Introduction
In July of this year, 480 geotechnical professionals from New Zealand, Australia, and further afield (16 countries were represented!), headed to tropical north Queensland for the 14th Australia and New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics. New Zealand had a good presence at the conference, with about 70 Kiwis heading across the Tasman.
The conference was hosted by the Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) at the Cairns Convention Centre. 2023 was also the first time that the conference, which is held every four years, was hosted in a regional centre in Australia. Aside from the high calibre presentations and being able to connect with colleagues from across the Tasman, the location of the conference was also appreciated by many who took the opportunity to combine the conference with a trip to see the Great Barrier Reef or the rainforests of tropical north Queensland.
Figure 1: The entrance to the exhibition hall at the Cairns Convention Centre. Photo courtesy of the AGS.
Figure 2: Some of the New Zealand attendees at the conference. Photo courtesy of the AGS.
Day 1
The conference began with a series of workshops on 2 July, and participants could choose between workshops on the topics of designing MSE walls, a review of the Australian Geomechanics Society Landslide Risk Management Guidelines, and ‘earthworks: theory to practice – design and construction’.
The review of the AGS guidelines was particularly topical given the huge number of landslides in New Zealand triggered by the events of January and February 2023. This workshop is anticipated to lead to a future update to the guidelines taking into account lessons learned from this and other events.
Day one was rounded off by a fantastic welcome reception on the city terrace outside the Convention centre.
Day 2
Day two of the conference began with the formal opening ceremony for the conference, which included speeches from Dr Richard Kelly and Dr David Lacey, as well as a welcome to country by the traditional custodians of the land. The opening ceremony was followed by three excellent keynote presentation; Dr Ellen Rathje presented on learning from earthquakes and other natural hazards, Dr Fred Baynes discussed the use of the IAEG engineering geological model guidelines, and Dr Shiaohuey Chow discussed plate anchors for offshore renewable energy.
Following afternoon tea, the current state and future of geo education in NZ and Australia was discussed during a panel discussion session on geo education. This session forms Australia and New Zealand’s contribution to the ISSMGE heritage time capsule project, and is detailed in a separate report in this issue of Geomechanics News.
The afternoon also included multiple parallel sessions on the following topics: slopes and landslides; soft soils; numerical solutions and rail SSI; expansive soils SI data, exotic sites; monopiles, piles on rock, piling platforms; rock, tailings, lab tests; retaining structures; liquefaction, in situ testing and piling case histories.
Day two was rounded off by a fantastic sundowner event celebrating women in the geotechnical profession. The sundowner was held on the terrace outside the convention centre and was opened by speech from Nina Levy, who led the organisation of the sundowner. Over 50 women from New Zealand and Australia were nominated, and slides showing each of the nominees and their bios were being presented during the event. The sundowner was very well attended, with the terrace filled up for the entirety of the event. The slides representing the New Zealand women are included in this issue of NZ Geomechanics News.
Figure 3: Nina Levy opening the women in ANZ geomechanics sundowner event. Photo by the authors.
Figure 4: Ann Williams (left) and Prof Mark Jaksa (right) presenting their lectures. Photos courtesy of the AGS.
Day 3
Day three started with two high profile lectures: the John Jaeger Memorial Award lecture and the NZGS Honour lecture which were presented by Professor Mark Jaksa and Ann Williams, respectively.
The John Jaeger memorial award perpetuates the memory of Professor John Conrad Jaeger and recognises contributions of the highest order over a lifetime commitment to the geotechnical profession in Australia. The award is made approximately once every four years and is presented at the ANZ Geomechanics Conference, during which the award winner presents a paper based on the award submission. Professor Jaksa’s presentation discussed geotechnical variability, in the ground and throughout his career. It even included some discussion on compacting lunar soils.
The NZGS honours lecture is given by the recipient of the NZ Geomechanics Lecture award, which is the premier award of the New Zealand Geotechnical Society. The NZ Geomechanics Lecture is presented at intervals of up to four years, and honours individuals who have made a notable contribution to New Zealand geomechanics and can, in the presentation, contribute a statement of significance and value relevant to New Zealand. In her lecture, Ann Williams discussed the question of risk. She provided a great overview and discussion on geotechnical risks in various settings and circumstances, and also included some excellent case studies.
Ann and Professor Jaksa were presented their awards by Eleni Gkeli (Chair of NZGS) and Dr David Lacey (Chair of AGS) following their lectures.
The lectures were followed by another great keynote presentation from Dr Merrick Taylor on the implementation of performance-based design.
The afternoon again included multiple parallel sessions, on topics including: rock slopes and landslides; seismic highlights; analytical highlights; rock characterisation and SI; piled foundations; ground improvement highlights; settlement, expansive soil, novel solutions; subgrades, pavements, testing and design; climate change – new solutions; dams, slope stabilisation; ground improvement cases and methods; digital applications and numerical solutions; mining geotechnics; site characterisation and exotic applications; and piled foundations.
The traditional conference dinner was held on the evening of 4 July at the Pullman Cairns International. The dinner was extremely well attended (we understand tickets had sold out), and a great evening was had by all. During the conference dinner, John Wagstaff was awarded the AGS Practitioner Award which recognises contributions of the highest order over an extended period with a commitment to the geotechnical profession in Australia and the AGS. In addition, John Wagstaff and Allan McConnell were awarded the AGS Queensland Distinguished Service Award for decades of service and collaboration and support.
Figure 5: Ann Williams (3rd from left) and Prof Mark Jaksa (2nd from left) being presented their awards by NZGS Chair Eleni Gkeli (4th from left) and AGS Chair David Lacey (1st from left). Photo courtesy of the AGS.
Figure 6: Merrick Taylor presenting his keynote lecture. Photo courtesy of the AGS.
Figure 7: The conference dinner. Photo courtesy of the AGS.
Figure 8: John Wagstaff (above) and Allan McConnell (below) receiving their awards at the conference dinner. Photos courtesy of the AGS.
Day 4
The final day of the conference began with keynote lectures from Professor Anna Giacomini and Dr Daniel King. Professor Giacomini presented on the design of rockfall monitoring and mitigation measures for the civil and mining sectors, while Dr King presented on the risk assessment of ground movement and rebound effects associated with the Hazelwood mine closure and mine pit flooding. The keynote lectures were followed by the last parallel session of the conference, which included the following topics: ground improvement; case histories and methods; energy geotechnics – offshore and onshore; sustainable solutions in ground engineering; tunnels and underground structures; stockpiles, dumps and walls.
The final two sessions of the conference were dedicated to the late Scott Sloan. The two memorial sessions included presentations from friends and close collaborators of Scott.
Figure 9: The Kuranda railway trip. Photo by the authors.
Post-conference fieldtrip
The conference was rounded out by a post-conference fieldtrip to Kuranda. On the way up to Kuranda we travelled on the traditional Kuranda railway. The spectacular railway journey and views were accompanied by great commentary on the geology and development of the railway line by the local WSP team who continue to work on the railway line. The return journey was along the gondola, which provided breath-taking views as we descended over the rainforest, interspersed with three stops which allowed participants to stretch their legs and explore the rainforest.
The next ANZ Conference
The ANZ2023 was an excellent event in a great venue. Our thanks go to the hard-working organising committee from AGS, particularly Richard Kelly, David Lacey and Robert May. They’ve set a high bar for the next event, which will be held in 2028 to avoid clashes with international conferences organised by ISSMGE, IAEG and ISRM.
At the end of the conference, it was announced that the 15th Australia and New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics will be hosted by Christchurch in early 2028.
