International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment

The International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) (French: Association Internationale de Géologie de I'lngénieur et de l'Environnement), formerly International Association for Engineering Geology, is an international scientific society that was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and has 3,798 members spread across 59 national groups around the world.
The association operates with three goals in mind: encourage the advancement of engineering geology; improve teaching and training within the field; and work globally to collect, evaluate, and disseminate the results of geological engineering activities. Together with Springer Science+Business Media, it publishes the Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment.
The first president of the IAEG was Asher Shadmon, who held the office from 1964 to 1968. The current president is Rafig Azzam from Aachen University of Technology.
Every two years, the IAEG awards the Hans Cloos medal to an engineering geologist of outstanding merit. Every four years, the IAEG organizes an international congress, during which a general meeting of the association takes place, and the board for the subsequent four years is elected. The XII IAEG Congress was held in Turin (Italy) in September 2014. The XIII IAEG Congress will be held in San Francisco (California, USA), in September 2018, and will also serve as the 61st annual meeting of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists.
IAEG is a member of the Federation of International Geo-Engineering Societies (FedIGS).
During the XXII International Geological Congress (IGS) in New Delhi, on 12 December 1964, the Israeli geologist Asher Shadmon remarked that quarry materials and mineral products used in engineering were not being properly discussed, and proposed the IUGS create and fund an international permanent commission dedicated to the topic. Other geologists at the congress suggested that the commission also examine the relationship between the materials in their natural place and the work of engineers.
On 17 December the assembly voted the following motion unanimously: "It is recommended that a distinct Commission of "Engineering Geology" should be established in the context of International Geological Congresses.[…] The objective of the Commission and its Sub-commissions would be to promote the knowledge and dissemination of appropriate information, gather ´case-histories´, prepare literature reviews and relevant catalogues, provide information on completed or ongoing research, gather statistical geological data on the industries, and determine the list of further research required".
On 19 December the interest in engineering geology was high, but due to scarcity of resources they were unable to support a new permanent commission. The executive committee of the IUGS proposed to create a small committee, headed by Shadmon, in charge of producing and presenting a report on the state of the situation by contacting the International Society for Soil Mechanics and the International Society for Rock Mechanics, as well as existing national societies of engineering geology.
However, on 21 December the delegates decided to immediately hold a new session during which the International Association for Engineering Geology (IAEG) was unanimously created. Besides Asher Shadmon, the founding members were Marcel Arnould (France), G. Bain (USA), M.S. Balasundaram (India), L.M.C. Calembert (Belgium), R.S. Chaturvedi (India), G.C. Chowdhary (India), E. Beneo (Italy), K. Erguvanli (Turkey), A. Hamza (India), M.S. Jain (India), L.E. Kent (South Africa), V.S. Krishnaswamy (India), J.D.S. Lakshmaman (France), A.R. Mahendra (India), M. Manfredi (Italy), V. Prasad (India), B. Ramchandran (India), J.Th. Rosenqvist (Norway), B. Sanatkumar (India), P.B. Srinivasan (India), L.S. Srivastava (India) and M. Zapata (Spain). They elected a provisional committee to steer the initial activity.
At the beginning, the association worked on enhancing the provisional committee to gain full international representation. By the end of 1966, the committee was composed as follows: Asher Shadmon (Israel), as president; Marcel Arnould (France), as Secretary; E. Beneo (Italy); V.S. Krishnaswamy, R.S. Mithal and M.S. Balasundaram (India); K. Erguvanli (Turkey); A.M. Hull (USA), president of the American Association of Engineering Geologist; E.M. Sergeev and N.V. Kolomenskij (USSR); Quido Záruba (Czechoslovakia); M.D. Ruiz (Brazil); G. Champetier de Ribes (France), as Treasurer. Discussions to join the IAEG were still ongoing with representatives from Australia, Japan and Mexico.
During the first two years the first statutes were established and a program of the activities was defined. The purposes and goals of the association were defined as follows: Article 1: "The scope of engineering geology covers the applications of earth sciences to engineering, planning, construction, prospecting, testing and processing of related materials"; Article 2: "The aims of the IAEG are to encourage research, training and dissemination of knowledge by developing the international cooperation in its relation to engineering".
