New Generation Design Codes for Geotechnical Engineering Practice Taipai 2006


PREFACE

Communication of design risk within a transparent and rational framework is necessary in view of increasing interest in code harmonization, public involvement in defining acceptable risk levels, and risk-sharing among client, consultant, insurer, and financier. Activities in code harmonization in particular are noteworthy. The advent of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has added impetus to the formation of trading groups that result in multilateral free trade areas or bilateral free trade agreements. Traditionally, geotechnical engineering practice has always been viewed as a localized activity under the purview of the relevant federal and/or state authorities. However, the move towards greater economic cooperation and integration will require the elimination of some technical obstacles that exist as a consequence of differences in national codes and standards, and harmonization of technical specifications.






For the geotechnical engineering profession, there is added pressure to undergo significant revamp because structural and geotechnical design are increasingly incompatible. The structural engineering design community has adopted limit state design and probability-based design since the seventies and appears to be gradually evolving towards a performance-based design philosophy. The structural engineering community is also the main driving force behind international standardization activities, such as IS02394 on "General Principles on Reliability for Structures".


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