Urban Geotechnical Engineering

Dear Colleagues,

President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated that “a nation that destroys its soils destroys itself." Soils form over hundreds of years, and yet can be destroyed by a single event. Construction activities are an example of man-made hazards causing subsequent ground subsidence (i.e., underground cavity). However, man-made geotechnical hazards are an often-overlooked asset, despite being the foundation of urban geotechnical engineering. As such, the accurate acquisition of these assets is strategic for identifying and planning the most effective rehabilitation and maintenance works.

As natural geomaterials and geologic formations commonly involve inherent variability and complexities, the characterization of geotechnical properties in urban areas is one of the most challenging yet important activities required for the successful planning, design, construction, and operation of a resilient civil infrastructure. Geologic fractures and discontinuities (e.g., slip surfaces, joints, and faults) also play a critical role in a wide variety of engineering problems. Examples range from landslides and progressive failures in shallow geotechnical systems, to hydraulic fracturing, geologic CO² sequestration, and induced seismicity in deep subsurface systems. Transportation geotechnics and tunnelling are also important subjects that should be disseminated to urban geotechnical engineering societies.

This Special Issue focuses on the current practices related to the aforementioned issues, which consider a wide-ranged geotechnical issues covering the following:

• Case studies of advanced seismic wave-based geo-characterization
• Simulation of propagating fractures using any standard numerical methods, including the finite element method
• Multiphase fluid flow for soil improvement
• Dynamic tunnel modelling by reflecting the operating conditions and ground conditions in real time
• Application of non-destructive technology to investigate urban geotechnical engineering issues.

Through the Special Issue, the innovative practices, case histories, and significant geotechnical challenges will be shared and disseminated.

Dr. S. Sonny Kim
Dr. Jongwan Eun
Dr. Soonkie Nam
Guest Editors

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