| Forensic geotechnical engineering (FGE) has been created to deal with investigation of soil interaction related failures of engineered facilities or structures. Services of forensic geotechnical engineers are generally commissioned to investigate such failures. “What happened?”, and “Why did it happen?” are usually the first two questions asked of the forensic engineer. It involves analysis of a project, site conditions, or construction from a geotechnical standpoint. These analyses can be performed during the design phase of a project to check the calculations and engineering assumptions or during and/or after the construction of a project to provide quality assurance or address issues that arise during or after construction. FGE prepares civil engineers to read, think, speak, and analyse like a lawyer. In addition, it familiarizes him/her with the jurisprudence system so that he is more able to understand and deal with legal issues since he/she has to work closely with statutes and regulations, may become involved in litigation, or who may serve as an expert witness. The legal considerations of these forensic geotechnical engineering services illustrate the reality that the engineering investigation of a failure incident is a fact-finding mission that results in uncovering the probable causes of that failure. It concentrates on the identification of hidden clues. The procedures adopted for the analysis, testing, opinions, and written reports should be able to satisfy even legal scrutiny of their validity. A practicing geotechnical engineer cannot provide services without the fear of a lawsuit. Services of geotechnical engineers experienced in jurisprudence system are commissioned to investigate such failures. The technical forensic investigation requires collection of data, problem characterization, development of failure hypotheses, a realistic back analysis, observation in situ and in some cases performance monitoring, and most importantly quality control of not only the formal but also the technical aspects of the work. The practice of forensic geotechnical engineering is the application of geotechnical engineering to answer questions of interest in the context of litigation, where the engineering and legal professions are brought together to resolve the conflict on responsibility for a failure. |
