Geomechanics of Failures

Settlements.- Interaction between Neighbouring Structures: Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, Mexico.- Unexpected Excessive Settlements: Kansai International Airport, Japan.- Leaning Instability: The Tower of Pisa, Italy.- Bearing Capacity.- Bearing Capacity Failure: Transcona Grain Elevator, Canada.- Caisson Failure Induced by Liquefaction: Barcelona Harbour, Spain.- Excavations.- Braced Excavation Collapse: Nicoll Highway, Singapore.- Tunnel Excavation Collapse: Borràs Square, Spain.- Tunnel Face Instability: Floresta Tunnels, Spain.

Alexander M. Puzrin, born in 1965, studied Structural Engineering at Moscow Institute of Civil Engineers (1982-1987) and Applied Mathematics at Moscow State University (1990). He received his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in 1997, where he joined the faculty. In 2002 he became a faculty at the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA). He has been Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the ETH Zurich since 2004. Prof. Puzrin has been involved as an expert in geotechnical projects in Russia, Israel and Switzerland. His expertise lies in progressive and catastrophic failure and constitutive modeling of geomaterials. He is the author of more than 60 papers. Awards: Technion Excellence in Teaching Award in 2001; ASCE (Student Chapter) Outstanding Faculty Award in 2003; ICE Bishop Medal in 2004.



Eduardo E. Alonso, born in 1947, got his degree in Civil Engineeering (Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) in Madrid in June 1969. He got a PhD in Northwestern University in 1973. At present he is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at the UPC in Barcelona. He is the author of more than 300 papers published in Proceedings of Conferences and learned journals. Professional activities include foundation problems, deep excavations, nuclear power plants, slope stability, breakwaters, earthdams, tunneling and underground waste disposal. Awards: Thomas Telford Medal (ICE) in 1994 and 2007; Crampton Prize (ICE) in 2006; J. Torán Prize in 1995; N. Monturiol medal in 2000; Second Coulomb lecturer in 2003 and Eleventh Buchanan Lecturer, Texas A&M in 2003; Tenth Sowers Lecturer, GeorgiaTech, Atlanta in 2005. He is member of the Royal Academy of Engineering of Spain since 1995 and member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Art of Barcelona since 2007.



Núria M. Pinyol, born in 1978, got her degree in Civil Engineering (Ingeniero de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) in Barcelona in June 2004. At present

From the reviews:"The main goal of this text is to illustrate how basic concepts in soil mechanics can be used as a 'forensic' tool in the investigation of geotechnical failures. ... provide a detailed and step-by-step description of the hypothesis introduced and of the analysis performed. ... Each chapter is self-contained and provides a review of soil mechanics principles and methods. The target audience is undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and practising professionals in the field of Civil and Geotechnical engineering." (International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment, Vol. 25 (1), March, 2011)