β Scribed by Thomas L. Holzer
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
The purpose of this book is to begin a "process of consolidating part of the Australian earth science experience" in engineering geology, hydrogeology, and environmental geology. The book represents one of the first efforts undertaken by the Engineering Geology Specialist Group of the Geological Society of Australia. The group, established in 1979, perceived a need for a collection of case histories for both present and future Australian practitioners in the applied earth sciences. This book was intended to partially fill that need. It consists of 19 papers by 25 authors who are writing on the basis of first-hand experience, principally in Australia. The book is divided into three parts, on engineering geology, hydrogeology, and environmental ge91ogy.
The opening invited paper by David H. Stapledon is an excellent review of his experience as an independent consultant in contract disputes between contractors and principals. The disputes arose over claims by contractors that adverse site conditions encountered during construction could not have been anticipated on the basis of the exploratory data provided to the contractor when bids were being solicited. Stapledon concludes that most disputes were caused by inadequate site investigation by the principal before solicitation of bids. In cases where good-quality factual data were available and disputes arose, Stapledon concluded that disputes would not have resulted if the contractor had received interpretive as well as factual data. Stapledon's observations on the importance of describing the implications of borehole observations in addition to making the factual observations themselves are worthwhile reading for all new engineering geologists inexperienced with logging.
The section on engineering geology consists of six papers that include two on highway geology, two on dams, and one each on rippability of rock and slope stability. The emphasis on roads and dams leaves the reader wondering if these are the principal structures on which engineering geologists work in Australia. As with most of the papers in the volume, the papers do not break new ground but illustrate the application of known principles or concepts. One exception is the paper by E.J. Minty and G.K. Kearns in which they quantify geological factors in order to improve existing methods for assessing rock mass workability.
The section on hydrogeology consists of three case histories each on ground-water quality and supply; one of the supply studies is based on the island of Bali in Indonesia rather than Australia. All three water quality papers treat regional issues. Point-source pollution and plume migration are not treated in any detail, although aspects of this challenging problem are briefly treated in the paper by J.G. Leonard on ground-water conditions
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