Lessons learned from full scale observations and the practical application of advanced testing and modelling

Full scale field observations have played a central role in the development of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering. Carefully recorded case histories exposed the severe shortcomings of conventional procedures for estimating ground movements and soil-structure interaction. The field data discussed at meetings such as the Brighton ECSMFE in 1979 stimulated the improvements in measurement and analytical techniques that have been reported and debated in specialist conferences in Florence (1991), Hokkaido (1994), London (1997), Turin (1999)* and now Lyon (2003).