The 6

ISSMGE Bulletin: Volume 9, Issue 2
Page 32
Conference report
The 6th International Geotechnical Symposium on Disaster Mitigation
in Special Geo-environmental Conditions (6IGS CHENNAI 2015)
xvi)
The Sixth International Geotechnical Symposium (6IGS Chennai 2015) on Disaster Mitigation in Special
Geoenvironmental Conditions was successfully held at Chennai, India, from January 21 to 23, 2015. The
three day symposium was organized by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Indian Geotechnical
Society (IGS), Chennai Chapter and Deep Foundations Institute of India, with the support of Asian
Technical Committee on Geotechnology for Natural Hazards (ATC-3) of ISSMGE. Kochi and Bangalore
chapters of the Indian Geotechnical Society were the co-organizers of the symposium. The symposium
focused on issues related to geotechnical aspects of disaster mitigation and control, providing a global
perspective on current events and apprehension in the industry. It is sixth in the series of earlier symposia
which were organized in various cities of Asia and Europe, including Incheon, South Korea (2013);
Khabarovsk, Russia (2011); Harbin, China (2009); Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia (2007) and Astana, Kazakhstan
(2005).
The conference theme of disaster mitigation in special geoenvironmental conditions has renewed vigor
and relevance because of the innumerable casualties and loss of public and private properties during
earthquakes, tsunamis, floods and landslides during the recent past. The three-day symposium provided
tremendous opportunity to the delegates from both academia and industry to exchange knowledge and
experience on the recent advances and techniques in instrumentation, monitoring and various other
researches focused on the geotechnical problems related to natural hazards.
Prof. A. Sridharan, Former Deputy Director, IISc Bangalore, with his scholarly inaugural address opened
the symposium. Prof. Ikuo Towhata, Vice President ISSMGE (Asia), Prof. A. Sriramarao, President IGS New
Delhi, Prof. Askar Zhussupbekov, Immediate past Vice-President ISSMGE (Asia), Prof. K. Ramamurthy, Dean,
IIT Madras, Prof. A. Meher Prasad, Head, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, and Dr. K.S.
Ramakrishna, Chairman, DFI India, Chennai, graced the inaugural function held in the morning of 21
January 2015. Prof. A. Boominathan, Prof. R.G. Robinson, and Dr. Subhdeep Banerjee, from IIT Madras,
highlighted various aspects of the symposium.
The symposium offered ten keynote lectures and six invited theme lectures apart from more than seventy
contributory presentations from different countries. Dr. Makoto Takao (Japan) delivered his keynote
lecture “Geotechnical Hazards Evaluation for Nuclear Power Plant in Japan” during the first technical
session of the symposium. The keynote lectures by Prof. Kyle M. Rollins (USA) on “Down drag and Lateral
Resistance of Piles in Liquefied Sand” and by Prof. T.G. Sitharam (India) on “Case Studies of Seismic
Microzonation for Reducing Earthquake Losses for Integrated Disaster Risk Management” were well
received by the participants. A Special Session honoring Prof. Takaji Kokusho (Former Chairman of ATC-3,
Japan) was organized in the late afternoon of Day 1 of the symposium, where he presented a keynote
lecture on “Energy-based Liquefaction Potential Compared with Stress-based Evaluation”. The symposium
showcased sixteen contributory presentations during the post lunch session that was organized as two
parallel sessions on day one. Ten poster presentations deserved congratulations for their crispy nature.
Prof. Buddhima Indraratna (Australia) delivered a Keynote Lecture on “Installation of a Permeable
Reactive Barrier in the Containment of Acid Pollution” and Prof. Hemanta Hazarika (Japan) presented his
lecture on “Resilient Breakwater against Level II Tsunami” during the first technical session on the second
day of the symposium. The keynote lectures by Prof. Rashid Mangushev (Russia) on “Basic Structural and
Technological Methods in Construction of Underground Spaces on Soft Soils” and the one presented by Prof.
Askar Zhussupbekov (Kazakhstan) on “Investigations on Interaction of Conical Foundations and Soils” were
the highlights of the afternoon session of day two. The evening session of day two was a tribute to Prof.
Askar Zhussupbekov who turned sixty this year.
Prof. Ikuo Towhata (Japan) delivered a keynote lecture on “Subsoil Improvement for Mitigation of
Liquefaction-induced Damages to a House” on the first half of the third day of the symposium. Dr. V. R.
Raju (Keller, Singapore) presented his keynote lecture on “Liquefaction Mitigation using Ground
Improvement Technique”. A special session on landslides was organized in the second half of the morning
session in which papers related to the recent landslide investigations in India and Malaysia were presented.
Prof. Hemanta Hazarika organized this special session.
ISSMGE Bulletin: Volume 9, Issue 2
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Conference report (Con’t)
The 6th International Geotechnical Symposium on Disaster Mitigation
in Special Geo-environmental Conditions (6IGS CHENNAI 2015)
xvii)
A cultural programme showcasing the classical, semi-classical and folk dance forms of India followed by a
welcome dinner were organized during the evening of day one. A banquet dinner in the second day
evening and a heritage tour on 24 January 2015 added flavor to the symposium that was otherwise rich by
its technical presentations. The tour covered the heritage site Mahabalipuram, a temple town situated
along the shores of the Bay of Bengal and a visual treat of south Indian culture at Dakshin Chitra.
The proceedings of 6IGS Chennai contain 106 technical papers from 14 countries (Australia, Germany,
India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, and United
States). Topics covered by these papers are: Geotechnical problems related to natural hazards,
Geoenvironmental Technology, Field instrumentation and Monitoring, Geotechnology under extreme
environment and Geofoundations. The contributory papers on these themes were presented by the
respective authors in eight technical sessions. These sessions were chaired and co-chaired by eminent
persons of academia and industry from India and abroad. A total of 55 International delegates, and 160
National delegates participated in this symposium. AIMIL, New Delhi; HEICO, New Delhi; DFI India;
Complete Instrumentation solutions, New Delhi; and Geomarine Consultants India Pvt Ltd, Chennai,
participated in the exhibition organized as part of this three day international symposium. The symposium
was financially supported by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, India; Deep Foundations Institute of India,
Larsen & Toubro ECC limited, Chennai, India; Keller ground Engineering, India; Kazakhstan Geotechnical
Engineering Society, Kazakhstan; Sarathy Geotech Engineering services, Bangalore; Sterlite Copper,
Tuticorin, India; Zetas Zemin Teknolojisi A.S. Turkey; and Geo Foundations and Structures Pvt Ltd.Chennai,
India.
At the closing ceremony, Prof. D. S. Kim, KAIST Korea, invited the participants to the 19 th ICSMGE
conference to be held at Seoul.
Photo 1. Section of delegates
Photo 2. Dignitaries on the dais during inaugural
session
ISSMGE Bulletin: Volume 9, Issue 2
Page 34
Conference report (Con’t)
The 6th International Geotechnical Symposium on Disaster Mitigation
in Special Geo-environmental Conditions (6IGS CHENNAI 2015)
xviii)
Photo 3. Prof. A. Sridharan –Inaugural speech
Photo 4. Exhibition of 6IGS, Chennai
Photo 5. Prof. Ikuo Towhata delivering keynote
lecture
Photo 6. Discussion during the conference
(Speaker is Prof. Rashid Mangushev)
Prof. A. Boominathan,
Chairman of Organizing Committee, 6IGS
Professor, Geotechnical Engineering Division
Department of Civil Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai 600 036, INDIA