Geology Engineering

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While ancient man must have had some intuitive knowledge of geology, as evidenced by the feats of mining and civil engineering performed in the distant past, the present science of geology owes much of its origin to the civil engineers working in the eighteenth century. These engineers, while constructing the major engineering works associated with the industrial revolution, had the opportunity to view and explore excavations in rocks and soils. Some, intrigued by what they saw, began to speculate on the origin and nature of rocks, and the relationships between similar rocks found in different places. Their ideas and theories, based on the practical application of their subject, formed the groundwork for the development of geology as a science. Engineers such as Lewis Evans (1700–1756) in America, William Smith (1769–1839) in England, Pierre Cordier (1777–1862) in France and many others were the ‘fathers’ of Geology.

Their interest in geology often stemmed from a ‘need to know’. They were confronted with real engineering problems which could only be solved with the help of both knowledge and understanding of the ground conditions with which they were confronted. In the later nineteenth century both geology and engineering advanced, geology becoming a more-or-less respectable natural philosophy forming part of the education considered suitable for well brought up young ladies. Engineering, characterized by the canal and railway construction carried out by the ‘navvy’, on the other hand, remained as an eminently practical subject. The theoretical understanding of engineering was driven by practical engineering problems. The geological knowledge of the engineer, confronted by increasingly difficult engineering challenges, did not progress as rapidly as geology, advanced as a science under the leadership of geologists such as James Dana (1813–1895) in America, Albert Heim (1849–1937) in Switzerland and Sir Archibald Geikie (1835–1924) in Britain. Thus, by the end of the nineteenth century the majority of civil engineers knew relatively little about geology, and very few geologists were concerned about, or interested in, its engineering applications.

This widening division between geology and engineering was partly bridged in the nineteenth and early twentieth century by the development of soil mechanics by engineers such as Charles Coulomb and Macquorn Rankine, who developed methods of calculating the deformations of earth masses under the stresses imposed by engineering works. The great leap forward may be considered to have taken place with the publication of “Erdbaumechanik” by Karl Terzaghi in 1925, which brought together old knowledge, and added new theory and experience to establish soil mechanics in its own right as a discipline within the field of civil engineering. Subsequent publications by Terzaghi and others have continued to recognize a clear understanding of the fundamental importance of geological conditions in civil engineering design and construction. However, this appreciation has not proved to be universal and many engineers continued to rely on inadequate geological knowledge, or over-simplified ground models.

#GeologyHere #Geology #Engineering



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Hello, @danger263! This is @anggreklestari from @OCD team. We saw that you already posted your first post here in Hive! Congratulations and welcome! However, it would be awesome if you do an introduction post. As a sample of what an intro post is, you can refer to this intro post for reference:

Keeping Up With the Buzz - My Introduction to the Hive Community

There's no specific format on how you do your intro post, but there is some suggested content that we would love to see in your post. Information like who are you and where you're from, how did you discover Hive or who invited you, what types of content you want to see here and the types that you want to produce, and what are your expectations in this platform. There's no pressure on this. You can choose whatever information you would like to share.

You can tag me @anggreklestari on your intro post then if you have done with it.


Well, you can explore the communities that are suitable for your content. You can read some of the communities in this post: OCD Communities Incubation Program

If you are looking for tips and information as a Hive newbie, click here: newbie guide.

If you have questions, you can hop into OCD's Discord server and we'll gladly answer your questions. For now, @lovesniper will follow you and we are looking forward to your intro post!

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