GSA ENGINEERING GEOLOGY DIVISION’S RICHARD H. JAHNS DISTINGUISHED LECTURER: SOLID AS A ROCK—HOW ENGINEERING GEOLOGY RELATES TO TRANSPORTATION ASSET MANAGEMENT

Highway systems were built over a short period of time and to an envisioned design life that is expiring. Owners of transportation infrastructure are finding a pressing need to get the most of what they have and to build new inventory with this kind of thought in mind. This requires risk-based strategies for management of assets such as bridges, pavement, subgrade, embankments, walls and slopes, and it also requires a clear look at what type of performance is expected, and what is actually needed. Settlement, heave, slope movements, longevity under the influence of scour and corrosion are some of the ways this performance can be measured for structures of soil and rock. The engineering geologist can explain that change happens and relatively few things are 'solid as a rock'. The change represents a risk that the engineering geologist can help characterize and view in parallel with risks from natural hazards.