At the 1967 meeting of the IUGS, a request for affiliation of the IAEG to the IUGS was presented and accepted by the executive committee. The decision was ratified unanimously by the general assembly of the IUGS on 23 August 1968 in Prague.
The input from the Czechoslovakian engineering geologists had been noticeable in the first years, especially that of Quido Záruba and Jaroslav Pasek. They were together responsible for organizing a section on engineering geology at the XXIII International Geological Congress (IGC) in Prague in 1968, at which they shared the aims of the IAEG. They also organised the first scientific symposium of the IAEG in Brno (Czechoslovakia), from 26 to 27 April 1968 and a second symposium during the IGC on "Engineering geology and land planning".
The first general assembly was held on 23 August 1968 in Prague during the XXIII IGC. At the time of the congress, the country was deeply affected by the movement of soviet troops. Nevertheless, the general assembly went ahead, the statutes were ratified and an executive committee was elected for a period of four years to replace the provisional committee.
The new committee was composed as follows: Quido Záruba (Czechoslovakia), President; Marcel Arnould (France), Secretary General; G. Champetier de Ribes (France), Treasurer; Asher Shadmon (Israel), Past President; L. Calembert (Belgium), Vice-president for Europe; L. Cluff (USA), Vice-president for North America; M.D. Ruiz (Brazil), Vice-president for South America; L. Oborn (New Zealand), vice president for Australasia; H. Tanaka (Japan), Vice-president for Asia; a representative from Ghana as vice-president for Africa. Other members: N.V. Kolomenskij (USSR); A Nemock (Czechoslovakia); J. Janjic (Yugoslavia); R. Glossop (United Kingdom); A. Drucker (Federal Republic of Germany); J.M. Crepeau (Canada).
In addition to the executive committee, three "working groups" were established:
Lastly, it was decided to organize future congresses specifically for the IAEG. These were to be held alternately with the International Geological Congresses, allowing the IAEG to hold a general assembly every two years. They also added a scientific symposia for the years in between.
The first congresses with general assemblies were as follows:
The first elected executive committee decided in their second meeting at the UNESCO Palace in Paris (May 1969) to create a journal of the IAEG. This was to be edited and published by the Association and called the Bulletin of the IAEG (full name: "Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology - Bulletin de l'Association Internationale de Géologie de l'Ingénieur").
The first edition of the Bulletin was distributed during the first IAEG congress in September 1970 in Paris. This was possible thanks to the personal efforts of Quido Záruba, the IAEG president, J. Pasek, Marcel Arnould and several other staff from the Paris School of Mines. Starting as a simple artisanal publication, the Bulletin became a scientific reference among the most respected journals in the fields of engineering geology, the environment and other geosciences. It is now published by Springer Science+Business Media and edited by the Association. It is known under the title Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment.
As the field continued to grow there became increased involvement among engineering geologists. They assisted in the consultation, design, construction and supervision of large projects and in the assessment and remediation of environmental issues. Due to this expansion an update of the first statutes of the association was deemed necessary. The second statutes were approved by the general assembly in Kyoto (Japan) in 1992.
A new definition of engineering geology was given to reflected the advancements of the field during the previous 25 years. It reads as follows: "Engineering geology is a science devoted to the investigation, study and solution of engineering and environmental problems which may arise as the result of the interaction between geology and the works and activities of man as well as to the prediction of and the development of measures for prevention or remediation of geologic hazards. Engineering geology embraces: the definition of geomorphology, structure, stratigraphy, lithology and groundwater conditions of geological formations; the characterization of the mineralogical, physico-geomechanical, chemical and hydraulic properties of all earth materials involved in construction, resource recovery and environmental change; the assessment of the mechanical and hydrologic behaviour of soil and rock masses; the prediction of changes to the above properties with time; the determination of the parameters to be considered in the stability analysis of engineering works and of earth masses; and the improvement and maintenance of the environmental condition and of the properties of the terrain".
As of December 2024, the IAEG has 4,857 members divided as follows:
The IAEG has 68 national groups (+1 for the territory of Chinese Taipei):
Following is a list of the international congresses of the IAEG, which are held every four years. Since 1998, the congresses have had a main theme, which is reflected in the denomination of the event.
The IAEG also organizes regional conferences. So far, Asian regional conferences, South American and European regional conferences have been held.