new Infrastructure would certainly not be achievable.