SUSTAINABILITY OF GEOTECHNICAL PROJECTS: DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT TOOL (GEO-SAT)

Abstract

Sustainability is the ability of the system to retain and survive its functionality over the course of time. A system is sustainable as long as the capacity (supply) is greater than the load (demand). Along the timeline of the project, the options to ensure sustainability reduce inferring better planning considerations at early stages. Geotechnical Engineering being the opening phase of any construction project can contribute most to attain sustainability goals i.e. Engineering, Environmental, Economic and Equity (4Es). Through survey and available literature, it has been concluded that geotechnical engineering lacks a dedicated sustainability assessment tool/technique. Different assessment techniques/tools and technical aspects of geotechnics were studied to develop Geo-SAT (Geotechnical Sustainability Assessment Tool). Geo-SAT is developed to ensure the lack in research encompassing the global sustainability goals. Based on quantifiable indicators assessed by a third party on a scale of 1 (harmful) to 5 (improved) to measure the impact on sustainability for each decision made, a total of 169 indicators have been developed (all generic in nature) with the flexibility of addition, exclusion and/or modification as per project’s nature. The different fields targeted are dams, foundations, landslides, contaminated site remediation, soil and erosion control, offshore construction and transportation.