Engineering aspect of sustainability assessment for geotechnical projects

Sustainability is the ability of the system to retain and survive its functionality with 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 minimize inferring better planning considerations at early stages. Geotechnical engineering, being the opening phase of any construction project, can contribute most to attain sustainability goals for all aspects, i.e. engineering, environmental, economic, and equity (4Es). Through a 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 of research encompassing global sustainability goals. Based on quantifiable indicators assessed by a third party on a scale of 1 (detrimental) to 5 (significantly improved) measuring the impact on sustainability for each decision made, a total of 171 indicators were developed (all generic in nature) with the flexibility of addition, exclusion, and/or modification as per project’s nature. The engineering aspect is developed using 92 indicators, 27 retained and 8 modified from Environmental Geotechnics Indicators (EGIs), and 57 new. The different fields targeted are dams, foundations, landslides, contaminated site remediation, soil and erosion control, offshore construction, and transportation.